Last night my GPS showed 26-27 kts a couple of times while trying to beat a thunderstorm back to shore, on a Wave.

It was during the Wed Night Races on Clear Lake. We were about halfway through the race, with a thunderstorm skirting the northern lake shore, like storms normally do there.I was watching the storm but did not expect it to do anything except suck wind away.Then, I started hearing flogging sails and saw some mono hulls closer to shore heel hard over. Later I heard the trailing edge of the storm whipped down over the lake. I decided to head for home.

It was a broad reach home. When the wind hit, it was violent. Spray off flat water, bows burying for about 30 secs and suddenly I was in ~15 kts. Wow, I am going to make it! Then I looked back and realized I had outrun the wind line but it was catching up. 50-100 ft behind me, it's blowing spray off flat water. 3 more times the wind line caught up and tried to pitchpole me. At the southern side of the lake, where I turn down a channel to the dock, me and a Catalina 22 got lucky. The storm paused when it hit the southern shore. Looking back I watched a Ranger 23 broach at the channel entrance. I had just gotten sail down and was heading for the dock under mast alone when it hit. and did not let up for a while.

At one point I looked at the GPS and it showed 26 kts. At home I looked at the log and it showed 4 big spikes, highest at 27.4 kts, with 12-13 kts in between.The speed may be real. Another boat said they were indicating 20 and I just screamed past.

There is no real moral or point to this post other than I didn't know a Wave would go that fast and I have never been caught multiple times by a storm, Seeing a black spray wall catching you is not a feeling I want to repeat.