Here is a blast from the past when 25 knots was considered speed windy. Woodman point held speed events and $4000 was the first prize. Not bad in 1986 dollars.

At registration, competitors were issued with sail numbers and two cans of Swan Premium . Those were the days!

jamesf said..
At registration, competitors were issued with sail numbers and two cans of Swan Premium . Those were the days!

Surviving after drinking 2 cans of Swan is the biggest prize!

Do we know how did they measured the speed back then?

It was obviously over some distance rather then our ordinary peak speed.

What exactly distance ?

if they reach and sustain speeds over 100 - 500 meters it looks much difficult that peak speed over second or two.

Windxtasy said..
So what is the top speed that had been done at Woodies in recent years? I am sure lao shi can put his finger on the session in a heartbeat...

I have managed a solitary sneaky 40 peak;

gpsteamchallenge.com.au/sailor_session/show?date=2012-01-02&team=10

No doubt Slowboat has gone MUCH faster...

seanhogan said..
It's written in the article Macro

I did try to read article few times and still can not find the answer.
Over what distance was the average speed calculated ??

yeah, sorry Macro I was only refering to the calculation mode

25 said..
It was 500m.
Ahh for the days when I was twice as strong and 15kg lighter!

Respect .
Now we know that 500 m is not this same as our 2 sec.
Competitor needed to withstand / sustain that speed over more then 30 seconds.

Now if you look back at our charts that 500 meters we could compare to our nautical mile, to be fair due to improved gear we have.

Ahh Peter you made that Neil Pryde RAF Speed look sweet. Look how much power it had up high too! No twist at all. Board trim looks bang on too.

PS. I'll trade you the 15kg anyday so long as I can have it as muscle.

mathew said...


You do know that...

I only wanted to compare our nowadays results to those 20 years ago.
I wonder if somebody did try 20 years old gear to achieve similar or better results in the same place that guys been sailing / racing then.
If better skills , improved knowledge and technique alone could guarantee success ? If we could magically , using time machine send our Slowboat 20 years back to race in this competition... will he wins ?