Nice to get powered up on the 5.5m at last. Nice day at the pit, with a few of the usual Vic suspects turning up and a couple of blowins from SA. Was good to catch up with Choco and Hamma again.

Wind was very patchy at first with a lot of standing around wondering if  there was going to be any wind at all before the tide raced in. Martin even rigged his 6.4m.  A squall came through while we were rigging that looked to be hitting 35kts or more so we were hopeful.

I only took one board and sail with me so as not to have to pay for excess baggage.

Very happy with the result  considering how out of shape I feel at the moment. I hooked two good gusts all day. Since the wind was light at first I had very little downhaul on just to get planing so the sail had virtually no twist. I wasnt wearing any weight so when the first gust came through I was unable to sheet in. I put in a pretty steady run with a peak speed of just over 46kts, and a 44.8kt 500m despite being sheeted out most of the way. The wind dropped back to 12-15kts so it was not possible to sail back. I put some more downhaul on and 6kg of weight for the next gust.

I hooked a really nice one after that and was comfortably powered the whole way down. There were a few lulls on the run, but overall it was pretty smooth. I was stoked when I realised I did my 3rd fastest 500m run ever. Its been a long time since the other two were done a few days apart 3 years ago in much better conditions.

Kept sailing with spotty and Matt until the tide was ready to swallow the cars. Spotty had already moved his off the beach. I knew I only had 4 good runs so was keen for a final one. A last squall came through but it swung very south as it passed. It was a solid 30-35kts. When I finally pinched up to the bank it was around 100deg. I accellerated to 37kts and a bullet came through and plucked me off the water. I managed to land OK and kept going but my harness had come unhooked and it took me 13 seconds to get moving again, ploughing along at 25kts. By the time I got the swinging harness line back in my arms were finished, and I'd almost run out of room. Frustratingly I hit 45.5kts just before the dunes but it was only my 10th fastest run.

Overall I'm stoked with my gear. The NP 5.5m makes getting upwind relatively easy, has heaps of power and feels very slippery on the run.

My new board design is a significant improvement over my previous work. Its more stable than the CA boards, gybes better, handles the chop better, seems to be just as loose, and is a lot more comfortable overall. Despite my lack of sailing fitness I was able to sail upwind on evey run except for when the wind was dropping right out. Fin I used was actually a 22.5cm carbon asy that I made last year. Didnt spin out once, even when going through the brutal channel chop at high tide. Cant wait for another go at it!