Sandbanks is yummy.

It has been a long time coming, but everything lined up for an epic near-classic Sandbanks day. The directions were not all that perfect, but it just goes to show that Sandbanks has a good lot of variety to it and just being so exposed to the big part of the lake, can deliver challenging conditions and nice waves - you just gotta go to the right spot!

Well, Mac's was the right spot. Could have had a bit more West in it, but that is splitting hairs. It was awesome. The wind ramped up around 2pm to a juicy 30-40kts from the Southwest. It was a mad rig-down frenzy as people rigged smaller and smaller. In the end, I was maxed out on the 3.7, while others were around the same size and smaller, down to 3.2. The waves on the outside got pretty damn large. It was an interesting mixture of messy choppy, interspersed regularly with big meaty mast-high sets coming through, enough to produce beautiful flat jibing areas on the wave faces and between. On the inside, it got interesting. As I said, a bit more angle to it and it would have been a touch more smackable, but it was still awesome. If you were in the right spot, you could get a handful of turns, perhaps sometimes even more. A smaller-than-average Ottawa and Quebec contingent made the trip this time, but all these guys are fun, and solid solid sailors. It was a pleasure to sail the spot with such a good gang, and there was a great vibe all around.

Needless to say, the lack of sailing lately is definitely showing up in my abilities, control and confidence. It was a battle to sail that long (I think I must have sailed at least 4-5 solid hours in the end), but I was dead tired by the end and slept like a log (after barely making a dark, rainy & ugly drive home). To top that off, being juiced on a 3.7 is not exactly my best scenario for trying tricks. I tried a few back loops, a couple pushies and forwards, but I don't think I landed anything but a few out of control shove-its. Near the end in fact, I was so tired I was barely able to make any top-turns without losing grip on the sail.

Amazing. Epic. You name it. Days like this make you realize why we windsurfers endure those long windless spells, just waiting for these amazing days to come along. Epic Sandbanks, strong winds and warm weather: More please!!

... and a great video done by Nic Chapleau!