Owner:
squiz
Member
Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3091
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21st April 2021
Windsurfing: The Dip-Felixstowe Wind Direction: NE Wind Stength: 15/25 Surf / Sea State: lumpy and smooth Air Temperature: 10 Sea Temperature: 8 Weather: sunny Max Speed: 27.36 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 34.50 mile (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise)
Wednesday 21st April - Windsurf **** - The Dip at Felixstowe – sunny.
Fin – 27.36 knot max, 25.58 knot ave., 14.86 knot hour (year PB), 23.44
knot mile (year PB), 55.60 km.,16.20 knot alpha.
F2 282 Ride with Tushingham Lightning 7m and 36 fin.
This was forecast for a while so we had our fingers crossed that the NE
wind would arrive, always a top direction for The Dip here in Felixstowe:)
With low water around 12.30 we hoped there would be enough wind to head
down at ten but it was still too north and light. Then as if by magic it
switched NE and built to 20 knots and after quickly messaging fellow local
windsurfer Ian Clarke we agreed to meet up at 10.30 just as the sun came
out too:) I was first to arrive and conditions looked ideal, wall to wall
sunshine even if a tad nippy meaning you still really need hat and gloves.
It is the first time I have sailed from here since November 6th last year
as The Manor is usually a better foiling venue. With no 6.5 at the moment,
I took a chance with my 7m Lightning and the 115lt, the first times
that’s been out of the trailer for a while, I was really keen for get out
on a fin board today after a long run of foiling! By now Ian had arrived
rigging 5.6 for his wave board, then Paul Smith rigging the same for a foil
followed a little later by Mark and Robert with Andy M coming for an
afternoon foil, so not too bad a turn out, I might have expected a few more
to make the most of the good conditions! As always, my plan was to try for
an hour but when I first set off, I thought it would have been more
comfortable with a 6.5, will have to keep my eyes open for another
lightning. By sailing upwind torwards kite beach hoping to find some
smoother water, sadly it is not as flat as it used to be but OK none the
less, it did get big out past the red and white bouy but there were good
runs to be had by sailing really broad which you could do easily with the
tide still going out! In the end I was out well over an hour and a half
covering 30 miles getting some nice gybes in before I started to get tired
and started to drop in! The top incident of the day was when I spun out
coming to the beach and fell on the gybe, reached out to my fin to clear
what I thought was weed and felt something slippery, grabbed it and ended
up with an 18” garfish on the back of my board, in 40 years of
windsurfing that has never happened before! I went for a fast mile and with
the tide now turned it took a few runs to get back so I decided to come
ashore for a rest. I had my yummy chicken sandwich kindly made by Mag in
the shelter of the large groyne taking pics and having a catch up:) I
thought I had had enough but with Ian still going well I decided to have a
few more runs, staying upwind OK, never a problem if you are powered up!
So, a good day out on the water, great to be out again on the fin, in fact
just for a change to fins outnumbered the foils today. That could be it for
wind for a few days, time to get the bikes out again!
Photo Gallery Here
MK booms here
77 Sports (Exocet) Here
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