47 knots !

Just had an awesome day on Wednesday speedsailing.  The forecast was looking really good for West Kirby in the UK, and my mate Steve Thorp was texting me saying he was on the way there. 

I just got two new RS Racing sails on Friday, and was absolutely itching to use them on my JP Speed 45 and finally find out what speeds this board is capable of, so it was a really easy decision.... Time to book a Stena-Line ferry from Dublin and head go and try out my gear !

When we got there, the wind was pretty strong - 30-40 knots, and we saw Steve Thorp and Farrell O' Shea flying down the course and clocking in and around 48 knots!

I took my time rigging my brand new 4.7m RSRacing - just to get the hang things, and also had a slight delay, while I bashed the sh*t out of a roll of lead and stuffed it into my weight jacket ! 
Martin Waldron who travelled with me had already got a few runs, and returned dazed, with his carbon boom in 2 pieces... but smiling anyway.

As it turned out, the 4.7 was perfect for me all day (I'm not the heaviest speed-sailor at 78 kgs).. but smaller can be very efficient too !  You don't have to be f*t to be fast :)  - and certainly Steve is proof of this - he's the same weight as me.
 
Here's a video of one of the runs from the GoPro.  I didn't keep it on for long, as it was distracting, and as you can probably see, I was concentrating pretty hard !  Going down the famous Kirby wall at 45 knots needs every bit of concentration you have :)  I did get closer to the wall on some runs..


Kirby 45 knots from Surfdock Watersports on Vimeo.

I know this run on the video peaked at just over 45knots, and I'm pretty sure I broke the Irish Speed Sailing record too!  (This is of course subject to verification) - but I know for sure my Max Speed of 47.17 knots is the fastest any Irish sailor has ever done, and my 5 x 10second average is also the highest.  Unfortunately the course was too rough to get 500m runs, which is hard in Kirby, so JK keeps his Irish 500m record.

GPS tracks are here.

After another ferry trip home, tired but happy, I could see on the computer I got 2 runs with peaks over 45 knots, and 8 runs in total peaking over 43knots, which was my previous personal best.  Job done, a new PB for me, and a great days sailing at an awesome location.  First day trying my RS Racing sails, and 47 knots instantly with a sail brand new out of the bag and no tuning... I can't wait to get this gear back to Burrow beach and go get some 500m runs ;)

www.surfdock.ie