VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

Just wondering how everyone defines the windspeed in the sailing log?? Is it the maximum windspeed during your session or the lowest and highest or just an average? I read some of the posts and they'll say 20-35 which could either mean it was super gusty or it started at 20 and built to 35 - like it does at Nitinat. Just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page.

In my last sailing log I did a 8 knts to gusts of 4 because there were no gusts. It just died and changed direction and was blowing another direction. the airport was about 8 SE and it was on shore 8-12 NW at Mill Bay and in the middle it was everywhere. It was the weirdest I had ever seen. I was confused about wind direction so I chose the last direction it was blowing when I exited: side off which was NW.

Would be nice if there was a variable wind direction we could choose for the nasty low wind sess pool days.

I log the range lowest to highest of my session. When I look back on my log it reminds me of the conditions...

speaking of windspeeds, check out voodmon's log from sunday at nitwit - i find it hard to beleive it was 35 knts

Ask anyone there.....people were on 3.5's and 4.2's....amazing day on Saturday at the lake......WOW!!

Usually I log the lowest to highest guesses of the winds I sailed in. This occasionally means that, since it builds or drops off during a longer sesh, it yields a larger range but is representative and when you consider sails/kite sizes used with this info this makes sense. The lake is typical where you'd get a rush hour, a meter of sail less for 1-2 hrs, then up again for sail size.
For lowest range I don't count holes but sustained winds at the low end, for highest I do count consistently high gusts but not the odd peak one. I then confirm my personal guestimate with other sailors or the readings from wind sites and adjust accordingly.

Hey Bobson, did ya run your formula gear on Saturday then? there certainly seems quite the range of sails and kites for this day. 14-16m kites (??) and sail size logs from 4.7-6.8.....some on 102L boards down to 70+ for light weights....on a day like that I would guess 5.5 short board with a rush hour of 4.8 for you. How's the new Severne 5.5 and Carve 99 then? Sounds like a great weekend, good for you guys!!

I went down to the Severne NCX 5.5m for the first time and it was awesome!!!! Yes Doods, Bobson on a 5.5m.....what is the world coming to....it must have been weely windy.....Started on the 8.0 and ended on the 8.0 though.....The Carve 99 and Severne 5.5m is sooooo much fun to sail...WOW!!

My wind speed calculator is pretty much the same as Kus-dudes. The lake on Saturday I would have put 15-35 in the Windspeed part but explained it in the explanation...of 15 for 1st hour then 20-25 for 2-3 hours then 25-35 for 1 hour then back to 20-25 for another 2 then 15-20 for another hour.

Good call dudes. I've tweaked my numbers a bit from Saturday's session to show the low end as well. 15 to 30/35 sounds like a pretty close estimate of the days overall windspeeds. Great day

I'd say exactly same as Bobson on Saturday Lake speeds. Bobson, weren't you blown off the water for a little while at the peak? 5.5 CAN be too big....
I try to do pretty much as Kus says.
And I think Voodman meant Saturday not Sunday for his 35 kt. Sunday we left by 4 but it wasn't over 20 then.
I do notice that for Cook St, peoples readings are often 5-10 kt or even more less than the Ogden Point guage, especially on peak gusts but also on averages. I guess Kus' method would ignore the very highest. I know the really experienced say Ogden wind is higher, but it really isn't that far away, and I can't believe it is much different than on the outside at Cook. If it is so much windier there why don't people sail/kite off the breakwater?

If I am out for a few hours, and the wind is super steady, I don't think it makes sense to post that the wind was 15 gusting to 25 if the wind started out at 23-25 for an hour then slowly dropped to 15-17. It does say "gusting to" and sometimes down at Cook St, especially this time of year, it really doesn't gust at all.

So, I now will post the wind speed for the majority of my session, then indicate in the log if it came up later or dropped.

As for Ogden reading higher than Cook: It seems to me it starts earlier there (a half hour or so) and is often a few knots more. Sometimes though, it is spot on. Rarely it is actually windier at Cook. On a day like today, you can actually get out and kite or windsurf over there and check it out for yourself (SSW) - not much difference in my eperience.

Nitnat was great on Saturday. It was blowin as hard as I have ever seen at Columbia. The waves were better at Columbia...
I do want to buy a knt meter though(just for the fun of it). I have an old one and have calibrated it against an electronic one however, toys are fun...

Any one know of any quality name brands or models out there. Where to buy?

I try to do pretty much as Kus says.

Wish my wife would see things that way on occasion, ha! I love it when ANYONE does what I say, can ya tell it's kinda rare?

SUPERNUKER=35+ KNOTS (those 6,080' miles). 3.5/4.2 M w-surf sails on wave boards....6M kites..& you have to yell to be heard over the roar of the wind in the trees & pinecones smashing onto vehicles !!!

Either we are underestimating wind speeds or there is a big hole off Cook St. Wind stations all around (Ogden, Gonzales, Trial) all show high teens sustained winds with gusts in mid 20s for hours this afternoon-evening. I was sailing Cook 5:30-6:30. My log says 14-18 for Cook - only just powered on 5.8. Kites seemed to have more power and the cliff top seemed good - so maybe the wind is just high for a few hundred metres. But even a km or so out is never seemed over 20.

more force 4 wrote:Either we are underestimating wind speeds or there is a big hole off Cook St. Wind stations all around (Ogden, Gonzales, Trial) all show high teens sustained winds with gusts in mid 20s for hours this afternoon-evening. I was sailing Cook 5:30-6:30.... Kites seemed to have more power and the cliff top seemed good - so maybe the wind is just high for a few hundred metres.

Hmm. I think you are right, there must be some more wind up high. I was out while you were today, and though that wasn't' the peak wind, it seemed mostly high teens with the occasional puffs in the low 20's, imho. Actually, I asked a few kiters afterwards what they thought the wind was, and consensus was over 20 in the high winds.

So, when I look at the reports, it seems that Cook got most of that at kite level, just a couple knots less, methinks.

Any other Cook St. reports of wind for Thursday from either kiters or windsurfers?