Owner:
squiz
Member
Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3081
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2nd December 2018
Windsurfing: West Mersea Wind Direction: WSW Wind Stength: 10/25 Surf / Sea State: river chop Air Temperature: 14 Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny periods and very mild:) Max Speed: 28.45 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 38.85 (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise)
Sunday 2nd – windsurf ***** West Mersea – sunny periods and very
mild:)
F2 Xantos 295 with Tuushingham Lightning 7.8 and 39 cm fin.
28.45 knot max (spot PB)., 25.65 knot ave ., 15.80 knot hour, 23.90 knot
mile (spot PB), 71.50 km., 15.77 knot alpha.
After yesterdays washout everyone was getting excited about todays
forecast, wall to wall sunshine and 12/14 degrees with a WSW wind gusting
over 20 knots!!!! Everyone agreed on WhatsApp to head over to Essex and
have the day at West Mersea as this direction is a bit off at Felixstowe
even though the tide was fairly low and dropping most of the session giving
you wind with tide. There were definitely more Felixstowe sailors than
locals today with Neil & Craig Hurrell, Mark, Nick & Ed Swain, Andrew
Mexome, Mark Smalling, Ian Clarke, Strawberry and Peter Edmunds soon
filling the £3 a day carpark by the windsurfing hut:) Mag and I arrived
just before ten and Neil (8m) and Craig (7m) were already out but it
didn’t look overly windy but the Hurrells were planing OK and most were
rigging around 7.5 so I went with my 7.8 and 133 lt. Xantos, hoping I
wouldn’t need mu 8.5 as it is being repaired! By the time I had rigged
and walked my kit out along the shingle bank to the water several were
chatting as the wind had gone light:( The sea looked super smooth as I
headed off the beach but to start with the wind was mariginal, shame really
as I had set my casio watch to try for an hour run. I usually come here in
a westerly but with a lot of south in it today you had long runs out to sea
to the left heading down towards the River Crouch but not making it that
far as it’s nearly ten miles away!!! Once planing I was on for a good
hour as was easily reaching at 18 knots plus but could have done with the
tide coming in as going upwind slowed you down and then the wind went
patchy which messed that hour up. The strongest winds were over the far
side but I was nervous of going further than 2.50 miles as I had forgot to
take my GPS rescue beacon! The first hour finished I decided to beat up the
river towards Monkey Beach to see if there was any flatter water behind the
island as the wind increased and 7m would have been better but I was fine
beating and sailing broad so continued. I did have a good wipe-out when
checking how close to a second hour I was and went off the front, to then
discover I had lost my watch!!! I went for some great broad mile runs and
nearly made 24 knots twice and managed a spot PB mile of 23.91 and got my
best ever top speed as well. It was fantastic when the sun came out and
this is a nice place to sail with Bradwell Nuclear Power Station and remote
beaches one side and pretty rows of beach huts the other all under an
amazing sky including a rainbow:) After being out non-stop for two and a
half hours I decided to call it a day as the wind dropped off and headed
back. It must have been low tide as it was a bit of a walk back to the van.
I had to do the sail and board in two trips. Back with Mag I was in time to
say goodbye to several mates all saying what a top session they had had:)
Mag soon had a delicious baked potato and bacon heated up followed by
scones, jam and clotted cream, we know how to live! Then after packing up
Mag and I walked past the row of brightly coloured beach huts before
returning to the van and driving the 37 miles home. What a top 5 star
session and more wind forecast for the week:)
Photo Gallery Here
MK Booms here
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