Sunday 8th November – Windsurf **** - River Orwell - Levington – lovely sunny winters day:).

F2 Zantos 295 with 36 fin and Tushingham Lightning 6.5m.

Fin – 27.46 knot max., 25.74 knot ave., 11.99 knot hour, 23.72 knot mile, 53.30 km., 12.07 knot Alpha.

After Fridays good session I was keen to get to make the most of the latest named Storm – Atiyah while it is still mild, the wind looks like it is continuing next week but the temperature is dropping again:( Again the tide was not ideal being high at 8.35 at Harwich and I try not to sail at Levington with the tide going out but if it is windy then you don’t have to worry about it, in fact I could beat all the way to Felixstowe dock, one and a half miles and sail back nice and broad! A few local sailors were going to West Mersea and Alton Water but with this venue only 6 miles from my house I didn’t see the point in travelling 70 miles to sail, giving me more time on the water too:) The day didn’t start off great as I had made it nearly to the marina before I realised I had left my windsurfing boots hanging on the washing line so I had to return home to get them. Again, I had the venue all to myself when I arrived at 9.15 with the tide still high and a west wind gusting well in excess of 20 mph. So again, I use my F2 Xantos 295 at 133 lt. to get me through the lulls you experience on the river. Sail choice was harder but with the wind supposed to build during the day I erred on the side of caution and went with my 6.5 and to be honest I was a little under until the wind built later in the session! I soon discovered I could beat to the docks and sail back broad not overly fast as it was a bit on the lumpy side but I ended up with a near 24 knot mile so I am pleased with that:) It was a fantastic day to be out on the water, wall to wall sunshine and not too cold, I did have my hat and gloves on but was the nice thing about this venue is you turn at each end of the run in shallow water so I didn’t fall in which keeps you warmer. With the wind increasing, gusting to 35 knots I was getting some nice mile runs and several 27 kt peaks just needed some smoother water to push 30 but sadly it wasn’t to be. I got some cool 26 knot runs between the marker posts at the marina entrance which was fun and only saw one boat out on the water all day. Then with the tide dropping and the wind pushing 40 knots it was time to call it a day, so again I was out on the water for three hours enjoying the pretty River Orwell then all I had to do was try my board back on the trailer which was challenging to say the least!

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