Diaries

Saturday 28th April 2001

A variable day in the Estuary at Ynyslas. I got there with Anna around 11.00am to find not quite enough wind for windsurfing, but a few people rigging up anyway. I was going to sail off the seafront, but felt obliged to go out with everyone else, so rigged my 6.5m sail and my Axxis. However, there wasn't enough wind. I sailed over to the mouth of the estuary and there was no wind there, I sailed over to the mouth of the Leri and there was no wind there, so I gave up and came back in. I then got my 4.9m Blade kite out and played around with that for a bit, I did some good jumps and then had a go on my mountain-board. It was a bit sketchy on the mountain-board as the wind was now picking up but was very gusty and the surface of the hard-packed sand was covered with a layer of mud from the recent high spring tides. This meant that the board tended to slide sideways on every gust. By this time the wind had picked up enough to go windsurfing, so it was back on with the wetsuit and back into the water. This time there was plenty of wind for my 6.5m sail and I was well powered up all the time. The other guys that were there went back out, but decided it was all too much for them and packed up. I had a good hour blasting back and forth on the flat water of the estuary before the wind once again dropped to virtually nothing.
As I got out, Derek got in with his 6.5m Wipika kite and another guy went out windsurfing with what looked like a 6.5m sail and a biggish board. Derek couldn't really get going in the lightish winds, but the windsurfer seemed to do OK. Once on the plane he seemed to be flying along. Derek ended up sailing over to the point, walking across the sand to the mouth of the estuary and kite-surfing there. The last I saw of him he was on the beach at Aberdovey.
Anna and I sat in the van in the sunshine watching for a while as the wind once again started to pick up. We then had to go and do some shopping/gardening chores as all the while the wind was increasing. This time the wind stayed, reaching a steady 20-25 knots for the rest of the afternoon and evening... I should have done my chores in the morning and gone out to play later.
Andy was in Birmingham all day, but did get back around 7pm, and was planning on getting an hours sailing in then, judging by the wind at our house he should have had a good sail. Steve also stayed landlocked this weekend, which probably explains why there was wind when it wasn't forecast!

Friday 20th April 2001

I don't quite believe it... yet again the Northerly winds picked up during the afternoon and the sun was shining. I got to the Golf Course Car Park, Borth around 5.30pm to find a lumpy sea and 20-25 knots of wind. I went out on my own with my Axxis, a 6.5m sail and a small fin. I only stayed out for an hour or so as I was on my own, but it was a good sail in the sunshine. I had a few sin out problems, due to having too small a fin for the 6.5m sail, but it was nothing major... The forecast doesn't look too good for the weekend, so hopefully I'll get a bit of a rest... My body certainly needs it.

Thursday 19th April 2001

Another good windsurfing session at the Golf Course Car Park, Borth. I couldn't get there until about 4pm, but the wind had been steadily increasing all afternoon, so I was looking forward to it. When I got there Andy was sat on the beach with his wave board and 5.8m sail. He said that was fine, so I rigged my 5.4m sail and my Axxis board. I saw Andy make a couple of attempts at sailing, but then he came back in and changed down to his 5.0m sail. I went out with my 5.4m anyway, and was well powered up. I had a few good runs in the very lumpy sea. The sun glaring off the chop actually made it difficult to see on the way out as I was heading directly towards the sun.. I had to just bend my knees, hang on and hope for the best. I went back in and changed from a 28cm fin to a 34cm fin and by know Andy had rigged his 5.0m sail. We both went out, but Andy couldn't get going. he changed up to his New Move board, but still couldn't get going and also managed to ding it carrying onto the beach. He therefore packed up and went home. I stayed out on the water for another hour or so, but the wind was gradually dropping so I decided to call it a day. All in all a good session, very similar to yesterdays session, but slightly windier and slightly lumpier.

Wednesday 18th April 2001

I had planned to go to the beach around Midday to go windsurfing or possibly kite-surfing. However, as is often the case, the wind died just before I planned to go, so I stayed at home and did a bit of gardening... Whilst doing that, we even had a small snow flurry, so I had the Prince song 'Sometimes it snows in April' in my head all day long! By about 3pm, the wind looked to be picking up and the sun was shining, so I headed to the Golf Course Car Park, Borth. There was no-one else there when I arrived, but a NNW wind was blowing at about 16-18 knots and the sea was lumpy, but with no shorebreak. I rigged my 6.5m sail and my Axxis 278 is no time at all and got out there just as Andy arrived. However, Literally as soon as I carried my kit to the water edge, the wind dropped and I couldn't get going.. Grrrr. Andy had forgotten his mast so went back home to get it. I played around with my rig settings, but still couldn't get going in the light winds. Andy rigged his 6.3m and his New Move board, and Derek turned up and set up his 8.5m Wipika kite. I had a quick go on Andy's kit as he was getting changed, and got straight on to the plane and blasted out to sea. I then gybed his board, sheeted in and out popped his mast foot. It took me a while to put it back together again in the lumpy sea, but I managed it and by the time I got back to shore, the wind had filled in so I went back out on my own board. We then had a couple of hours blasting in increasingly lumpy seas with a constant 20 knot wind... Perfect. Derek struggled with his 8.5m kite so changed down to a 6.5m and promptly set off towards Borth (He was having fun, despite the long walk back). I had a really good sail, but my hands are suffering now as all the blisters I developed on Sunday burst so I now have cuts all over my hands. Yet another good afternoon at Borth.

