Kalmus did get substantially more wind than other good SW spots. For example, both West Dennis and Fogland only had a few short periods with wind averages above 20 mph, and a lot more ups and downs. What made this setup so perfect for Kalmus?
- The wind direction - SW to WSW.
- Sunny skies (and no rain since the early afternoon on Sunday).
- A perfect temperature difference of about 10ยบ F between the water (around 60 near shore) and the air (around 70 to low 70s a bit inland) that generates a strong sea breeze.
In this kind of setup, it is quite common to see winds that are 10-15 mph higher than forecast. A larger temperature difference can create decoupling problems - gusty, variable, and often weak winds. So when you check out the forecast for this weekend, keep these things in mind! One of the weekend day looks a lot more promising than the others. The forecast will most likely drop by about 5 mph on Thursday, when iWindsurf's "Quick Look" switches from one computer model to another one (GFS to NAM). Don't be fooled - if things do line up, chances are the wind will be stronger than predicted.
I played at Kalmus for a few hours last Monday, along with a small crowd that included Martin, Steve, Graham, Jeff, and a few others. My Tabou 3S 96 was still setup with freeride (outside) foot straps, so I decided to sail a mile upwind to the Kennedy Slicks. A few boats were already anchored in the Hyannis Port Harbor, but there was still plenty of space for speed runs. I tried to play around with the trimming of the board a bit, and eventually got a 30-knot reading on my GPS - not bad to a freeride/wave board with a 5.5 m non-cambered sail. The 26 cm weed speed fin from Maui Ultra Fins that I used helped a lot - it was bomb proof and provided lots of lift for a weed fin, without ever spinning out.
The wind picked up as I made my way back to Kalmus, and the fully overpowered ride through voodoo chop was an adventure in itself. Half of the time, I was not even hooked in, so that I could leave the rig partially open and far away from me on the deep downwind course. Yes, even the 32 inch lines I was using seemed to short for the conditions! Back at the beach, I changed the footstraps to the inboard positions (and the back strap to a single strap), rigged a 4.5 m wave sail, and had another hour of bump and jump fun before the wind eventually calmed down. Towards the end of the session, I got a chance to try another MUF fin that I had received for testing. My initial impression was very positive, but some further testing will be needed before I provide more details.
I am extremely impressed with the way the Tabou 3S 96 behaved on Monday. It is perhaps the most versatile board I have ever sailed - perfectly able to go slow in crazy voodoo chop and when playing in little onshore waves, but easily tunable to reach rather excellent speeds (this ended up being my 5-fastest session ever, judged by 5 x 10 second GPS speed averages), all the while remaining very comfortable and controllable. A big "thanks" to Jeff for letting me try the board last April in Hatteras!
Here's a video showing some of the things Graham did Monday at Kalmus:
Here's a video showing some of the things Graham did Monday at Kalmus:
