What a crap day apart from the last hour when the sun came out and I had fun in the open sea on the Xantos !!! but lets start from the beginning.The forecast of wsw/sw was not brilliant for Felixstowe so when Peter Cutts said he was going to Point Clear lagoon speedstrip I decided to join him.So after breakfast at the dip watching a couple of windsurfers out with 6m but big wind shadow and wind gusty - a yacht ran aground entering the River Deben but was pulled off when the tide turned :) The Fludgers looked the best bet at Felixstowe but I headed to Essex. I arrived early about one with the tide to low to sail so I rigged two sails - the 6.4 on the 80 and the 7 on the new fanatic 100 and with Pete also on 7m we headed out into the lagoon just in time for a big squal to hit and you couldn't sheet in !!! but it was when we got our best times with Pete mastering the conditions better !!! I nearly went to get the smaller kit but the wind dropped so you struggled to plan :( Pete managed to make it back to the beach but I was stranded on the shingle bar in really light winds and torrential rain !!!! and I sheltered under my sail and got very cold vowing to never go to Point Clear again as it's a crap speedcourse - it never works as it's too short and very bumpy and the wind struggles to get over the shingle bar :( With light winds I was walking to the end of the bar to wobble back when the wind increased and I had a few more runs, by which time several kiters were sharing what little flat water there was !!! Then a huge squal hit with heavy heavy rain and kiters in the air trying to kill me !!! I managed to get back to the beach but had to walk along way back to the van to warm up !!! After a snack I was going to pack up but the sun came out and as Pete was going to try his Billet I decided to try my Xantos, the wind was too light in the lagoon so we headed out to sea and had the best time reaching along the coast from Brightlingsea to the point - over a mile in a nice rolling sea :) It could have been a bit windier but it was lovely to be warm in the sun and I finally got off the water at 7:10 !!! and home at 9 !!!! so not too bad a day in the end.
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