Portugal DW

[coldsup]

Found this on the Breeze

[Night Wing]

Very nice video. Dw'ing sure looks like a lot of fun. I sure wish we had wind and wave conditions on the upper Texas coast so I could try my hand at downwinding, but we don't.

Thanks for finding the video on the Breeze and sharing it on the Zone.

[yugi]

50 kn?

sorry, but

[supnorte]

50 kn?

I'm the author of the video (and the rider). The gusts were 50 knots for sure. I've only posted a one minute ride and I have more than an hour of footage and it clearly shows how strong the wind was. I was getting into bumps and connecting them without even paddling. I'll be doing a longer version soon.

[supnorte]

We have the best conditions in Europe for downwind. The Portuguese coast faces west and we get predominant wind and swell from North and Northeast. You can do endless downwind runs ( (20, 30, 40 miles and longer) and always parallel to the coast. And during the big winter storms, with South and Southwest wind there's great locations like this river and a lagoon were we can paddle safely.

[yugi]

you part of Trumps team?

Here’s what 50 kn looks like
   http://www.supworldmag.com/paddle-storm-master-extreme-sup-race-in-brittany-france/

I love Portugal. Don't get me wrong. You have great waves and fantastic wind. I know and respect. Enjoy.

It's just that I can read wind on water. There's a tell tale sign when it's over 40kn. Return your windmeter, it isn't working. (and your friend who is casually paddling upwind in 50 kn standing upright... send him to the world championships and tell me his name. I'm betting on him.)

[DavidJohn]

Looks awesome.. Thus must be why there's been no wind down under.. 

[Eagle]

We get wind 40+ kts from time to time during winter outflows.  And is quite a bit more blustery than what is shown in the vid.  Are you getting your wind speed numbers from a weather station like this for the area or an on-the-water wind meter measurement?  Generally it is a good idea to underestimate and be conservative about wind speeds and such.  Many seem to overestimate wind speed and how fast they are paddling - and do not ever show simple GPS data and tracks.

But do like the look of the cleaned up steering on your Bullet 17.4 though.  And conditions did look like some fun.  When wind streaks and spindrift starts appearing all around you -> the wind conditions are pretty good at that point.  Look forward to more vids.   

[supnorte]

I understand the skepticism. On theat video I only posted a small part, I have heaps more (and better ones, actually). This run was during storm Doris and it was recorded gusts of 60 knots plus (but not while we were doing it).

How windy was it on this video?

[Eagle]

I guess no wind meter to measure.

Yeah w/o one it is actually pretty hard to get an accurate measure of wind speed.  I was in some pretty good wind and thought it was about 25+ kts -> and measured on the water while I was waiting for some others to catch up.  The wind meter only read about 16 kts + maybe 3 kts drift -> so maybe about 19 kts.  There was full whitecaps and wind streaks.  It is very deceiving.  Even on land you can measure before and after - and the wind feels strong - but is actually pretty slow.

I was out in similar conditions after a 55 kt storm that passed through here - but missed the peak by about 2 hours - and the wind was very docile at that time.  Pretty hard to guess with accuracy.  Next time just bring a wind meter and whip it out and take a quick measure.  You can see on mine it has a max for gusts as well.  Around here in only about 20 kts - with gusts to 25 - it is ok to DW.

In just 15 kts my board has flipped over if it launches off a wave and the wind catches it just right.  Does not take much actually in steep wave action.  But noticed your front attachment point.  My preference is for a tail - just so the board is farther away from me.  Always get that board DW from you. 

[supuk]

To get a good measure on wind speed you need to measure from a few meters above the swell height to get a clean reading, you only have to kite surf to know how the strength varies at different heights even in small swell and not to fly to low in the bumps. The best wind meter is looking at your surrounding. The way I see it Generally at around 50kots the water starts not wanting to stay in the ocean and becomes airborne. The wind strength can look incredible different just by the angle you are looking or the light on the day especially in videos.

[Eagle]

Yeah wind speed at water level is actually very slow vs just up a few metres.  At our mast height there could be 5 kts - and at deck level maybe 2 kts.  More higher up the more wind.  This vid has a bit more breeze.

[yugi]

…
 The best wind meter is looking at your surrounding.
 
The way I see it Generally at around 50kots the water starts not wanting to stay in the ocean and becomes airborne. The wind strength can look incredible different just by the angle you are looking or the light on the day especially in videos.
  …

 
Yep. Doubling your kite strings length can make a light wind day more fun.

Above 35kn tops of waves are regularly streaking off in the wind.
Above 40 kn the air fills with mist from flying spindrift. There is no mistaking it. Surface of water well streaked.
Above 50 kn that mist is pretty intense. It truly does affect visibility. The whole surface of the water is white.

You can’t stand upright in 50 kn. Walking upwind becomes difficult and you need to lean hard into it. Good luck cycling upwind in 50 kn. There is no way you’d see a SUP paddler casually paddling, completely upright, upwind in 50 kn.

If you spend a few years sailing training racing every day and you know the measured wind speed all the time then you learn to read the water. When I say measured windspeed it doesn’t mean at another spot. It has to be right where you are at. Any waterman knows wind is very localised and shifts.

There is a mast with an anemometer on the waterfront at my downwind take-out spot. I noticed you can write windfinder to add an anemometer to a windfinder spot wind report. Providing you a historic graphic report. I did that and in less than a week the historic graphic report was up on windfinder. It correlates to my visual impressions, but it’s good to keep calibrating yourself.

A waterfront reading will typically be a bit lower than 1 Km off-shore. One gets to know the local variations of the wind. Where it is stronger.

In a storm TV may report a peak reading. The other day TV and Radio here reported over 70 kn winds recorded (Bfrt Force 12 - hurricane). The reading is on the mountain  peak (which I climb up to regularly for skiing). It’s also on Windfinder. Down on the lake it was only about 30 kn. C’est la vie! That’s how the wind blows.

…
 The wind strength can look incredible different just by the angle you are looking or the light on the day especially in videos.

Of course its far more impressive to look [or take photos] upwind. If you are experienced there are plenty of signs to read wind on water looking downwind too. Maybe more.

[Off-Shore]

SupNorte. Don't listen to anyone here and keep posting those vids! They are good, and will keep getting better if you keep at it!

I too have been educated by other Zoners on windspeed, and all I can say, is that we all have our own interpretation, but also a responsibility to try and tell it how it is, as best we can. I now tend to err on the side of caution and only state the windspeed when I think I need to. And then I'm generally now stating it on the lower side of what I think it is... but that board flipping around means it's S.T.R.O.N.G.

What I can say is that any windspeed near-shore will look a lot less than when you are 1-2kms off-shore. This picture is of today, about 6kms off the coast of Hong Kong and 1km off the coast of Lamma Island and it was 25 knots+... but big and hairy...

[supnorte]

Not wanting to turn this into a "how windy" or, like in surfing, "how big was it" debate, it would be interesting to read some opinions.
Here are some different angles on the same run: