The equation of a twenty foot wind swell and bolt onshore fifty knot northerly winds on the north coast of Cornwall for wave sailing just doesn’t add up; unless of course you have a screw loose like the Motley Crew! Aided by Ian Black’s ever reliable on the spot ‘intel’, JC and Timo Mullen drove through the night up the A31 to be on hand for a wild and windy day and the rare opportunity to sail St Ives Harbour, a quality left hander normally loaded with surfers. Once the word spread that this hit and run mission was going down, PWA head judge, Duncan Coombs, couldn’t resist joining the mayhem. JC recounts a day to remember out west.
WEATHER BOMB
The BBC was forecasting gale force winds in Cornwall due to an intense unnamed low pressure that was winding up in the Atlantic. Unpredicted though was how this storm would turn into a ‘weather bomb’ during the night, where the system deepened, increased its rotation and churned out far more vicious winds than originally predicted. Just as we arrived into Hayle at 3am the carnage hit! I’d been checking the wind en-route and the Seven Stones Light Vessel off of Lands Ends had been reading consistently 25 knots westerly all night but around 2.30am the wind switched north and jacked to well over 50 knots.
Through the night Cornwall was lashed even more with the howling wind outside gusting well over 60 knots and almost shaking Timo’s pad at Gwithian Towans off its foundations.
The plan to drive overnight so we could be at the beach at the crack of dawn kind of backfired on us. We were so wrecked by the time we made it to Cornwall at three in the morning we did not wake up until 8am. Our normal Motley Crew military precision had gone out the storm rattled window! Outside at Gwithian the sea was raging; bolt onshore gales had whipped up the Atlantic into a battlefield of white water and disorganized waves. Power lines, trees and anything else not pinned down was being blown around viciously; the forecast said it was going to be windy but this carnage was much more than we had bargained for.
Denne historien er fra Issue 359 - September 2016-utgaven av Windsurf.
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Denne historien er fra Issue 359 - September 2016-utgaven av Windsurf.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
New School
Slingshot’s windsurfing brand manager, Wyatt Miller, has noticed that kids are drawn to playing with wings and puts forward an interesting case as to why he thinks this could help entice them and others into windsurfing.
Changes
Wave sailor Flo Jung reflects on our changed world during his lockdown in Germany.
THE LAST WAVE
Lockdown stirred the creative juices of reader Björn Alfthan, who peers into the future to present a fictional story set in the wild waves of Norway, five years from now.
STILL IN THE GAME
After a horrific fracture in his leg from a crashed aerial in 2018, Alessio Stillrich is back! John Carter talks to the highflyer from Gran Canaria about his move to the Simmer team, recovering from injury and how he learned to windsurf in Gran Canaria!
MOVE ON UP - GET ON THE FRONT FOOT
This month we look at how our front foot weighting can affect and improve different aspects of our main windsurfing moves.
SOUTH' KIPA
Nik tweaking it over home waters.
A NEW NORMAL
On a trip to La Tranche-sur-Mer in France last year, Tris Best estimated over 80% of the windsurfers were foiling. This summer in Portland Harbour, foiling activity has increased dramatically too he reports. With the market offering plenty of choice to recreational windfoilers, our test team check out some of the latest foil offerings.
TACKING – THE SEQUEL
Having given you time to practice, Harty concludes his tacking series by critiquing various tacking options, including the carve tack, as well as offering solutions to common slip-ups.
‘NO VAPOUR TRAILS TO SCAR THE SKY' *
Realising we may be about to enter an extraordinary period in our lives, Harty decided to keep a windsurf-centric lockdown diary. Here are some of his choice excerpts.
REDEMPTION DAY!
Renowned for its windsurfing and variety of spots to sail at, Kimmerdige Bay is a wave sailing jewel on the south coast of England. Timo Mullen gives a guide to its shores while reflecting on why a recent session there was a reminder that there is no place like home!