Author Topic: Low wind conditions - video ID  (Read 5647 times)

surfcowboy

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Low wind conditions - video ID
« on: July 26, 2020, 09:41:47 AM »
Ok for those of us who teeter on the edge of having enough wind to do this sport and who have no idea what wind speeds feel like, I offer this.


https://www.instagram.com/tv/CDEm4FkJtIu/?igshid=2guwhihs9hft

What is your guess on the wind speed there?

I ask because on my weather app and surfline they will report 10mph when it’s white capping like hell and is nearly impossible to SUP. These conditions don’t look like “less than 15” unless that means “half of 15.” Last week  “13” looked like a small day at the gorge with whitecaps everywhere.

What gives? Are we just being under reported or what?

Help us, oh wind sport oracles.

Wetstuff

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Re: Low wind conditions - video ID
« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2020, 10:12:26 AM »
When I started kiting in ~2002 many showed up with little hand meters. For me, the bottom mark became 'glossy water';  "Forget it, ju're not kiting today."  It pretty much held for both the ocean and bayside (<1/4mi over the barrier island)

It was 'pretty glossy' in the video, but shot high up and with all the lumps it's harder to tell.  Still, he was doing it without any wobbly moments that I remember.  ' Good one.

Jim
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Dwight (DW)

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Re: Low wind conditions - video ID
« Reply #2 on: July 26, 2020, 10:47:26 AM »
You cannot go by “looking” unless it’s your home spot. So many factors affect the “look”

Same with photos....you have to trust what the person says posting the photo or video.

I get clowns commenting on my YouTube about seeing lots of whitecaps and claiming they know better than me what the wind speed was. Duh, a super zoom lens makes it appear to be nuking in a gnat fart.

Then you add in current.....don’t get me started.

The wind was about 14-15 when Laitham got that session at the pier.
« Last Edit: July 26, 2020, 10:50:48 AM by Dwight (DW) »

surfcowboy

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Re: Low wind conditions - video ID
« Reply #3 on: July 26, 2020, 10:52:31 AM »
Excellent knowledge. I figured something had to be up. I read the weather observation guides and the ranges are pretty wide so clearly room for error. I’m sure that offshores look different than onshore etc.

I’m such a weather geek I ought to get one of those handheld testers. Let me go find that thread again...

Califoilia

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Re: Low wind conditions - video ID
« Reply #4 on: July 26, 2020, 04:37:37 PM »
My thoughts exactly wrt "Low wind conditions", and thinking one is going to learn to how to wingfoil in them. Because like you, at my home break, if two guys out in the lineup fart at the same time...the dang place whitecaps all of a sudden. :-[

The other day for instance, Surfline was saying 9-10 mph and it seemed pretty gusty with the common sheep coming home...so I pulled out the trusty anemometer and read - 6's, 7's, and an occasional 8+ gust but that was it - not enough to wing, but enough to make it a PITA to try to SUP foil in. Another similar story from about a year ago...

We're there on a typical beautiful summer early afternoon when suddenly and unexpectedly, the clouds rolled in, the wind picked up, the water churned up, and the sand started blowing up. Chuck Patterson was there with one of the few (if not only) wingfoils at the beach at the time, so grabbed it out his truck, pumped it up, but never took it out...saying that, "It's just not windy enough yet"...wtf? :o

Now granted, he did have one of the earlier Naish 4M wings when that's all Naish offered at the time, but even so I'm thinking....JC, it's so freakin' windy that I'm getting sandblasted here that I can't remember happening in I don't know how long ago (because when the wind starts blowing, I start heading for home), and "it just not windy enough" for one of these wingding things? Crazy.

How I ever let my buddies talk me into a 7M "that'll work good in our light wind" is f'n beyond me. Because just as it happened with Chuck last year, the other day when it was "6's, 7's, and an occasional 8+ gust", and looked like victory at sea out there...none of my good buddies thought it was windy enough for their 7Ms either, and didn't even take them out of their vehicles. So I may have another wingding that never ever gets wet before I finally decide to just get rid of it again. Ugh... :(

Maybe I can trade it for some Axis Foil stuff if anyone's interested in making the swap...lemme know.  ;) ;D
Me: 6'1"/185...(2) 5'1" Kings Foil/Wing Boards...7'10 Kings DW Board...9'6" Bob Pearson "Laird Noserider"...14' Lahui Kai "Manta"...8'0" WaveStorm if/when the proning urges still hit.

cnski

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Re: Low wind conditions - video ID
« Reply #5 on: July 26, 2020, 05:14:48 PM »
Ya Dave good luck wingfoiling at SanO in the typical summer winds. Plan on taking a trip up to Belmont when the surf is flat you'll have blast up there when it's blowing solid 20 mph. IMHO winging isn't really that much fun unless it's blowing in the high teens. These inflatable blimps are super draggy and inefficient. I gave up inflatable kites long ago and inflatable wings are not different. I have a 7m Echo on order that I hope will bring my wind threshold down a few mph but I don't really believe all the light wind talk on this forum especially coming from the guys in the gorge. Light wind there isn't the same as light wind in other locales.

