Pretty nice day as it turns out. By good fortune I was able to legitimately leave work at Midday so it was a dash for Sandy Point and arrived at 1 .45 to find the big boys had already done 46's. Bugger. Hope I havn't missed it.
It looked a bit light so I rigged the 5m and the 4.4m. First run on the 4.4m 40 gps and very underpowered. Swapped to the 5m and got some 42's and high 41's. Still quite underpowered and the wind was quite south so it was tight and choppy. The TM45v7 was working fantastic! That is until I slammed it into the Easterly sandbank on the way upwind and gouged the tip in a serious way. After that it felt like I had a big lump of weed on it and was really struggling to crack much over 40 knots, even when the big gusts came and I was nearly being pulled over the front. (Sorry Mal).
I went back and got the Lockwood 20 and the 4.4m Koncept and the wind picked up to 30 - 35. At the same time it went back a bit more westerly and the water got flatter. After a few more runs I timed a squall just right and was over the moon to see a 45.2 on the gps. Yeeeeharrr!! It actually felt really good. Fast and powered but not on the edge by any means. It's good to know how it feels and that I can do it in the right conditions. Now I just have to back it up with 4 more.....
I kept trying and got another 3 x 43 peaks but there were no more good squalls over 30 kts. When it started to get dark I gave up, mainly 'cause I was totally wasted and cramping up. I was starting to fear I could drown if I pushed it any further. :-(
I had a nasty moment on one run when my rig seperated from my board just as I stood up to slow at 42 knots. I slammed on my back (which probably explains my stiff neck) and the board sailed off on its own towards Yanakie. I tried to get to the bank to run down and try to cut it off just as Tony came past slowing up. He stopped right next to it and held it for me as I swum out. Phew. Thanks heaps Tony!!!! Saved a potentially very big drama by quick thinking. I will certainly be triple checking those mast base pins are properly locked in future!
Congratulations to Mal on his superb PB. Tony for going bloody fast and Tom, Craig, Mat and Shelby who I think all did PB's. More, more.... bring it on!!!