Hey all,

After walking through the city this morning and noticing it seemed quite windy I had a quick check of the charts and forecasts. Looks like we’ll be on for a half-decent system driven NE’er today hat isn’t a seabreeze and that means it SHOULD be windy on the Northern Beaches! AND as an added bonus there is a Southerly front coming through at some stage tomorrow that means we’ll be on for more excellent wind conditions!!

This is good news for the people (Like Hans) that don’t seem to work as they will get an all day to swagger about in the surf but for the rest of us mere mortals that have to answer to the man it’s either bunking off work or getting out early to make the most of the last of daylight savings!

Spots that ‘should’ be good today – Fishermans and Narrabeen and hopefully off the end of the Reef. Palmy for those up the northern end.

Spots for tomorrow – Longy, Newport Reef, Narra etc etc.

At time of writing it’s 15-20knots NE across the Sydney region, I did check the moon tonight and unfortunately it’s not suitable for ‘night kite :(‘

The post Sydney wind forecast. Kite more, work less. appeared first on kitesurfing.

We love a good southerly wind for kitesurfing / windsurfing, they are always reliable, strong, usually pretty consistent and can hang about for the whole day or even longer. The best part however is that when one is forecast there is a 99% chance of it turning up (unlike a seabreeze on the Northern Beaches!) The only issue is when.. The forecast models and seabreeze can be a bit out sometimes, we went through a trend a while back of them turning up 3 or 4 hours ahead of schedule but recently they have been pretty close. But how can when that southerly wind will really hit and how strong will it be?

Thankfully the wonderful website seabreeze has the answers we need and the BOM has provided us with the perfect resource.. Wind meters all the way up the east coast! Now when a southerly hits the Sydney region it rattles through pretty quick, so if we need a little more time to finish our latte’s or get away from the wife we need more warning! Bring on the Illawarra charts..

Located an hour or so south of Sydney is the Illawarra coast, it’s pretty much dead south of us (further south can work also to some extent). If we know a southerly wind is forecast we can use the charts south to (say Kiama or Point Perpendicular) to watch for the southerly wind change. This tells us it’s ON IT’S WAY.. but how long??

Let’s look at an example for today (Thursday 5th March 2015), here is the chart for Kiama. Perfectly you can see the southerly wind change hit almost exactly at 12pm. This is perfect for us to work out time lag.

Now lets look at the chart for Sydney Airport

and now lets see the important Northern Beaches

I’ve made it pretty simple by writing the times the change hit on the graphs. I’ve never honestly done the real math of trying to work it out, and it will always depend on how strong the wind is. As a rule of thumb I’ve always said from Point Perpendicular to Long Reef is about 2 hours (that was the 2hrs I sent you Alex ) and it looks like I might be about spot on. We can see the wind change at Kiama at 12pm, the airport change at 1.09pm and then North Head go at 1.30pm.

So, if you were bunking off work today and were on the ball you would have been at Longy pumping up at about 1.30pm and you’ll be down on the beach right when it hits. That is called maximizing your water time! Yewww.. That’s about it. This approach doesn’t work for seabreezes but will work for frontal winds from the North too.

The other big benefit of taking a look further afield is we can see how strong the initial front is – sometimes we see a 40-45knot gust ahead of 25knots of good wind – and we can also see how long it’s going to last, it could just be a brief wind change under a big dark cloud for example or it could be a 3day gang banger of southerly! Or if’s going to swing offshore… Looking down south lets us know all this. Happy dayz..

As always, post your views and comments in the comments below if you know this works elsewhere, if you find this useful please share on facebook and with your friends.

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Just look at it! it’s another replay of last week almost! Last week (bar the blue-bottle stings) was awesome, I had a day off and got some of the best waves in ages at Longy / Dee Why. Then the surf jacked up, cleaned up and gave Sydney some of the best surfing conditions we’ve had in ages. Swell was still around today but smaller with a nice 4-5ft at DY point and light winds keeping it super clean.