Beasho

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Re: Low wind conditions - video ID
« Reply #6 on: July 26, 2020, 05:40:43 PM »
I don't really believe all the light wind talk on this forum especially coming from the guys in the gorge. Light wind there isn't the same as light wind in other locales.

This is a fair point. I am in Connecticut this summer.  Wind blows, BLOWS, 10 to 12 regularly all day.  Barely blips to 14 when my heart jumps and then drops to 9 mph.

However the foil may change everything.  The challenge will be if people in light air locations can learn without 100 days of experience.  I still have 2 days with lots of hope. 

Keep the reports coming. 

Admin

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Re: Low wind conditions - video ID
« Reply #7 on: July 26, 2020, 06:49:24 PM »
Hi Beasho,

You will be foiling in 12 MPH in very short order.  Almost any (air) wing pumping technique will get you airborne in that wind on a big enough foil and with the right wing.  You already have a ton of experience where it counts.  Time On The Foil.  You know what to expect from the foil and how to adjust and take advantage once you lift off.  The rest is frosting.

Light air can be exhausting.  If the lulls are going below the threshold where the wing will fly itself, give you any lift to get to your feet, or even support you on your knees, you can wear yourself out very quickly (and it is kind of painful).  I know that a lot of people will wait out sessions with those lulls even if the gusts are doable.  Those can be very humbling but also a lot of fun sessions.  It depends how long it has been since it has been windy :).
« Last Edit: July 26, 2020, 06:56:12 PM by Admin »

DavidJohn

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Re: Low wind conditions - video ID
« Reply #8 on: July 26, 2020, 08:31:52 PM »
Another nice low wind vid.

https://youtu.be/5ubabXrQQp8

surfcowboy

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Re: Low wind conditions - video ID
« Reply #9 on: July 26, 2020, 09:18:59 PM »
SanO I feel ya. Our spots get ruined above 7-8 mph too but that won’t get you anywhere. I’m gonna track wind speed for a while before I take on another sport. But you can bet that my next Texas trips will be my boot camp. Maybe finally I’ll get some fun out of that devil wind in the Gulf.

Thx guys for the sanity check.

PonoBill

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Re: Low wind conditions - video ID
« Reply #10 on: July 26, 2020, 09:22:48 PM »
Most wind measurement locations are on land and don't really accurately reflect the wind speed on the water. I always expect at least a few MPH higher. If you see whitecaps at all that aren't simply current or underwater geography generated then you're good to go if you have the right equipment and can pump up onto the foil with wing and foot pumping.

Yesterday afternoon Admin got me to go to Stevenson even though the rest of the gorge was glass. there was perhaps 10-12 mph wind in the middle of the river and next to nothing close to shore. I went out on the 1150 with a 6M F-one and was able to get up and ride--lots of work, but it's really fun ghosting around in nothing.

Sano, I might be up for a trade, but the stuff I've got to sell/trade might not be what your looking for. Masts, a standard fuselage, 1020 or 920 wing and 500 stab.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

Dwight (DW)

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Re: Low wind conditions - video ID
« Reply #11 on: July 27, 2020, 04:50:50 AM »
MOVE.... ;D

Where we have lived....since discovering wind sports in 1979, has always been based on wind and weather. North Carolina, and now Florida. Yes, Florida is windy, when you live in the right spot.


toejammer2

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Re: Low wind conditions - video ID
« Reply #12 on: July 27, 2020, 11:32:58 AM »
Hey Dave,
After our mutual hassles with getting our Gong V1 7m wings last summer I got a quiver of Fone wings and pretty much gave up on the 7m. When I did try it on really light slop onshore days I would be out there flapping that 7m wing like a fool and whining about only short runs in the gusts. When you posted that video of your buddy on his V2 Gong wing at a lake I decided to give my 7m another try -only this time I decided to see what would happen if I pumped the wing up to max recommended 10psi instead of the usual 8. I figured if it exploded it would at least be entertaining. Wow! That thing pretty much flew along by itself. All I had to do was pump my backhand like a windsurf sail and I got instant power. Had one of my best sessions ever on my 6’6” Kalama with an Axis 1020/440 kit. Now I kinda understand more how important it is to have a stiff leading edge on these things.

PonoBill

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Re: Low wind conditions - video ID
« Reply #13 on: July 27, 2020, 02:24:25 PM »
I routinely go at least 2 pounds high on my f-ones for exactly that reason. Admin goes higher. I'm always waiting to hear the bang.
« Last Edit: July 27, 2020, 02:26:06 PM by PonoBill »
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

DavidJohn

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Re: Low wind conditions - video ID
« Reply #14 on: July 27, 2020, 02:34:48 PM »
I routinely go at least 2 pounds high on my f-ones for exactly that reason. Admin goes higher. I'm always waiting to hear the bang.

You won’t hear a bang Bill.. You’ll hear a tic-tic-tic sound.

 


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