A bit billy no mates tomorrow as no one answering our local email group, must be hibernating :( With Peter Cutts having lunch and Neil Hurrell in London I didn’t face a 40 mile trip to Point clear to face 45 mph winds, which only left Levington with wind in the west! At least it wasn’t raining as I drove into the marina and with the wind gusting to 25 mph I took a chance with the 6.5 and 133 but realised my mistake as soon as I launched from the marina entrance!!! As I headed across the bay I soon found it to be very windy and as the tide was fairly high - I should have come earlier! – and the water was very choppy so going fast was next to impossible:( After a few runs across the bay sailing broad if I dared toward the docks and beating back, peaking at nearly 30kts and was on for a 27 ave. but then on the way back to the marina it was like the board was catching on the bottom and then on the way back the board wouldn’t go at all, just sticking to the water:( I thought it might be weed on the fin but when I stopped in the shallows and checked the bottom of my board a huge section of the outer skin had completely gone!!!!! :( - must have been sailing too fast :) but this is the lightweight fragile F2 Xantos133 and was already full of holes so no great loss but still sad to see it go the end and will be looking for another one – ebay here I come!

As I was taking some pics of the board and checking the wind strength on the gauge – now gusting to 44 mph!!! I decided to pack up just as wave sailor Phil Trett arrived! He rigged 4.7 and had a great sail, jumping and gybing all over the river :)

I should have rigged smaller and would have had a good sail but lots of wind this week so I can try again.

Back at home it was get my heavier Xantos (always pays to have a spare) out of the garage, take the footstraps off the broken board and put them on my 100lt. board ready for next week:) It was then off to Lidl to stock up with mince pies and take my board to the dump :(

Check out the link for pics from today :)

https://www.facebook.com/stephen.squirrell.1/media_set?set=a.10206030205006838.1073741861.1012660562&type=3