Thermal winds

In his or her quick descent to insanity caused by lack of wind, the summertime LI windsurfer has only one hope: thermal winds. In between cold fronts when high pressure builds up and remains over the island for several days, the chance is that a SW breeze will blow from midday though early afternoon due to the temperature difference between the land and the ocean. These thermal winds are the only thing that can get our boards moving these days. This is more or less what happened yesterday in the South Bay.



As you see from the wind plot, the thermal builds up in the morning as the land warms up reaching about 15 mph by midday (gusts are more representative of what you get on the water). It's not a lot but it can get me on a plane with my largest sail/board combination pictured below:



It's an Exocet Speed Slider 135L with a big weed fin and a Goya FXR 8.0. I launched near Bellport in a spot I never checked before close to a few really cute summer houses right on the beach. There were at least other 2 windsurfers in the area one of whom lunched with me around 2:30 pm when the wind was weakening. He gave up after one hour I think while I stayed longer. Later the wind picked up and I could plane in the gusts. In these days you realize what it takes to be a Olympic class windsurfer....
I have to say summertime thermals are not as strong and consistent on LI as on other places (notably the Southern Mediterranean) where I used to sail. But that's what it is. The best one can do is getting the most out of it!