8/23, Grants(Wow!) 5.2/5.5/5.9/6.0/7.0

[kenonstott]

Mike had already been out on his 5.9 for more than an hour and said it started real slow. My own meter was reading 18 so I rigged the 6.0 and then the 7.0 when that didn’t work. Totally powered on the 7.0 then had to go back to the 6.0. Definitely overpowered but it felt great to be back on the 86L iSonic. Then it got into the high 20’s by the mesometer and Mike and I switched to our smallest sails we brought; 5.2 and 5.5 respectively. Definitely overpowered from the go. Ripping wild rides, way gusty, wild jibes, plenty of tail walking. It finally started sprinkling. I made one more speed run, got catapulted, I hit my head so hard I thought I was going to have to swim back, and there was a 17 gash through the x-ply (which is tough stuff). Not a good way to end. I should have had the 4.7 and 4.2 but I carried them forever without using them. The mesometer was reading 27 gusting 40 when I left and my dash thermometer was reading 59 degrees. This went so many hours it definitely can’t be tagged as a microburst so where did it come from. None of the forecasts predicted much over 13 which would usually produce 16 at Grants. Wow!