Owner:
squiz
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Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3091
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9th February 2019
Windsurfing: Point Clear Wind Direction: W Wind Stength: 20/35 Surf / Sea State: flatish Air Temperature: 9 Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny periods Max Speed: 31.78 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 36 (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise)
Saturday 9th February – windsurf ***** Point Clear – sunny periods.
F2 Ride 282 with Tushingham X 15 – 7.0 and 36 cm fin.
Fanatic Falcon 80 with Tushingham X 15 – 5.8 and 28 cm fin.
31.78 knot max, 29.20 knot ave ., 15.94 knot hour(spot PB), 21.25 knot
mile, 64.50 km., 20.28 knot alpha.
For the second time in two days Mag and I headed over the border into Essex
to do battle this time with Storm Erik which has been battering the UK
overnight. With high tide at 14.48 we arrived in good time at 11.30 and
there were already kiters there! After a cuppa I had loads of time to rig
two lots of kit and with the westerly wind only gusting to 25 mph on the
beach I went for the 5.8 and 7.0 slalom sails with my Falcon 80 and Ride
282. For the first time this year I was able to sail with more windsurfers
as Peter Edmunds, Stuart Fawke and a few locals arrived plus lots of
kiters, at least a dozen! The wind seemed OK for my small set-up. 5.8 with
the Falcon 80 and I was first on the water at 12.30 and soon whizzed into
the lagoon which was only just deep enough to sail and was super flat,
getting 30 knots on the first run bearing off down the far end close to the
mud bank. Sadly the flat water was not matched with the strongest wind, so
after a few runs I headed back to change to my big kit, 282 with 7m which
proved nearly perfect for the rest of the session, it was a bit hairy at
times with the wind gusting to 35 knots but it handled the conditions very
well:) It is always my aim to try for an hour as this session was proving
to not be very fast, I think the westerly wind is not the fastest direction
as when bearing off at the far end it was very choppy. You could sail into
a small creek at the end which was flat but I was not sure of the depth so
wasn’t fully committed! After about an hour and a half my hands were cold
so I headed back to the van to warm them up, sitting by the diesel heater I
was soon toasty and enjoyed a cheese sandwich and cuppa:) I had done a 15
knot hour which was not too bad and 18 miles so with the lagoon looking
flat with the tide dropping I headed out again, I though about trying a
smaller sail but stuck with the big gear and had another really great hour
plus flying close to the shingle bank watching out for the kiters doing
super high jumps and flying out of control broad across the lagoon, sadly I
think its only a matter of time before there is a serious collision between
a kiter and windsurfer as the kiters don’t seem to look before jumping or
turning:( With the wind easing the numbers out on the water dropped as most
were using really small kit with 5m sails and I could keep going longer
with the 7m:) I got another 15 knot hour, it might have been faster but
weed was a bit of a problem and I had to stop a few times to get it off the
fin:( With the sun setting and the wind dropping light it was time to bring
to a end another 5 star session at my favourite local venue. I had so much
fun gybing and was flying about planing on loads of turns, it must have
been one of my best gybing sessions ever with the top ten all over 18
knots. Also, it was OK for mile runs with the top ten all over 20 knots,
not bad considering the lagoon is under 1000m long. Back at the van I was
surprised to see I had done 36 n/miles, not bad for a winter session.
Another cuppa while warming up with diesel heater at full blast, we love
our little VW and then with everyone gone all I had to do was de-rig two
sets of gear, but it doesn’t take long and am loving my new trailer! Then
it was a 40-mile trip back to Felixstowe including a small detour into
Ipswich to meet our son Daniel to pick up a dresser for his new flat which
hopefully they will move into in a month:) I think that is it for
windsurfing for over a month as we are off to the mountains in search of
some snow, it’s been a great year so far:)
PS. Just an update, we are not millionaires and Erne (Premium Bonds) only
paid us another £25, still it is better than a pock in the eye with a
sharp stick!
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