Sunday 24th October - Windsurf **** River Orwell at Levington – sunny periods.

Foil – 19.38 knot max, 18.24 knot ave ., 10.69 knot hour, 15.59 knot mile , 60.30 km ., 14.68 knot alpha (PB).

Exocet RF AST 91 with Slingshot Hover Glide 76 with Tushingham Thunderbird 6.5m.

With our Grandson hopefully driving done for a few days I was keen to get out fairly early so I would be home when they arrived, was not sure whether to go to The Dip at Felixstowe or Levington, in the end I chose the River Orwell. I think it was going to be busy today as several were heading down around midday but with high water at 2.30, I know I could get out much earlier by sailing out of the marina channel and arrived around 10.30. The water was still fairly low so I set up my foil board and with some really good gusts going through I went for my Tushingham Thunderbird 6.5. Being first to arrive I was able to reserve my trailer down to the launch spot so I could get away easily when finished, my reversing skills must have improved, it was made better because there was no one watching:) There was already several yachts out on the river including the squibs racing soon to be joined by the kids sailing from the pontoon up the river. I had to wade around the rocks at the launch beach to the marina channel but soon found deep water and made several short tacks out to the main river at around eleven o clock. The wind was strong at this point and I definitely did not need anymore sail as I headed towards Pin Mill in lovely sunshine and flat water! You always run out of wind by the trees near Pin Mill so gybed and had several long runs in front of the marina. I must have been on the water at least an hour before there was any sign of more windsurfers, in the end there were 6 more windsurfers out all foiling! With the wind at its strongest on the straight towards Felixstowe I decided to beat up to the docks having great fun racing with the yachts which I could easily beat if the wind stayed up, sadly it was a little gusty so couldn’t always get flying! I stopped near the last berth at the docks to take some pics before heading back, sadly the wind was down and it was not until I was nearly back to the marina that it picked up again! I then had an interesting hour or so looking for a strong gust to practice gybing in front of the marina. I find the secret is to go in as fast as you can and actually made a few flying gybes, now I am not sure whether to switch my feet first or the rig having tried both. It takes you by surprise when you get one right thinking that was easy only to end up in the water at the next attempt! Still great fun trying even though I was getting pretty knackered at this point. I was also pushing to try and get 20 knots but after a couple of big crashes eased off a bit! I was out the best part of four hours in the sunshine not cold at all but I did have my neoprene hat and buff on, although I had my gloves on my wrists, I did not have them on. Time to call it a day, pack up, shower and head for home and wait for the arrival of the Grandson:)

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