Forums > Windsurfing Victoria

Ballarat speed strip

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Created by yakspeed > 9 months ago, 23 Dec 2017
yakspeed
VIC, 105 posts
23 Dec 2017 4:30PM
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Anyone ever sailed this man made speed strip in Ballarat?

shear tip
NSW, 1125 posts
23 Dec 2017 7:09PM
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sailquik
VIC, 6149 posts
25 Dec 2017 12:07PM
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Last time I went through Ballarat, I saw a weed cutter/harvester working along the side of the lake. Made me wonder....

Didnt notice that speed strip though. Looking at GE, I recon the better one would be the North - South channel running through the isand (reeds?). NW or SW would be the right angle. It looks to be about 18m wide. May get pretty gusty wind, but who knows? There used to be a few people around there that windsurfed. Don't know if there still is?



Stuthepirate
SA, 3590 posts
25 Dec 2017 1:03PM
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Playing around on google maps (instead of working)
*can only assume that these were taken on the same day by google

The top photo is taken from the SE corner of the lake near the Boat Sheds looking NW
Plenty of wind and whitecaps from the North

This Photo is taken from the NE corner looking West at the start of the rowing lanes
Plenty of gusts and flat water
*note the bushy tree leaning to the left

cs66
VIC, 23 posts
1 Jan 2018 10:33PM
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I moved to B'rat two weeks ago and live 2 blocks from lake.... last week there was a screaming Northerly and one guy out on his kite surfer. I had a chat to him and he said the lake was pretty weed free to the south and so I went out today.
Anyway, water depth 1.5 to 2 metres, plenty of weed free water in front of the yacht club as well as the rowing lanes, light wind with some ok gusts (7.5 m sail, old mistral one design longboard) but definitely has some potential when the wind is up..... the rowing lanes look like fun when the wind is right. A long way from Sydney and the Ocean, but less traffic to get to the 'beach'


wind.willyweather.com.au/vic/central-highlands/ballarat.html

DaveHowe
VIC, 2 posts
4 Jan 2018 12:25PM
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Welcome to Ballarat. There are around 6 of us that like to get out so give us a yell. Front up to the yacht club and ask for details.
There are 3 lakes worth a look at. Lake Wendouree is pretty good with NW, N and NW (for 17kts +). Can be a bit gusty. Occasionally we get a good southerly and get straight down the 2.5m deep rowing channel. There is no weed in the channel but you do have to slalom around the small marker buoys. Elsewhere in the lake there are patches of weed so a weed fin is a must.
Lake Burrumbeet which is 12min out of Ballarat and is 10x Lake Wendouree. It is currently 2m deep with no weed. Absolutely fantastic with access on the North, South and Western side of the lake. Lake Learmonth is also available but the water depth is still approx 1m. It is 4x Wendouree.

sailquik
VIC, 6149 posts
6 Jan 2018 11:09AM
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Select to expand quote
DaveHowe said..
Welcome to Ballarat. There are around 6 of us that like to get out so give us a yell. Front up to the yacht club and ask for details.
There are 3 lakes worth a look at. Lake Wendouree is pretty good with NW, N and NW (for 17kts +). Can be a bit gusty. Occasionally we get a good southerly and get straight down the 2.5m deep rowing channel. There is no weed in the channel but you do have to slalom around the small marker buoys. Elsewhere in the lake there are patches of weed so a weed fin is a must.
Lake Burrumbeet which is 12min out of Ballarat and is 10x Lake Wendouree. It is currently 2m deep with no weed. Absolutely fantastic with access on the North, South and Western side of the lake. Lake Learmonth is also available but the water depth is still approx 1m. It is 4x Wendouree.


Hey, good to hear there are some windsurfers up there! Are you mostly on Raceboards or shortboards?

Is there any good speed sailing potential on those lakes? Clean'ish wind and flat water near a bank/shore?

Is the north/south cross channel through the reeds(?) on Lake Wendouree sailable in strong (W to NW) winds?



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"Ballarat speed strip" started by yakspeed