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squiz
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Member#: 106 Location: Midlands Registered: 21-01-2003 Diary Entries: 5
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9th January 2020
Windsurfing: Levington Wind Direction: SW Wind Stength: 15/30 Surf / Sea State: river chop Air Temperature: 13 Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny Max Speed: 19.34 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 13.86 (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise)
Thursday 9th – Windsurf **** - River Orwell, Levington – sunny.
Starboard Formula and Slingshot Hover Glide F/Wind with Tushingham
Lightning 6.5
Foil – 19.34 knot max., 17.04 knot ave., 8.79 knot hour, 14.05 knot mile,
25.70 km., 7.34 knot Alpha.
Agreed to meet Michael Galbraith at Levington at 9 this morning to make to
most of the 10.30 high with the hope of some foiling but with talk of
closing the Orwell Bridge this morning due to high winds it looked like it
was going to be a fin day? On arriving there was already plenty of water a
bit of a novelty for me as I have sailed here a lot around low water, also
this was my first session of the year with company which made getting my
wet suit done up easy:) The Orwell was lovely and flat with the wind only
gusting to around 20 mph so it was looking perfect for some foiling
especially with the wind due to drop. So, we set up our foul boards giving
the wind a little longer to settle as it was still early, in the end
seasoned foiler Michael rigged 5.5 while I went for 6.5, the smallest sail
I have ever used for foiling. Once wet suited up the wind had picked up so
Michael switched to his fin board but I decided to give the foil a try,
they say do something that scares you everyday and I certainly did that
today:) After getting clear of the shallow water close in headed towards
the bay and soon hit winds gusting over 25 knots and was soon up and flying
my favourite direction, broad! It had chopped up as usual on the corner so
I tacked and headed up river where the water conditions are much smoother
but the gusts were just as big. I took it easy going upwind and did a lot
of sailing with the board very close to the water still with only the front
foot in the strap! After one run, I nearly came in to swap for a fin board
but decided to persevere with the foil and had an interesting but
challenging session especially with the wind strength increasing to over 30
knots. By now I had at least a metre too much sail but you don’t have to
sheet it in especially going broad, today's problems where that it is
difficult to sail a constant height in strong gusty winds and trying to
sail fast was a none starter because if something goes wrong you end up
very quickly in the drink, in fact I had a couple of spectator wipe-outs
with the board coming completely out of the water! Luckily no damage was
done and you didn’t get cold as the temperature was 13 degrees:) I had a
couple of particularly nice runs across the large bay in front of Pin Mill
but was a little nervous of the depth because it is shallow up there,
luckily I didn’t hit bottom once:) I cant wait to do some long distance
foiling with the Orwell Bridge one of my first goals perhaps with a little
less wind! It would have been interesting to see how I would have got on
with a 5.5? I had one nice beat where I managed to get in both straps and
actually flying. I had covered 15 miles and was absolutely knackered and
with the wind showing no signs of abating I decided to call it a day and
had a slow run back as the tide was now dropping. Michael had had a top
hour on the fin so win win all round having survived 30 knots, the most
wind I have ever been out on foil kit! So tomorrow is looking sunny with
light winds but Saturday is looking for a session across the border at
Point Clear with perhaps a foiling back at Levington on Sunday, if I can
get my wet suit dry!
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