Sunday 15th April 2001

Steve and I got to the Estuary at Ynyslas around 10.00am after a nice fried breakfast at my house. Although the wind on the sea front was only around 12 knots, it was NW and funneling through the estuary mouth, so it was 18-22 knots in the estuary. We were on the water by 10.30 with fairly big kit in flat water conditions. I was on my Axxis 278 with a 6.5m sail, Steve was on his Xantos 295 with a 7.0m sail. The wind gradually picked up, reaching a steady 23 knots and as the tide came in we were able to sail across the channel towards Aberdovey. It was an absolutely perfect session, with a steady, comfortably overpowering wind on flat water with some steeper chop over the sandbars and gorgeous sunshine. Steve made a couple of rest stops to refuel, but I stayed out for a solid 5 hours... What a session. Steve was practicing his Carve Gybes and getting there in the end, although fatigue was setting in come the end and none of us were making them. I had the energy to commit into the carve, but didn't have enough energy to actually change my feet or flip the rig, so just ended up carving until the sail backwinded me! Quite a few other people were out, including Dave fresh back from his trip to Maui, a few other people sailing from the estuary and a few people from Aberdovey. After the session it was nice to be able to sit in the sun relaxing and recovering.. Nice that is except for the rather unsavoury deposit left by a passing dog that Steve managed to put his hand in as he sat down!!.. Poor old Steve.
We then went around to the Golf Course Car Park, Borth where Andy, Derek, Toby, Richard and some of the guys from Boardwise Cannock (Chris & Des) had been out. Andy of course raved about the session they had had, but everyone else said it had been a bit up and down without a constant wind, but it had its good moments. Apparently Toby had come pretty close to pulling off a back loop. Toby also had a little kite-surf session and Derek had a bit of a downwind kite-surf session. Mike was also there for a while flying his 7.2m Blade on the beach. While I was there, there was no surf left and the NW winds meant that the conditions were fairly flat with the odd lump here and there. Andy went out for a couple of runs as did Richard and Chris, but they all ended up walking back upwind.
All in all a good day was had by everyone. The annual invasion by the Midlands has begun, along with the inevitable cars stuck in the sand and even a rescue by the coastguard of someone stuck on one of the sandbanks in the estuary... They must have walked out there at low tide and got stranded as the tide came in.

Saturday 14th April 2001

I got to the Golf Course Car Park, Borth early afternoon where I met Steve and Andy who were rigged up and ready to go. I rigged my biggest kit and soon joined them. However, none of them were planing and the wind was a bit to westerly and therefore onshore. I got going straight away, but it was a struggle staying on the plane and although I had a few good runs, ended up downwind as I had to bear away in order to keep going. I gave up after a while and sat in my van to warm up...it was freezing out there. Steve kept trying, but never got going. Then Derek and Toby turned up. Toby went kite-surfing with an 8.5m Wipika, but again there wasn't quite enough wind for him. He had a couple of OK moments, but also ended up quite a way downwind. Derek played around on his buggy with a 6m Wipika. Not a very inspiring day really.

Monday 9th April 2001

Following a long drive home from Bristol, I arrived in Aber to find a SW 20 knot wind and sunshine, so I just HAD to go windsurfing. I went out from the Golf Course Car Park, Borth with my Axxis 278 and a 5.4m sail. By the time I rigged, the wind was still 20 knots, but now WSW and the sunshine had been replaced by rain!!.. Oh well, you can't have it all. I had a few good runs in the now increasing surf, out the back some of the waves were shoulder height and with the increasingly onshore wind things started getting a little difficult. Andy then came out with his New Move board and 5.8m sail. His outhaul snapped on his first run and he had a bit of swim, but recovered OK and went back out. I then had a few problems with my battens which looked about to burst through the batten pocket, so I packed up. Andy stayed out, and Derek turned up and went out with his 6.5m Wipika kite. Not a bad quick sail in fairly difficult conditions... I'd forgotten how much more like hard work sailing in waves is than sailing on flat water.

Select this link for some photos from the Portland 2001 Kitesurf and Windsurf Festival

Saturday 7th April 2001.

