Owner:
squiz
Member
Member#: 1175 Location: Bristol Registered: 18-12-2004 Diary Entries: 2
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29th January 2022
Windsurfing: Levington Wind Direction: WNW Wind Stength: 15/40 Surf / Sea State: smooth and river swell Air Temperature: 13 Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny periods Max Speed: 28.98 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 29 miles (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise)
Saturday 29th January - Windsurf ***** River Orwell at Levington – sunny
periods.
Foil – 19.81 knot max, 18.31 knot ave., 11.09 knot hour, 16.21 knot mile,
33.67 km., 14.06 knot alpha.
Exocet RF AST 91 with Slingshot Hover Glide 76 with Tushingham Storm
5.2m.
Fin – 28.98 knot max, 26.39 knot ave., 0.00 knot hour, 0.00 knot mile,
11.30 km., 17.89 knot alpha.
F2 282 Ride with Tushingham Storm 5.2m and 36 fin.
Have been looking forward to today for a few days now, its not often you
get a good breeze and 13 degrees in January and was hoping to make the most
of Storm Malik and was not disappointed:) With the wind forecast to be
anything from west to north west Levington was the only option for me today
despite the tides not being the best with high water at 8.36 meaning you
would be sailing with the tide going out, which is not a problem if it is
windy enough and especially when foiling where it is easy to keep upwind!
Arranged with Robert and Ian to meet up at Levington Marina at 9, arriving
to some lovely sunshine, very mild and a good breeze. The wind was now
probably wnw cross off which makes picking a sail size a bit of guess work
but it looked very windy in the middle of the river so we all rigged small,
I went for 5.2 while the two lighter sailors went for 4.2 which proved
about right until the wind went bonkers later in the morning! With loads of
water launching was easy and it was great sailing in the mild sunshine
heading down towards Felixstowe docks with some really big gusts coming
through which defiantly keep you on your toes but I love foiling with small
sails as it makes gybing so much easier although I did go in a few times
especially when way overpowered! With the tide running out fairly hard now
it did chop up the water but the nice thing about foiling is you can fly
over the lumps even if you are having trouble sheeting in at times! After a
couple of good hours, the wind really did pick up, I checked the Landguard
weather station when I got home and over 40 knots was recorded at Shotley!
So, with the water level dropping we all decided to head back, especially
with my foot hurting and my arms aching! We all stated to pack up but the
conditions looked too good to miss a quick go on the fin board especially
as I haven’t been on one since December 1st! So despite the tide going
out I quickly set up my F2 Ride 282 and headed out using the 5.2. The good
about sailing in this direction is you could turn in shallow water each
side of the river. There was a nice swell running down the river which was
great fun running down very well powered with the small sail. Not wanting
to lose too much downwind I would land on the far bank, I just wanted to
get 5 decent runs in to get a better average for the month! I soon
discovered you could keep upwind easily so in the end did 7 runs across the
river and in the end only missed getting 30 knots by a whisker! Was also
pleased with the alpha as it was windy and choppy in front of the launch
beach. With the water disappearing fast and getting really knackered it was
time to call it a day, what a top day it was too with the best of both
worlds, fin and foil! I had a quick chat with Robert and then with Maggie
biking down for lunch around one I headed over to the showers. Back at the
van around 1.15 and with it being very windy and no sign of Mag I started
to pack up thinking that the wind had put Mag off biking over! But fear no
she turned up despite her having trouble with her fingers, with me
suffering from a really dodgy heel which makes working painful, we are both
a coupe of old crocks, she braved the storm to bike over. She had brought a
yummy cheese roll which we enjoyed in the comfort of our van before
finishing packing up and heading for home – great day was had by all:)
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