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squiz
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Worst Wipeout Award 2003
Member#: 72 Location: Registered: 28-10-2002 Diary Entries: 184
Mood: needing time out
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25th May 2015
Windsurfing: Gruissan Wind Direction: nw Wind Stength: 25/40 Surf / Sea State: flatish Air Temperature: 25 Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny Max Speed: 33.10 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered:
Monday 25th May – windsurf ***** - Gruissan - sunny – nw 25/40 mph
Xantos 133, 6.4, 34 fin. Max 33.10 kts, hr.23.32 (PB) 149km, 209 mins, ave
30.10kts, alpha 20.90 :(
Moved on to Gruissan and found a top spot to park up in the woods
overlooking Gruissan castle :) with the nw wind forecast to blow 20/25 mph
it was going to be perfect for a bit of big board (133) cruising in-between
Gruissan and Port –la –Nouvelle (6 miles) hoping to get a good hour and
some big miles but in the end the wind was 25/40 mph making it an
interesting day!!! :) After a relaxing breakfast we headed the short
distance to the beach, making it through the concrete chicane – Mag hates
this bit as I damaged the van here when it was really new !!! It’s a
bumpy track out past the learner kite etang and salt beds to the beach, we
then drove along the back of the beach to the small canal and parked up in
a great spot allowing Mag to sit in some comfort behind the van, she even
managed her exercises after a bit of shell collecting:) With the wind
already gusting way over 25mph I rigged the 6.4 and gave the Xantos a go
just to try out the conditions. With my watch set for an hour countdown and
my gps rescue beacon down my lifejacket I set off in the lovely flat water
towards the snowy Pyrenees :) This was the best hour run as the wind was
only 25/30 and not that many other sailors out apart from several kiters
where the large Etang enters the sea including several learners complete
with rescue boat. My plan was to try to keep in the really flat water close
to the shore, this meant some beating and probably not so fast but much
easier on the legs than the rougher water further out! You can’t have
more fun than this windsurfing and the first hour passed quickly as I did
all my runs from the canal to just short of where the etang empties approx
2miles and then I went all the way to Port-la-Nouvelle and back to Gruissan
breakwater 5/6 miles and then stopped for a drink and chat with Mag.
Refreshed and the watch set for another hour I set off again but this time
it was harder as there were a lot more sailors out (Bank holiday) and you
were never sure what the kiters were going to do, I tried a few sling-shots
to up my top speeds but it wasn’t worth knackering yourself to gain an
odd knot or two!!! So another 20 kt hour passed without incident , it did
include another trip to Nouvelle as after a gybe I lost a lot downwind and
ended up way offshore in the rough stuff but managed to get in close to
shore by the Nouvelle gasworks!!! So it was back for lunch and to recharge
my gps, the wind had by this time gone bonkers, gusting to 40 mph but I
tried for one last hour even though I should have changed to the 5.8 and
80lt board I continued with the 133 and to be honest it handled the
conditions brilliantly not as fast as a modern slalom board but so easy to
sail – my favourite board of all time and it only cost me £50 – I love
ebay :) The final hour was very challenging having to weave in and out of
sailors standing in the shallow water at the edge and gybing was hard too
as the board just bounced out so I stopped at the end of each run even
though I was sailing much faster but was completely shot to pieces by this
time so called it a day having covered 149 km in 209 mins not as far as my
200 km best but still a fantastic 5 star day sunny /windy day !!! We just
chucked all my sandy kit inside our poor old van – there was no way to
tie them on in 40 mph winds and headed off the beach, spotting an Avocet
and several Kentish Plovers on the way. We drove round to the camper aire
by the beach to top up with water before heading up to the shelter of the
hills to de-sand the van yet again – can’t wait for this wind to stop
blowing it must be two weeks non-stop now, I don’t know how the locals
put up with it – it would drive me crazy !!! I then washed the sand off
me, read my book in the sun, had a great tea and then a short walk in the
beautiful countryside :)
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