Just returned back to Sydney with me first windsurf board. Had a wicked bit ball numbing sail in the UK (try hail and wind to wake you up the day after). Now it seems there is no wind until say June???!!!

I am on a 195 litre with 5.5m sail. Whats the minimum wind I need to get a little planing in?

I was going to say 5.5m is too small but there is a fair chance the next winds will be 30 knot westerlies so anything goes then.

I'd say on that combo you need around 12 to 15 knots of steady wind to get going. Problem is the westerlies are anything but steady.

Thanks Moby. Now I am not locked to hiring a board from my local Balmoral beach. Any thoughts on next location to try out

Cheers
Elviento

Westerlies..... Well Narrabeen Lake gets more than its share of westerly crazies. The westerly wind can be okay there but you have to put up with very very gusty conditions. I think Tuggerah Lake would be better launching from Canton Beach, but you need a weed fin there.

Last year I went up to Lake Macquarie, to Swansee on the lake side when a strong westerly was blowing. I couldn't windsurf due to injury however the wind was strong and steady. There were a few kite surfers out and they were going very well. We drove around the lake and saw a few windsurfers on the north side of the lake near Marmong but the wind was stronger at Swansee. I talked to someone who sailed Narrabeen Lake that day and it was the usual gusty conditions. By gusty I mean light switch winds, one second its blowing 25 knots, the next its blowing 5. People talk about sailing in gusty winds but till you sail Narrabeen Lake you don't know what gusty is.


So we might give it a go up at Swansee if a westerly wind is blowing on a weekend.