GEMcast 6/11-12

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    • #3501
      Geoff
      Participant

      Not hard to Fx this weekend.

      SAT – stormy, possibly violent. If you’re young enough (of whatever age) that you can’t get enough, go for it but watch out for lightning and hail. Likely the kind of day that could turn you into a statistic, so be cautious.

      SUN – Big and bigger, NW, everywhere in our area. Go to the best convenient spot.

      Enjoy!

    • #3502
      windydoug
      Keymaster

      Geoffy Boy,

      When are we going to get you up north on Lake Ontario at Durand for a west/north west blow?

      It’s a hike I know.  Think about it some time.  We’ve had some really big water up here lately.

      Thanks for the FX!

      Wd

    • #3503
      Geoff
      Participant

      Well, the stormy part on Sat went by early and it turned out to be a good day with a moderate-to-strong W wind. Warm, sunny, great day for Erie, Ontario, Oneida. Alas, on Friday I found out about an RFP that I really have to send in an application on behalf of a client, and it’s due next Friday. End of windy weekend…

      After writing all day Sat, I did a modest bike ride, because that I could fit in. On Sun, since the Fx was for NW, I was thinking Myers Point on Cayuga from ~2-5 PM, hoping for the peak. Got held up a little, arrived at Myers at 2:30, only to discover that it had gone N and was offshore over the bluffs above Myers. The Ithaca kiting gang was making the best of it, but this is the Achilles Heel at Myers and I would have none of it. So I headed to Taughannock Falls and got there shortly after 3 PM.

      Wind there was really swinging up and down (on Cayuga, that’s like saying the sky is blue). Also, at T-Falls there is a wind-tunnel type of effect on the point, so it’s often windier on shore than offshore and hard to judge. I rigged the 5.8 and tested it on the shore and couldn’t fully sheet-in so went to the 4.7. VERY VERY few days on Cayuga that I’ve pulled out the 89 L board (I think 3 or 4 in 9 years of living here). Sinkers are a NO NO on Cayuga Lake, so I had some trepidations but went for it.

      Went out on the water and didn’t have enough power to get going, so I schlogged back in for a sail adjustment. With a deeper set, I got it going and ended up with about 1 hour and 45 min of 3.7 – 7.5 wind, but mostly in the 4.5 – 6.0 range such that with careful jibe selection I was able to keep planing almost all the time, the swells were 1 to 1-1/2 feet but nice, smooth and wide for jibing. In a couple of really overpowering sections where it was 3.5 – 4.0, I got some nice floater jumps, making it one of the best sessions I’ve ever had on Cayuga. Boy, there’s just not much in life that’s like being dialed-in when it’s 4.5. Very hard to beat that.

      A shout out for the Cayuga Windsurfing Club, which had a clinic today for beginners. Tough day to be a beginner! When I started that clinic, years ago and for every year I ran it, we never had any wind. Zero to 5, glassy water. When I ran it, we had 25 – 50 participants; today, I understand they had 25 and 9 on the wait list, so windsurfing is attracting beginners in Ithaca (I only wish we had less challenging wind conditions).

      Hope everyone had a great weekend!

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