Now, this week looks like a repeat, as long as we’re not looking at too much west then it’s going to be a cracker! BIG surf forecast so if you aren’t up-to scratch then maybe hit the bays and harbours for safety until it backs down a bit. I’ll be hitting the surf if I can early in the mornings before work.

IF ANYONE HAS A JETSKI AND WANTS TO COME GET SOME SICK WAVES AND FOOTAGE LET ME KNOW ASAP!!

Stay safe.. Pete

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If like me through winter you don’t religiously trawl the seabreeze forecast waiting for wind and I usually miss when wind coming up. Well I decided to take a look the other day and look at this!

Yewwww.. If this forecast holds true (it has changed since Friday and stuck more south) then we could be on for a few crackers. It’s probably going to be WET and GUSTY (depending on the rain clouds) at a bet and there is a chance the surf will get up as it goes on. Swell forecast is down a little from last week but we’ll still get some chunks.  Looking at the charts with that low off to the east will determine if its dead south or more east, it’ll start off more east as it builds and then trend south. Another up side is the water is nice and warm, surfing over the weekend felt like summer again! (almost)

As always, beginners it’ll be probably be ok to start with and then progress to being too windy. Usual spots will be in play, Botany will work (stay further south), Longy, Narra. I know where I’ll be :). See you all at 5.30am on the beach for a sunrise session!

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Let’s spend a moment to think about the Anzacs. Right that’s done, now let look at whats happening this weekend!

Looking at the charts below, we can see a cold front that is swinging its way up the coast over the next few days. That is going to drop the temps down a bit and swing that wind Southerly most likely with a lot of wet stuff falling.

Depending on where you are on the coast will obviously determine when that wind swings. Seabreeze thinks currently sometime early Sunday morning but I’ve seen that about 6 hours out before so keep an eye on the charts down the coast on Saturday to see if its swung yet.

Seabreeze is also calling a Northerly breeze late Friday into Saturday and this is probable as its been the trend for most the recent southerlies. (It’s not a sea breeze people!)

So, Where does that leave us Sydney Siders? Well, lets look at the facts.

• Most people will be drinking this weekend, that really gets in the way.
• The traffic will be shit as its the end of Easter long holidays
• This wonderful sunny period can’t last forever!

For these reasons I’m personally going to stick around Sydney but I’m hearing of a few trips south. I personally don’t want to blow my weekend sitting in traffic so will stick local. You’ll find me somewhere on the Beaches or maybe doing some lessons at Botany. But there is wind to be had so get out there! Remember, Double-Demerits this weekend and there is ALWAYS a cop on the road from Dee Why to Long Reef!!

There is a SUP demo on at Kurnell on Saturday (see below) held by James Grundigs at Alliance Kite Gear

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Just a quick note to get you all in the mood for a good few days of probable kiting ahead. SeaBreeze is a little flakey tomorrow but the BOM forecast reads like a dream.

Strong Wind Warning for Sunday for Sydney Coastal Waters

Winds

East to northeasterly 10 to 15 knots turning northerly 15 to 25 knots in the late evening. Winds reaching up to 30 knots in the evening.

Seas

Around 1 metre, increasing to 1.5 metres during the morning, then increasing to 1.5 to 2.5 metres around midday.

Swell

Southerly 1 to 1.5 metres, decreasing to around 1 metre during the afternoon.

Monday 6 January

Winds

North to northwesterly 15 to 20 knots shifting southeasterly in the middle of the day. Winds reaching up to 25 knots offshore early in the morning.

Seas

2 to 2.5 metres, decreasing below 1.5 metres during the morning.

Swell

Southerly below 1 metre, increasing to 1 to 2 metres during the afternoon.

Tuesday 7 January

Winds

Southeasterly 15 to 20 knots turning southerly 15 to 25 knots during the morning.

