Winging in 87 knots

[Dontsink]

Darwin award

[Tone]

that is not over 80 knots. These claims. YOu cannot even walk in 80 knots.

[Peter_Frank]

Thanks Evan, so we are talking about 44 to 61 knots of wind (higher peaks and lower lulls), sounds more trustworthy yes - still a crazy lot

[juandesooka]

<deleted ... repeat>

[RedSky]

The recent storm here in the UK recorded wind wind speeds of 122mph. Crazy to go out riding even if the base wind speed was half that. Those gusts would have made it pure survival. Next time put some strings on it.

[evan]

Thanks Evan, so we are talking about 44 to 61 knots of wind (higher peaks and lower lulls), sounds more trustworthy yes - still a crazy lot

No, that is just the average wind, the gusts were really crazy. Only difference between windguru and the official measurements is that they have a different period of time for a gust (windguru showing shorter peaks)

These were the measurements from the open sea the moment the first strong gusts came through:

[Peter_Frank]

I know it was the average wind, that is what is important IMO - you can hold crazy gusts with a wing.

Gusts important yes, but not as a marker for the windstrength.

I dont believe you can ride if it was steady average 87 knots, as you can not even walk out in 87 knots.

Peter

[mr_daruman]

More like 40ish and looks like a big wing. 80knots is Typhoon 40ms+ winds LOL.

[a99]

Nice fly https://www.instagram.com/reel/CaSrMRCA ... =copy_link

[OzBungy]

31 January 2020 we had a 147 km/h blast come through our local kite beach. Before and after the blast it was a steady 20-25 knots with sunshine. There were small storm cells tracking past about 10km to the north but they didn't seem anything to worry about. There were about 10 people out riding 10-12m kites and generally having a nice time. I was foiling with a 5m kite and came in to adjust the pigtail connections. I think I was a little underpowered IIRC.

The wind started to pick up then the full force of the blast hit. I was sitting on my kite getting sand blasted. It was a total whiteout with sand and water spray. Through the occasional gaps I could see the guys in the water with kites thrashing like mad things on the end of safety leashes. There was a little tea bagging going on but no signs of imminent death.

The full force of it lasted about 5 minutes. It dropped off and the guys on the water made their way back to the beach. No signs of equipment damage or injury. The safety systems worked pretty much how they were meant to. Most walked back upwind to the packup area. A few relaunched and continued their sessions.

What was surreal was a couple of tourist women arrived on the beach near the start of everything and proceeded to lie on towels and enjoy the beach, while being sand blasted with 147 km/h winds.

This search shows some of the weather bureau reports for the period.

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=fawk ... y+2020+146

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/m ... mary.shtml