Owner:
squiz
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Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3070
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25th July 2020
Windsurfing: The Manor-Felixstowe Wind Direction: SW Wind Stength: 15/25 Surf / Sea State: big and smooth Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: Mainly cloudy Max Speed: 25.19 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 37 miles (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise)
Saturday 25th July- Windsurf ***** - The Manor, Felixstowe – mainly
cloudy.
Exocet RF 91 AST with Slingshot Hover Glide 76 with Tushingham Lightning
6.5m.
Foil – 17.92 knot max, 15.20 knot ave ., 8.62 knot hour, 12.67 knot mile,
21.36 km., 0.00 knot alpha.
With a fresh SW forecast for today my first thought was Point Clear but
with a late afternoon high tide and rain coming in the afternoon I decided
in the end to stay local and drive the mile and a half to The Manor in
Felixstowe. I arrived around 9.15 with Andy M and Paul S already there both
setting up their foils with a good cross shore wind already blowing, cloudy
but no rain! Andy was rigging his 5.8 while foiling newcomer Paul was going
for 5.6 I decided on my 6.5 but was a little worried it would be too big
with the winds set to increase during the day! Andy was first to leave the
beach and set off to Bawdsey beach just over four miles up the coast. Then
it was my turn and I pretty much know straight away I had rigged too big
and should have gone for my 6m but I stuck with it and nervously set off
after Andy. I had some OK runs downwind with the wind a little lighter
closer to the beach but there were some big gusts coming through and the
sea was now very challenging picking up big very quickly! I made it to The
Dip where there had been several kitesurfers out early making the most of
the low tide flat water in the River Deben. There was only a couple now out
as I now headed up using the red and white bouy my turning mark! The first
leg of the beat was fine, flying nicely but on tacking I now hit a very big
sea head on with the wind now gusting to 25 knots. The sail was OK but
keeping the board flying consistently in such a big sea is hard so after
bearing off to get some speed I just skimmed the board upwind most of the
time which works fine and you can still sail high into the wind! I managed
to get back in three tacks and headed ashore with the idea of changing down
to continue foiling as Andy was still out foiling with race foiler David
Coles out on his huge new board and 8m, just don’t see the fun in sailing
gear that big in these conditions!
F2 282 Ride with Tushingham X-15 7m and 38 fin Tushingham Lightning
6.5m.
Fin – 25.19 knot max, 23.62 knot ave ., 16.53 knot hour, 20.64 knot mile,
40.00 km., 15.26 knot alpha.
In the end I decided against rigging another sail and went and got my much
loved F2 Ride 282 for some fin sailing as I haven’t done much of that
lately and there were several now out on fins having a blast! The 6.5 was
pretty much perfect for the 115lt. and I went for my usual hour by making
long runs out towards Wadgate post. Ten runs out is approximately an hour
which is what I did and certainly got the best of the conditions. I had
most fun out on the Manor break, there is a sand bank running from the post
about half a mile back towards the shore and around mid-tide you get an
area of small waves with a nice area of flattish water downwind, ideal for
some nice gybe practice:) My top speed and average were a little
disappointing but it is hard on your back leg trying to go fast every run
so I took it easy and in the end got an OK hour. So, after covering 24
miles in 70 minutes it was time to call it a day and head ashore. There
were several out today including four Slingshot foils on a variety of foil
boards, it is defiantly taking off big style here in Felixstowe and is so
much more than a light wind option! More wind for tomorrow too, so back the
The Manor or if too offshore there is always Levington in the afternoon to
catch the tide. I managed to get home, have lunch and do my back exercises
before the rain arrived, another top day here in Felixstowe with the
weather much better than expected, the sun even managed to show its face a
few times:)
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