Anna and I awoke to discover Steve missing... A short phone call later and we learned that he had got too cold sleeping in his car last night and so decided to drive home to Birmingham!!.. This meant he missed the whole of the kitesurf and windsurf festival that he had come to Portland for... Steve, why didn't you just sit there with the heater on, or borrow some more bedding from us? Anyway, despite the absence of Steve, Anna and I wandered around the stalls at the festival. As usual, the new kit was all very tempting, but nothing really stood out as being exceptional. Most manufacturers seem to be pushing the wide-style concept to the limit, and lightweight, large early planing sails also seem to be the order of the day. The kite-surfing kit was more interesting, especially the newer, very small twin tip boards... I want one of those! The demo kit didn't really start getting used until after midday when the wind tried to fill in. There wasn't enough wind for me, so I didn't get around to demo-ing anything. The wind did however pick up by about 6pm, and the kite-surfers put on a good show. At one point there were more than 20 of them out on the water, with most of them pulling off some huge jumps. I didn't go out on the water as I couldn't be bothered to rig up by that time of day, and watching both the pro kite-surfers and the beginners alike was entertainment enough.

Friday 6th April 2001

We arrived on Portland at about 2am, following a 5 hour overnight drive. The wind was howling all night and I couldn't sleep as I was thinking about getting out there in the water. We (Anna and I) therefore got up early and were the first people into Ferry Bridge Car Park that morning.... However, the wind had dropped to less than 15 knots (although it did get to 18 knots for an exciting couple of minutes before dropping to next to nothing). Steve arrived around 10.30am, just as the wind was trying to fill in. We rigged our biggest kit (278 board and 6.5 sail for me, 295 and 7m sail for Steve), and tried to get going in the marginal Southerly winds. I had a few good runs, but the wind dropped even more for a while, so we sat and waited. In the afternoon the wind swung to SW and then Westerly and picked up to Force 6. We stayed on our big sails, but Steve changed down to his 278 board. Most other people were out on sails between 4m and 5m. We were a little overpowered by the end, but much of the time was spent blasting back and forth across the Harbour well powered up and in control. I was gybing well, and chop hopping well too. Steve was also going well, but was having spin out problems. On one occasion he VERY nearly spun out right into me! After a fairly long sail, we watched the pro kite-boarders for a while doing some big jumps, spins, loops etc and then headed off to the Mermaid in Easton for a meal and some beer before retiring to our vehicles for the night.

Wednesday 4th April 2001

Yeah Man!!!... What a day. I got to Borth at midday and met Andy for lunch. It was low tide with a westerly 20 knot wind. After lunch we went sailing in the 'Schpeeed Channel' in the Estuary at Ynyslas. The wind was too onshore on the sea front and the channel was the only water in the estuary. I went out on Andy's AHD Exocet 285 with a 6.5m sail, Andy was on his New Move with a 6.3. We were well powered up all afternoon and had an excellent session sailing around the estuary in the sunshine. One squall came through during which time things became a little lively, but not overpowering. I made most of my gybes, but had no chance body dragging. Andy made one or two gybes. I'd forgotten how good sailing a big floaty board can be, they are just so much more forgiving, especially when tacking.
As the tide rose and covered the sand banks we were able to sail across to Aberdovey, so we made a few trips across the estuary. There was some nice rolling swell in the middle of the estuary, which provided some perfect chop hop ramps on the way towards Aberdovey... What a day.

Sunday 1st April 2001

No April's Fools today. In fact we had a pleasant sunny day at the beach. James and I flew our kites in the Estuary at Ynyslas. There wasn't quite enough wind for kite-mountain boarding, even with my 11.0m Wipika. I haven't flown the Wipika much so it was good just getting used to it. I also flew my 4.9m Blade and James flew his 3m kite. Anna was there too just watching. One guy did go out windsurfing int the estuary, but he was a beginner enticed out by the sunshine! Col and Sarah then turned up and we went to the Lifeboat Station, Borth for lunch and to check the surf. The tide was too high and the surf fairly small, but as we sat there the wind swung offshore so we headed to the Golf Course Car Park, Borth. After a little haggling with the car park attendant I managed to get a new key to the gate, and we met Andy, Richard and Siwan and all went for a surf in 2ft messy conditions. Col hadn't been in the water for 6 months, so was pleased just to get wet. The sunshine also brought a few mad bikini clad swimmers out of the woodwork... Not that they lasted long in the cold water. It was nice however being able to get changed leisurely without having to rapidly put on several layers of clothing before death by exposure set in... Mind you, I was attacked by a beach ball and stone throwing 3 year old as I got changed.
After that we dropped James of at the station as he had to head back to Wolverhampton, and then just hung around Borth for a bit.
Apparently Steve had some OK sailing conditions on a pond in the Midlands!!