A bit of the opposite of Minimum conditions for DW
What are the “maximum” conditions tried as of today?
I know Josh Ku did a crazy one from Bali to Java, but I don’t know the specific conditions. There will be a movie coming soon.
I remember some guys (I think Josh Ku too) doing a downwinder and having the coast guards called because somebody saw them in extremely rough seas.
EDIT: It was, indeed, Josh Ku and company. 50 knot winds and 5m seas.
This guy, Jackfromtown, says he was downwinding in 50 knots
Know any other ones? Such strong winds produce really big waves even if the fetch is somewhat small
Peak for me gauges read over 60 knots while on the water. Starting at about 50 knots, in my experience, eye protection and full wetsuit starts becoming valuable/necessary. The spray coming off the swell when gusting in those winds can be pretty painful, like getting blasted with needles. Catching it in the face is blinding.
Our bay conditions in new jersey can get rowdy. 30 gusting 40kt winds are not uncommon in winter, we’ve seen a couple good 40 gusting 50 days and handful of other days gusting into the 50s. Short fetch so it creates epic conditions. below freezing wind chills, we’re out there
Over 40knots makes white caps everywhere which can get pretty chaotic but as long as you are going straight down wind it’s fun. If you have to cut into the wind to get out or in towards shore it’s pretty brutal. Like Steve said the winter wind gusts in New Jersey can be insane. Sometimes when you are turning the wind will rip your downwind board right out from under you.
A few months ago I stopped in at Rufus on a nuking day and saw a number of people fall (mostly downwind of their boards) and had their boards flung on top of them by the wind…looked super sketch…
I used to want the strongest of the strong (40 gusting higher), but when I started focusing on actually SURFING the bumps, I quickly learned that those stronger winds make figure-eights a lot harder in strong gusts, being a 70 kg dude….I try to use a smaller board for SUP DW now, on those days, and sometimes have to be content with up and over-ing….It’s all sweet, though! 25-30 is my fave conditions now.
Kinda wary of the upper limits, I had a nuking “all time” day in Cape Town on the bay side, opposite side to the Millers run, and it starts to make it impossible to turn as the board gets pushed around, and you’re just hanging on. Lots of fun, but pure chaos.
It’s super fun there because it’s a bay, but there are a few reasons it’s extremely dangerous
when you fall the board flips over your head on most falls which is ultra sketchy
swimming becomes difficult in the turbulence other than downwind
you become nearly invisible due to the blown spray, so rescue becomes unlikely
I think totally viable conditions, and going downwind makes the apparent wind feel much less, but it makes the margin for error much smaller.
Josh is pushing limits for sure, and how much of that is due to ignorance I can’t say, but listening to the GFP interview with the code team, it sounds like even they have their doubts… I’d be very wary of pioneering too hard on this as the odds are against us.
I think the board flip is simply wrong gear and inexperienced riders. I’ve spent a ton of time at and around 50 knots and none of my falls are ever sketchy. If you consistently fall downwind of your board and kick it out into the air then it’s an issue. When we learned to foil we all had weird falls. Learning to foil at 50 knots is similar. You have to understand what’s happening, why, and you need plenty of sessions to get better at managing those scenarios. Boards under 10lbs are also a no-no in those winds because they can be picked up and flipped just by the rise and fall of the swell.
Yeah I agree I’ve had some wild wipeouts in gnarly conditions, never really seen a board flip and foil come out of the water. getting hit with the board or foil when you fall is part of the game, at some point ya gotta play to play
Are you talking 50 knots on the coast or 50 knots at Rooster Rock?
Because it’s the angry ocean that is the big danger in 50 knots, not the wind.
So it really depends on the size of your fetch, not just the wind strength.
I don’t really put Rooster Rock in the same category. 50 knots of east wind there is still only knee high bumps. This is referencing ocean or big west wind days in the eastern gorge. Rooster can be a good spot to familiarize yourself with high winds and sort out gear basics though.
I call BS on your experience and your gear idea, falls are falls, often unexpected, like the guy that almost bled out by falling awkwardly on a turn. All it takes is falling forward and sinking the nose for the board to then shoot backwards and then catch the wind.
was literally just watching this clip and it almost happened
You’re implying my own experience having seen a board flip towards me in strong wind is invalid as a safety concern due to my inexperience and bad gear selection.
Still some valid points here from everyone, I think its subjective to the individual rider and their comfort level as well as experience (not saying anyone is or isn’t experienced), Calculated risk for the individual comes to mind. I think at some point there will be a clear line and clear conditions that are over the top no go. Here in NJ we regularly have coast guard and local lifeguards / fire departments / police standing on the beach because someone fell and it took them 5-10 minutes to untangle a parawing and get back up. Happened to me in Montauk a couple weeks back in the 30-40kt range, drifted too close to a cliff and the refraction knocked me down for a good 10-15 minutes before I could get up and out of there with a SUP. coast guard involvement is inevitable anywhere that you can be seen from the beach, and there is a level of wind and swell where coast guard will no longer come help, I personally don’t feed into that too much. We’re having a ton of fun in cranking wind conditions here in our bay, we’ve seen 40g50 days and looking forward hopefully get more this season. That’s a zone myself, Seth and a few others are comfortable pushing limits in (Calculated Risk) however most of us are life long watermen, and know / prepare for the risks we take. Where’s the top? well for jersey we’ll let you know when we find it lol at some point victory at sea becomes real and we will all find our limits but for now I’ve yet to finish a run and go “that was too windy, I wouldn’t do that again” its pretty much a smile from ear to ear every time
I Should add some other factors in, 40g50 is a F**K ton of wind lol I don’t know how much further myself and other locals here are going to be pushing IF we ever get proper conditions that line up, it’s not exactly common for that to happen but we do see a few of those days. That much wind should scare people to a healthy level, that’s part of the fun, challenge and respect for mother nature. Our bay is 16 miles across so that’s max fetch but seas will get overhead, if we had 40g50 coming from the south for us to do an ocean run… that’s an entirely different animal I’ve yet to experience. Our winter season is in full hooded wetsuits as well so that adds both a level of protection as well as floatation which definitely gives more confidence.
very excited for the future of down winding and hearing about what gnarly conditions other foilers have pushed themselves in. I’m sure at some point I’ll find my personal limit of where the risk outweighs the reward, it’s just like big wave surfing
Man, I don’t do much “real” DW so I don’t have a lot to add but I feel like the thing missing in this safety focused discussion is straps. Straps are 100% a safety feature and the only downside is some loss of pump efficiency being locked in a surfier stance. When I’m winging heavy conditions I feel so much safer being strapped and I even strap up for mid size prone runner days(heavy days I want all the flexibilitY I can get For chipping in).
is anyone strapping in for DW in the gorge? Seems like a good move on those super windy days? If the thing missing is inserts DM me and I’ll send you a 3d print file