Seas

Around 1 metre, increasing to 1.5 to 2 metres during the morning.

Swell

Southerly 2 to 2.5 metres.

Maaaybe watch out for the nor-westerly thing tomorrow morning but otherwise it looks like a good forecast, unsure on the wet-ness factor. This morning we’ve had 2 out of the blue little downpours and there is some puffy darkness in the sky. If you hadn’t noticed before that sort of thing is what makes it gusty. (I should write about why that is)

Right now Kurnell is turning it on with a green arrow, and we’ve just hit yellow at North Head. I’m sure the Northern Beaches will get wind today, temps are not that high and it isn’t a true sea-breeze.  Surf should build too and there is a good little wave out at the moment so the surfers should be happy. Watch out for beach goers, it’s PACKED on the beaches, now is a good time to get your insurance from Australian Kiteboarding if you haven’t already. They have just emailed an update to the insurance policy.. Go and check it out  WooHoo..

See you on the water…

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The last few weeks have given us some fantastic conditions for kiting all over Sydney. I for one have lost track now of the back to back days of kiting. I’m totally spent and sore. Botany took a good beating yesterday with 30knots of wind and the Beaches were very kitable too with some perfect surf.

Looking forward at the week to come, I see a lot of beers being consumed.. – oops, wrong forecast..

The forecast at the BOM isn’t too flash, we’ve got possible showers and high 20’s. This to me says sticky sticky sticky. Seabreeze doesn’t forecast much wind but keep an eye it changing. I’d think we’d get something light and kitable about Sydney over the Xmas break so keep the big kites handy. It’s looking bleak until next weekend but stay positive and ready to pounce.

Remember the fuzz are out and it’s double demerits so no speeding to the beach!

Stay safe and fingers crossed..

Pete & Robbo

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Laterz
Pete

The post This is it! Wind and waves appeared first on kitesurfing.

For the surfers its looking like nothing special with an 8s wind swell of 2-3 meters. The longer you wait the more the waves will be but don’t be expecting top quality.

As usual take care and have fun. If you have a great session somewhere and get some pics let us know so we can share it.

Todays photo is a busy and flat Dee Why beach. There is a surf festival on so the boats are out charging. Summer is BACK.

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** UPDATE SATURDAY LUNCHTIME **

The low pressure system that was meant to be leaving a slight southerly trend has moved further offshore and this is leaving us with a small temperature driven seabreeze starting to come into Sydney. I’m still dubious that it will amount to anything as looking up and down the coast we’ve got wind coming in from every direction! Keep an eye on it and you might be lucky

** END UPDATE **

The long weekend is so nearly upon us and I can’t wait to get out of the office and get into the water for a few days. There is quite a lot happening this weekend in terms of activity with groups of people heading to Old Bar for a kite mission and a few heading down to Jervis Bay. A few of us had a look into heading to Jervis for the weekend but it’s PACKED! Every rental house we looked at was booked out, must be something to do with school holiday, a long weekend and a billion sailors turning up in big grey tinnies!

Unfortunately looking at the charts for the weekend shows a slow southerly momentum to the wind that I’m sure the heat and attempted sea breeze will kill off. That huge slab of high pressure that is lurking over us is the problem and the low is just providing that slight southerly breeze. Down to Sunday-Monday you can see the front sliding through Sydney that should push some wind in but only for a short period, could be late Sunday arvo or Monday morning but sods law says it will be at night.

So what else is there to do? There are lots of big tinnies to look at in the harbour, a huge-mungous fireworks display on Saturday night, Silvan and Sarah’s leaving bash. Might be a good day to rent a stand-up and give that a go, fly model planes or crazy golf. Nat and I will probably head to North Head on Saturday night for the fireworks if anyone wants to catch up.

That’s about it, not the news we wanted but there isn’t anything we can do it about it so best to just keep busy or earn some partner-points to cash in on a windy one.

Have Fun..

Pete & Rob

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