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Friday 18^th August – windsurf **** The Fludgers – sunny periods with squally showers!

25.28 kt. max., 20.06 kt ave., 8.69 kt hr., 19.84 kt. mile, 18 km., 8.02 kt. alpha.

After yesterday’s up and down session at The Manor and with several sailors having a similar session at The Fludgers I should have got up early and head over to Point Clear but sadly I couldn’t face the 80-mile round trip! So, I committed to The Fludgers, not my favourite local beach, I dropped the van at the beach at 7 this morning to get prim parking spot as it gets busy on sunny days and walked back along the prom with Mag which was nice.  The black clouds were rolling in and it was soon tipping it done, torrential rain for half an hour. The ideal direction we needed at The Fludgers is WSW but sadly it never really made it being West. With sailors not expected to come until after 1 to make the most of the tide, you don’t want wind and tide together here as you soon get washed up the coast with lots of rock to get washed up on! There was a big thread on the Felixstowe Windsurfers page about being patient and hopefully the wind would swing back WSW. We walked up town and back along the beach and it looked sailable. Roger Vickers was already there so I packed a sandwich and walked down. Roger had been out on 6.5 but was way under and had lost three groynes:( He was deciding whether it was worth rigging 7.5 when Craig Hurrell arrived, having driven 50 miles he was going to sail so after a little humming and haring we decided to go for a longboard beat, I rigged 8.5 and Craig 8m. We set off in nice sunshine beating 2 miles in one tack, then a few more turns before reaching the River Orwell at the end of Landguard beach with the sky darkening from the west!  It was a nice beat, railed up and going along nicely and we were looking forward to a good reach back. It was a little slow to start with and we ended up sailing right through the shipping channel before turning and having a mega reach back, landing near the pier with me peaking at 23 knots while Craig did an impressive 24:) We had sailed into a bit of a hole by the pier and started wobbling out and were about half a mile out when we were hit by a big squall!!! 30 knot winds and heavy rain made things interesting for a few minutes, after hitting 25 knots I decided to drop in the water as I didn’t want to be too far offshore! The sea went wild and it was difficult to see the shore! I water started and made it ashore as the winds soon eased! It then took me several minutes to find Craig who was still half a mile out and seemed to be struggling back. I sailed out to see if he was OK and he said his UJ had gone but had tied it with some spare rope. We ran back to The Fludgers and his uj went in the strongest winds and he was lucky not to lose his board! The wind filled in and we were nearly tempted to try a big shortboard but it soon dropped off and there were loads of dark clouds approaching so we decided to call it a day!

Craig was hoping to head to Bradfield for the night and a early start for a morning sail while I hope to go to Levington early and hope the westerly wind continues! – I just love the longboard, everyone should get one:)

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Thought about Rhosneigr but Rik convinced me too West so 86ltri/5.3m in Llanfairfechan. First hour wind was bit light but planing all the time then it picked up and well powered for next 2+ hours. A few chop hops in B&J and loads of blasts to sandbank and good, planing gybes where flat. Rik about 1-2 knots faster on his Kode 94 then about the same on RRD 85, and on slightly bigger 5.6m sail. Excellent session as chop decreased near Low. Saw squall coming so packed up after 102km in just over 3 hours. A couple of others joined us and chap who I saw a couple of months ago after losing his kite board said he found it after floating around for 2 weeks, so there's lucky.