Tuesday 28th December - Windsurf **** River Orwell at Levington – cloudy with rain.

Foil – 18.91 knot max, 17.47 knot ave., 12.23 knot hour, 15.69 knot mile, 24.05 km., 14.03 knot alpha.

Exocet RF AST 91 with Slingshot Hover Glide 76 with Tushingham Storm 5.2m.

Was keen to get out today as our Grandson is arriving today, also a little milder but not as warm as it is supposed to be when it will be a balmy 15 degrees! With the wind in the west, I headed over to Levington Marina just as it started to rain. With low water around midday, it was not ideal but when I arrived, I would have gone out on the fin if it was not raining as the then looked strong and the river super flat. I sat in the van waiting for the rain to move through and for super keen Robert to arrive. The rain did stop but it was still dull but the river looked good so we decided to set up our foil boards as the wind had eased a little. It is a bit of guess work on sail size but it looked breezy and I nearly rigged 6m, in the end I went for 5.2 and wished I had gone for 4.7 as there was so really big gusts, perhaps the windiest I have ever foiled! With the tide low having not turned long we launched easily by the marina entrance getting no mud on the boom this time and sailed straight out of the channel to deep water. I then had several great runs down to Felixstowe docks in lovely smooth water. It was not the day for pushing things too hard being so windy and cold but I did go in a couple of times as I over foiled! I love foiling with a small sail and got a few half decent gybes. The wind was getting stronger so I decided to call it a day after about an hour plus and sailed beat back to the marina, the last bit was pretty rough with a good swell now running down the river! Robert was already back after having hit the mud fairly hard, breaking his UJ! That might be the last windsurf of the year with company arriving will have to wait and see if I can get away early for a session but not bothered as its been a top year for sailing, mainly due to foiling which I love:)

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