I went to check out Party Cove to see if there's any re-form on a straight south wind. Nope. All the action was on the far side and up wind. Saved everyone a trip and we all launched at the Marina. It's offshore but you can get to the wind. See map below. It's my guess, Party Cove goes off with something 190+ to 210 degrees. We'll have to revisit. Sylvain joined us. Chris helped to fill in the gap in his gear. I didn't get the speed I wanted. I went with a smaller fin (27 cm) then last time and I was slower. I think the 31 cm keeps the board lifted out of the chop better. Gave up speed for control. I rigged a 4.7 really flat. All the bleed off did was make drag. Wind was super gusty 20+ with gust over 40 mph. Wore my 3.2 suit. Water temp at the Marina is 66 F. Water still felt brisk.


Bloomington



Champaign



Decatur




11 of the day's 11 photos

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GPS track and wind arrows map



They put out the best wake.



Burn and turn.



It goes to glass on the other. Got stuck in there.



Not up to speed.



Tried to push it and the fin spun out. I'm looking to bail with no steering because I'm running out of water.



Sail hits the wind shadow. And everything tips windward.



The boom is your friend.



Don't worry the mast stopped his slide.



Glad my helmet protects my ear and back of my jaw.. Sat in the water for a little bit. Jaw not broken and neck still works.



Back in business. 'till next time.




11 of the day's 11 photos

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Great pictures.
Always cool to see crashes and falls thanks to the stills you can extract from the GoPro clips. It happens so fast on a video that it's usually something that rarely looks as intense as it looks on a still picture.

Still trying to get oriented to Clinton Lake sites as I have only been there once. Where is this party cove? Would that site on the west side where I sailed with you a year ago have worked on that day, it looks pretty clear on a straight south?

David Mark wrote:
Party Cove is that big cove at the top of the map (above). We haven't sailed it. We're in recon.


David Mark wrote:
It can work. The wind is funky coming off the dam with a straight south. SSE works best there - that's what we had the day you were there. West Side is also 10 degree cooler water temp than the Marina.