Friday 15th July - Windsurf *** - The Dip at Felixstowe – after a sunny morning it then clouded over.

 Longboard fin – 16.87 knot max, 14.15 knot ave.,, 9.51 knot hour, 14.07 knot mile, 33.51 km., 7.95 knot alpha.

Fanatic Cat with Tushingham Lightning 8.5m and 39 fin.

A bonus windsurf today as an expected sea breeze picked up this afternoon:) The morning was sunny and hot so the usual morning at home with exercises in the garden, I then made lunch and was about to head out on my bike before checking Landguard weather station and was surprised to see 14 knots and I spotted a winger jumping on the webcam at The Manor, the only trouble was high water at 1.37 not the best time for sailing at Felixstowe:( With the wind from the south and high water The Manor was probably the best option so I hitched my trailer around 1.30 and headed there but as expected I could not park in Squiz Lane so went to The Dip where there was next to no beach but a nice side shore breeze! I did not want to risk launching my new foiling kit so decided to take the longboard out for a cruise down the coast and set about rigging my 8.5 as Swainy arrived to check the conditions and said he and Paul might come down later as the tide dropped, assuming the wind remained as it had clouded over which we thought might kill the sea breeze? My plan was to see how windy it was and then beat down the coast towards the Orwell but as it was now wind with tide it might be slow progress? The first run out I had plenty of wind but the sea was pretty lumpy, I tacked past the red and white bouy as the wind eased and I did not make much progress so decided to stay in front of The Dip to see what happened and ended up over two miles out. I then tacked and decided to head down the coast as there was enough wind to sail comfortably upwind in the straps:) I managed to get past the pier in one tack, nearly four miles but I know it was not windy enough for full on planning with the track at the back. I eased the track back to half way and put the dagger up a little and had a nice reach back to the red and white bouy. It was good fun despite it still being mainly cloudy and the shorties was only just warm enough but then again it is full of holes! It was still good fun so I decided to do it one more time and on the return ended up well into Bawdsey bay and had a nice run back as the sun came out:) It was interesting sailing though the rough bit where the Deben enters the sea but I made it back OK. So, a couple of hours of longboard fun, could have been a fraction windier and foiling would have been good if I had been brave enough to launch earlier. They are forecasting temperatures approaching 40 degrees next week and possibly some breeze too:)

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