Tuesday 30th November - Windsurf ** River Orwell at Levington – cloudy.

Foil – 19.38 knot max, 18.12 knot ave., 7.16 knot hour, 16.81 knot mile, 31.50 km., 13.66 knot alpha.

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

After a run of really cold we have a couple of miler days before it drops again, so I was keen to get out on the water. With high water at 7.30 this morning it was not ideal for my winter venue, the River Orwell at Levington but with the wind a westerly you can easily sail there at low water so I headed over to the marina arriving at 9 with Ian, the only other sailor on the water here today. It did not look overly inviting, being a grey day but at least the rain had cleared away and it did not look that windy, so we set up our foils hoping for the wind to sort itself out. It filled in so I rigged my 6.5 while lighter Ian went for his 5.6. There were loads of water when I launched and I was soon up and flying in some really big gusts and I thought perhaps I should have gone for my 6m. I headed down towards Felixstowe docks, you have to be careful going down there with the tide going out but to start with it was certainly windy enough to have no problems. The session started well with the good winds but then things went very patchy, Ian had beat up towards Levington Creek where there seemed more wind. After several long runs down the river and with the wind dropping, I beat back struggling to get flying. With the wind going with the water going, we both decided to call it a day hoping for better luck tomorrow. Still, it was nice to be back on the water after several days off and I stayed dry with the gybes coming along OK. Packing up it was the best part of the day, a hot shower in the posh yachties toilet block:) Looking windier tomorrow so might get the chance to fin, will have to see?

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