Saturday 6th November - Windsurf ** River Orwell at Levington Marina – cloudy.

Foil – 18.00 knot max, 16.82 knot ave., 7.05 knot hour, 11.78 knot mile, 27.91 km., 12.01 knot alpha.

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

The cold shows no signs of going, it’s a week now but our son has had it a couple of weeks now so it could be a while yet! With it being a fraction milder today I was keen to see if I was fit enough to get out on the water today with a few of us heading over to the River Orwell at Levington. Arrived at the marina around 9.30 just ahead of Robert and it was not very inviting with light rain and gusty winds. Ian, David and Andy then arrived but no one was overly keen on heading out! I set up my foil board but sail choice was a problem as there was some 20 knot gusts, I went for my 6.5 as I did not feel strong enough for a bigger rig. Sadly, this was only right when the bigger gusts hit, WSW is not the best direction here with W and SW being better, I think. I was first away from the beach and was soon up and flying, making my first gybe of the day like a pro, things then went down hill as I struggled, having a thick head did not help and I was not strong enough to be bothered to pump up so waited for the bigger gusts which meant a bit of slogging. After a few runs on the corner, I beat up towards Pin Mill but the wind was patchy everywhere with only David on his big race kit flying consistently although lightweights Robert and Ian got much more flying time than me! So not the best session, will see how I feel tomorrow before I make up my mind, supposed to be windier from the WNW.

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