Underpowered, Over Heating and Under the Weather
I had a busy day at the University working from 8-5 on a day I don’t normally work yesterday. So, I was looking forward to getting out on the water today as the forecast looked good.
Westerly’s all day long, 25- 30 knots – what more could a windsurfer want? I therefore headed over to the beach with my kit and started to rig up. It didn’t feel crazy windy as I rigged up so I went with my bigger board. I brought my 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0m sails with me so I went with the middle one.
Trapped!
It didn’t start well though as I managed to trap my finger between the mast and the boom clamp and couldn’t get it out. With the finger of my right hand trapped, I only had one hand free to unclip the boom, pull the spring loaded clamp away from the mast and detach the mast. Trying to do all of that with one hand was impossible so I was stuck and in pain too. I finally managed to get it free with the help of my knee and my head but I’m not sure if my fingernail will live to tell the tale.
Hopefully I’ve learned my lesson though and won’t do that again. It was a brand new boom with a different clamp to what I’m used to and I wasn’t aware of the fact that it was a man-trap!!!
Underpowered
With that over and done with I was soon ready to get on the water. I was a little underpowered really and wished I’d rigged the 5m sail. I did get going and had a few fun blasts up and down the beach but I was never fully powered up and could (as usual) have done with more wind. According to the weather station it was gusting close to 30 knots but that isn’t quite enough for a 4.5m sail.
I did head to the beach to let off some downhaul and make a few other adjustments but it wasn’t enough. Ideally I would have changed up to my 5m sail but by now the tide was already touching the pebbles and coming in fast. High tide wasn’t for another 2.5 hours at around 11am but the water was higher than expected. I didn’t therefore have much time to rig another sail and get back out so I persevered but it was never great.
Over-heating
To make matters worse, I had put my 5/3mm winter wetsuit on for the first time this year. It was far too hot. I was sweating like mad and just looking forward to getting home so that I could take the suit off and cool down. In the end that’s what I did as things weren’t getting any better and I was just too hot. A nice cold shower was in order. I think I’ll revert back to the 3/2mm summer suit until the temperatures drop closer to freeing.
Under the Weather
It was an OK sail but I still wasn’t quite feeling it. I still haven’t fully recovered from the man-flu lurgyitis that I had a couple of weeks ago. I don’t feel too bad but I just don’t seem to have much energy. I get really tired as soon as I try to do anything. Part of me thinks I should just push through it and start some training again. However, if I try to do so I just haven’t got it in me. Looks like yet another rest day beckons…. Grrrr, I’m just getting less fit and more fat all the time.
Picking Up
Of course, now that I’m back at home and the tide is too high, the wind has picked up properly. It’s blowing at more than 30 knots with some gusts closer to 40 knots.
That would be perfect for my 4.5m sail. Oh well, maybe I’ll have to go for round 2 later in the day once the tide has dropped.
