Second week for me. Just got the personal leave approved from work. Now to convince the Wifey.
Good news for those who are a bit nervous of crashing and loosing their gear. 
I thought the old 'Rescue' tinnie motor was completely stuffed and after pricing new replacement motors I was debating with myself whether I really wanted to shell out $3000 for a replacement. In the end I took it to the mechanic for the bad news. I received a call the next day saying he had found a few easily fixed problems and it was going fine, and the bill was under $100!
Eureka!
So now (unless something else breaks - which is quite possible probable) we may have a boat available for the possibility of retrieving stuff during speed fortnight. BYO bailing bucket! (Notice the deliberately uncommitted wording 
)
Disclaimer: It should be mentioned that in seriously windy conditions, the kind where you have a real chance to make a name for yourself, conditions may make it too dangerous to operate the boat. In these conditions it is basically, 'save yourself'! The decision to sail or not is yours. We can always look for you gear (or you) later on the other side of the inlet.
Heres hoping that we get an epic day for a bit of fun 
and lots of days with a bit less for everyone else
For them sailing with other than dedicated equipment and with small balls, how about a special class of "Adjusted Speed".
10 second results would be increased by 1% for every cm of board width above 50 cm.
So if Sailquik saw light winds and brought out his Hypersonic and got it up to 30 knots he could be hard to beat for top position...
And for those of you wondering about coming, or doubtful about coming, no-one ever sits on their death bed wishing they'd spent more time at the office!!
Gday matty, spewing me and lidsy cant come down this year, i hope you have a great time, Gday to all the VICs , jodie, luca, will miss you, have a great time, and for those wondering if its worth it, it is! Great conditions, with great people, pffff, doesnt get better than that.
Hope you all get some good winds and PB's. I can't make it this year due to holiday commitments (non-windsurfing!!), but hope to get back next year.
ditto that ! i hope you all get great conditions
i certainly enjoyed the event last year and the banter at speed central
unfortunately i havent quite recovered from my trip last year when i had to
spend 80hours in a car wih bender!
this time round i have to travel to some weird place called Gnarloo?
might take some sailing gear (and leave the wetsuit at home)
as i hear its near the coast
)
Are relative beginners who have a tendency of falling off randomly allowed to enter?
Megs has given me a leave pass (we'll she'll be coming along) and would like to have a go.
Ah the Bender\Snides banter - I am so dissapointed to be missing it in person :) And sad to be missing Lyds and 'Fabio' (although am pretty sure the hair would create more wind drag and rule you out of any serious contention Johnny) :)
For those of you who are coming or toying with the idea I am pleased to annouce a new underwater housing which I am v much looking forward to playing with. Also possibility of chopper photo shoot depending on numbers of interest, conditions etc.
See you all down there, Jodi :)
Here are the suggested bonus calculations for those whose goal is the magic 50 knots:
Bonuses are calculated from your best 10 second speed eg 21 knots.
1. Width: 1% per cm over 40. eg 90cm = 50% = another 10.5 knots.
2. Length: 1% per 5 cm over 180. eg 280cm = 20% = another 4.2 knots.
3. Age: Extra 50% if all your gear has seen better days. (Sail must be crackley and patched, UJ must be wobbley, water must drip out of board when held upside down for 10 seconds ) = another 10.5 knots.
eg total: 45.2 knots, sorry, try again next year...
Sandy Point is goin' off its head right now...... in the dark! 
We waited on the beach, sails rigged until almost dark hoping that the change would arrive in time to get a few runs. It didn't. It came through at about 7pm, just after last light. 49-60 knots WSW at the Prom and from the sound outside it is pretty much perfect PB conditions.
On the plus side, it seems that the regular frontal systems might be starting to come back.
1 hour of good Southerly on Sunday at Inverloch produced 25 knot runs.
Sandy must have done better?
