Hi. I'm planning to go there for windsurfing for the first time in late September to early October. And I am taking my own gears. But I am not really sure what boards and sails(sizes that is) suit in this particular period. Is anyone who has been there this time of year? I appreciate your advice.
Hi Tosh,
I was there in September last year and the wind seemed to be either 15 to about 22 knots, or pretty much dead calm, with sailing around new caledonia being from flat to choppy water conditions, the place is basically one huge lagoon.
The are plenty of sailable breaks but you would need to get a charter boat that knew where to go to take you out to the edge of the reef. This was outside of the scope of my trip as i was there with a school group, but found time for sailing. If you can't be bothered with your gear there is a pretty good hire facility at Anse Vata. They have a good range of boards that were mostly JP's, they said they were getting all new sails for this season that I think are Naish's. Gear hire for a day is about $100.
The are heaps of locals out on the water when the wind is happening an it is an interesting place to visit. It certainly made a nice change from water temperature in Tas in early September!
Cheers
Hi Chiris. Thank you for your thoughts. I am trying to figure out what would be like sailing up there. So, I imagine inside of the lagoon is pretty flat and once off the reef towards the second island gets windier right? I wonder if there is any current between the 1st and 2nd islands? Initially I (advanced)76kg and my wife(beginner) were taking 120 jp xcite and HS 111 with 7.4,6 and 5.4. However,hearing about the condition there 86l jp would be another option. We want to maximise sailable time there. But also hiring gears a day or two when windest condition would be a good idea.
Thanks for the photos, Jusavina. Did you take your own gears to Anse Vata? Would that be 5.7?
Regards
Tosh
Julian, Looks like those lessons I gave you are paying off
Hannah seems to be enjoying herself, pity uni starts again soon
Tosh: good eye, indeed, it's a 5.7 I used at L'anse vata but a 5.2 on the reef.
It was not my own gear but I've already been there with my formula gear (actually a RS:X 9m²). Most on the time in the lagoon, it's pretty flat or a bit chopy. Your option with the 7.4, 6 and 5.4 looks like the best as in september, you can get between 15 and 25 knots from south east... or nothing at all.
Ray: don't talk about uni to hannah or she'll never come back to Brisbane ;-)
By the way, I have to tell the Hannah's strategy when she sails on her home spot:
beach start, straight to the "ilôt canard" (island you can see on the pics). Then get off the board, turn it and go back to the beach. No jibe or tack! Too easy!
