Some tips for a visitor to Sandy Point

Check the Victorian forum - always lotsa chatter & advice (be wary )

Also try nearby Inverloch - big group of active sailors & very friendly (bring beer)

Don't get caught by the tide!!!!!

*The very best speed winds are always frontal, WSW. November is sometimes a bit hit and miss with good fronts. Some years it is outstanding, some they just don't turn up.

By November, we are usually starting to get some good Easterlies (20-30+ knots) which usually get kicked up by thermal, sea-breeze effect. Easterlies are very tide dependent. You need low tide for a speed run. Warning! Watch out for dangerous shallow weed covered sandbars right in the speed course which sprung up last year. They are quite abrupt and like little table top underwater mounts! Mark them with sticks or something.

* Tides are critical for Easterlies (you need a couple of hours each side of low). Tides not so critical for WSW speed, but the bank can disappear at high tide (very shallow, rough and choppy) and on a big incoming flood tide you can get 'woopdedoos'. Best is usually on the falling tide when chop is at it's least.

*Best speed spots: Easterly speed bank on Easterlies. Main speed bank on WSW.
Possible NM and 1 hour on NW in the Yanakie channel. High tide I hour on Easterlies possible if the tide is high enough to run the shallows, and also on North Westerlies on quite high tides, left of the entry road. Possible really gusty 'sort-of' speed on Nor Westerlies right in front of the parking area. Possible speed run on westerlies at slack low tide near the entrance 'Sandy Pt B'

* September/October usually bring the most energetic fronts (30 knots+), but you can get really good ones anytime from August to Feburary. We sometimes get 'Honking Easterlies' as early as October/November but they are almost guaranteed in January every week. We have had dud years though. Generally, Spring/Summer is our best season.

*Wave sailing: Waratah Bay is a large half moon shaped bay so it can handle a range of wind directions from West to North, North West from The Gap (where the Waratah township road hits the coast) around to Ned Neils Lookout and off the SLSC, to the ocean side of the speed spit on a NNW-Northerly.

Easterlies are cross off at the SLSC/Ned Neils but can be weak in the inside of the break with the sand dune wind shadow.The same wind is crosshore at The Gap which is sheltered from the swell but can be good if the swell is bigger.
Many of the keen guys carry their gear across the speed spit (through knee deep soft wet sand!!) and sail in super clean cross offshore when the swell is small to medium.

*Normal wave fins are perfect!

*For speed we are using more raked fins now as we are getting more and more thin ribbon weed which can hamper you sometimes, but on many days it is not critical.

*For slalom, upright fins are generally fine but a few of us are using raked fins for 'One Hours' because one strand of weed caught on the fin can really kill your speed, and backing up to loose it finishes you altogether.

*No need for a 4x4 at all.

*What is 'that cold'? You will definitely need a steamer. 3/4 in winter and 2/3 from about November. Booties are optional but I wear thick ones in winter and 'tropical reef shoes' on summer. If you don't have a valuable head and use a helmet to protect it, you will benefit from a neoprene hat on those cold frontal days. It's the wind chill that gets you. In easterlies it us much milder but even in summer most use a 2/3mm steamer. Water temp should be up to around 15 degrees by November.

*Sail sizes from 8.5m down to 4.4m should cover most eventualities although if you get one of those 50-60 knots days you will be looking for a small hanky and a big bucket of guts!. In reality, I hardly bother sailing with anything larger than a 6.6m. My most used sail is a 5m Koncept, closely followed by the 5.8m and 4.4m. I used the 4m Koncept at least 4 times last couple of years!

* Bring a surfboard, preferably a longboard for those lovely offshore days with clean waves in the bay. There are also some good surf spots around the western end of the bay that work in Westerlies/North Westerlies and even South Westerlies, but you will be speed sailing in the latter! On the Easterly days the surf is often great in the mornings before the wind really kicks in.

*There are some fun sailing spots with a dedicated local crew around Inverloch. Potential NM spots on just the right wind (very fickle) and proven potential for 40+ knots peaks on Easterlies if Sandy is not doing it. If you are completely nuts you can join Kato for a sail out into Bass Straight over the horizon and back on monster swells just for the fun of it!

*Don't forget the Go Kart track at Stony Creek!, and if you see me around on a light wind day I'll bring down the tandem Gemini for you to have a play on!

Hope this helps, Andrew
"The older I get, the better I was"

Thanks for the tips guys.

Andrew, that is a killer post, and very much appreciated. Thanks for the time and effort you put into such a detailed response, it will make our trip, navigation and decisions/packing so much easier. So looking forward to our trip now we are versed with the good oil....... THANKS A MILLION AGAIN

Make sure you pm me before you head down so we can entice you to come and have some fun with us at Inverloch. Always a crew out on the water somewhere on the Inlet and not to be sniffed at speed wise with a 46 done a couple of months ago at our secret spot Area 45.

AJ - Invy is sailable in NE - W winds. Anything with too much N in it gets gusty as its coming off the land. However a good NW can be nice cross off wave sailing on the entrance bar. The inlet has heaps of different sand bars (constantly moving from season to season) all through it allowing for some great speed runs. As Old Salty says at the end of last season Spotty clocked a 46 on an E wind. E'ly is probably my preferred wind at Invy at the moment, but SW's are great too. If it's a really good SW you'll be at the Pit though.

Invy does also has wave sailing, it has a nice little beach break and you can sail out the entrance of the inlet on the sand bar in the middle. No surfers to get in your way, they all stay on the main beach or the reef's & point breaks between Invy at Cape Patterson. E'ly is probably the best fopr wave sailing here too -port tack jumps and Starboard tack riding.

If you're coming with family, i'd probably recommend staying at Invy. There's more to do than down at Sandy. The Pit is only a 30-40 min drive from Invy (depending how quick you drive). I'm a bit biased though... i live at Invy. Here is a google maps snap of the inlet showing a bit of everything...

INVERLOCH
For speed we tend to take E, ESE, SE, W, WSW, SW wind directions.
As Dan mentioned the Inlet is a changing feast with huge movements of sands that close some runs and open new ones.

Recently Moondo discovered a new run that he has called Gidgets. This works on a SE and gives us more than a NM run, something we have been missing on the Inlet. Some of our members that have sailed many overseas locations say this is the best run thay have ever sailed world wide. Sweet Sweet run

Low tide can be diabolical especially if you are following Kato(he never tells you his fin size until you run a ground) so a few of us have been running weed fins. You tend to get a bit more notice that you are running a ground than with the traditional upright fins. (There is little or no weed in the Inlet) So if you have them - pack them in.

Sail sizes - 9mtr to 5mtr for Invy and 7mtr - 4 mtr for The Pit

A few of the boys have been enjoying longboard windsurfing in the Inlet and out in the waves.

So I guess what I am saying is bring everything

We have a club member that has a holiday rental that he does a cut rate for IWC club members. Let me know if you have not booked a place.

Dude, I love your new look. Eating meat again?

Dont get stuck on pints of Cascade Green at Fish Creek pub - makes for some clumsy sailing the next day hey Issac???