How light a wind do you downwind in? Video

[Off-Shore]

Those of you who like me are obsessed with downwinding, and watch the weather daily, know that often conditions conspire against us, and we are left with, shall we say, less than ideal conditions to downwind in. Sometimes we go out and it is howling, only for it to drop like a stone as soon as we get on the water. Other times it is the exact opposite. So I'm interested in what others think is the lowest wind speeds it makes sense to downwind in, or to call "downwinding" as opposed to "paddling downwind".

For me, this 2 minute video is probably the lowest that I'll catch enough glides (around 16 knots / 18.6mph / 29.6kph) to call it downwinding.

http://youtu.be/eG6Y2l0qcNk
GoPro 4 Silver Edition - Head Mount - Random Commentary

[balance_fit]

Yes...minimum, 15 kts or so for us, on the calmer waters of the leeward coast. On the rougher windward coast, more wind eases the management of the angled swells and rebound chop, plus, makes balancing easier.

Thanks for the clip ! I love the multicolored polka dots on your board, so refreshing !

[Muskoka SUP]

Yup, 15 knots is basically when I can start catching glides, even in inland lakes where there is no groundswell.  Less than that, it is as off-shore says, paddling downwind.  (Though that's still better than paddling upwind..).

[JF808]

That video is 18mph?? really? 18mph should have a more white caps then that. This video looks like the wind just died on you.

Personally I feel wind speeds relative to acceptable downwind conditions should vary by geography and probably board type too. The bigger boards will always glide better then shorter ones, so you can get more out of lower wind speeds.

Not all but most locations with open ocean access, have an advantage... ground swell.  Again, not everywhere but coastal areas should have some kind of ground swell being rolling through, add some wind pushing the back of a crest...and you have smiles. More often then not, less wind speeds are required to produce downwind conditions this way. Even 20mph can be a fun day!

But in some places (not all) that might be land locked with no ground swell, it'll take more wind to produce bumps. Slowly at first, then bigger as the wind carries over distance.  This often results in shorter period swells, and requires higher wind speeds to have fun.

[gorgebob]

The ocean ground swell is a nice feature we don't get.. White caps start at 12mph. The video shows maybe 8 to 10. To seek a down winder in the Gorge I wait for a forecast of 20. Without 20 you might not make it against the current with out a heavy struggle.

[Blue crab]

On Puget Sound, low 20s is what we need form the north where there is a large fetch. These winds tend to be constant and based on temperature gradients so less wind will do the trick.

From the south & west, we get big storms.  For it to be worthwhile, we need gusts of at least 25 and constant greater than 18, and even this is no guarantee.  You can catch rare glides at lower speeds but it is really not that fun. 35 gusts is where things start getting epic.  40-50 is even better when it happens, provided the swells line up to where you want to end the run. 

The piece of the puzzle that is vexing is the poor correlation with wind speeds and predictable conditions. Sometimes, the tides and currents explain the situation.  Sometimes it is just mysterious. We had a 25 mph storm last week and went out at a seemingly perfect low tide: the conditions were brutal with mixed up water and no glides anywhere. Other days, with carbon copy wind speeds & tides, it can be great. I think it has to do with catching the unpredictable leading arms of storms which are brewing in the Pacific. However, I am not sure.

[blueplanetsurf]

The more wind, the more fun it is and the easier it is to catch long glides.  Light/ moderate winds are better for learning downwind technique though.   I have competed in plenty of "downwind" races where the wind was very light.  You can still catch glides in as little as a few knots of wind and even if the wind shuts off completely there are usually still some bumps to chase down.  The lighter the wind is, the more focused you have to be on timing your strokes and the harder you have to paddle to catch a glide.  One of the most difficult things to learn in downwind paddling is knowing when not to paddle.   When I coach newbies it's always a big challenge to break their habit of taking non stop, slow, long, steady strokes.  The key to catching glides is to take quick, short, powerful strokes at the right moments and then glide, rest and conserve your energy until you have the opportunity for another quick burst of speed.

[Off-Shore]

That video is 18mph?? really? 18mph should have a more white caps then that. This video looks like the wind just died on you.

Dang, busted again! Actually it was the other way round. The wind started off light and picked up towards the end. I am taking my wind speed readings from a real-time off-shore island weather station which is around 4km due East of where this was shot, which clearly is not the right thing to do with this crowd. I am going to correct this in future vids. Perhaps get a hand held meter, as I agree that it does seem less than 18mph, despite the small white caps / horses and being around 3.5km /  2 miles offshore at the end. As GorgeBob says, it's probably more like 12-15mph, but heck I was still able to catch a few glides probably because of the ground swell..

[Off-Shore]

The more wind, the more fun it is and the easier it is to catch long glides.  Light/ moderate winds are better for learning downwind technique though.   I have competed in plenty of "downwind" races where the wind was very light.  You can still catch glides in as little as a few knots of wind and even if the wind shuts off completely there are usually still some bumps to chase down.  The lighter the wind is, the more focused you have to be on timing your strokes and the harder you have to paddle to catch a glide.  One of the most difficult things to learn in downwind paddling is knowing when not to paddle.   When I coach newbies it's always a big challenge to break their habit of taking non stop, slow, long, steady strokes.  The key to catching glides is to take quick, short, powerful strokes at the right moments and then glide, rest and conserve your energy until you have the opportunity for another quick burst of speed.

Thanks Robert. That is very helpful. Light wind downwinding is a great way to learn and where I always start newbie downwinders on. One thing I do notice in the lighter winds is that I need small "tapping" and "maintaining" strokes to stay on some glides. These are very light swift strokes and different from the high cadence, high reach, power strokes to get onto the glide, or directional strokes to steer. Does that make sense?

I agree it is hard to learn when not to paddle, and to teach others this. However IMO, in LIGHTER winds, I find there are some times that breaking the "not paddling" rule to do some small "tapping" and "maintaining" strokes will lead to longer glides and better links.

[JF808]

I guess it's also depends on what you define as a downwinder...

If you consider paddling with a 5mph wind a downwinder then.... anything goes I suppose. If you've ever been lucky enough to play in 30+ wind, you'll know what that looks like, crazy white out conditions, white caps breaking everywhere!!! 👍Eventually you'll start seeing anything less hen 15mph not worth it, and hardly a downwinder but then again we're spoiled here in hawaii with the trades.  But actually anything that makes you stoked is a downwinder.  There's no fooling the guys that play in REAL downwinder 😉