South Padre, Tx 3/20-3/27 5.0 to 6.5

[rob smith]

Went to south padre for the first time last week. Had a great time with very consistent unobstructed wind. We could have sailed up to Corpus with the wind pattern in its north easterly direction and visited our SLC friends. It was nice warm water and even though you were out 6-8 miles off the launch, you could stand up unless you went too far and hit the far side of the dredged channel ( that provided some nice over the handlebar crashes). We were helped by Jibber who ran a good daily rental with Hifly and Aerotech. It was nice having everything rigged and in good condition. We couldn't bring our own gear as they fly regional jets and didn't allow for that size gear. There is camping on the island and you can either fly into Brownsville or Harlingen and about 30 min from South Padre. The flat water was deceptive as it looked like 7 plus size sailing, but was really about 5.0. I got in about 75 to 80 miles a day with my gps and hit about 30 max although it felt like more. We had to use weed fins for the depth and the grass that floats around. It seemed you had to work a little harder to stay up wind and couldn't quite get the speed that a blade or conventional find would have provided. There were about equal kites in the air to windsurfers with some flux depending on the wind and our group played around with a 10 although most were on 15 to 20 on the light days.

Rob Smith