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 Tuesday 18th – windsurf **** West Mersea – cloudy.

F2 Xantos 295 with Tuushingham Lightning 6.5 and 38 cm fin.

29.48 knot max., 27.11 knot ave ., 13.28 knot hour, 20.26  knot mile, 37.50 km., 18.43 knot alpha.

After two days of wall to wall sunshine where we enjoyed a night away in our little VW campervan seeing the amazing seals at Horsey Gap and walking in the Broads but the wind was back today so I could make up for the session I lost on the 8th Dec when my clutch went on the way to Point Clear:( With southerly winds gusting over 30 knots forecast and 9 degrees I didn’t fancy a open sea session so headed the 6 miles to Levington Marina even though the wind direction and tide were not ideal. With high water about 7.30 it was well on the way out when I arrived just after nine on a cloudy day but luckily the rain is not arriving until much later! After a quick chat with Levington worker and foiler Jamie I decided to quickly rig 6.5 for the F2 Xantos 295, a bigger board to get through the river lulls. I wanted to get out while I still had some water so I didn’t have to wade through mud, so after walking to find Jamie to zip me into my wetsuit I headed out and soon found deep water. With the wind in this direction, cross on from the left you could sail diagonally across the river which was not as flat as it looked before setting off and it was quite lumpy in the middle! With the wind gusting to nearly 30 knots I had a good couple of hours, only falling in once, got some cracking gybes in the smooth water at the edge and searching out the flatter water for the fastest speeds. I was hairy going fast in the river chop but great fun, my original plan was to try for a 25 average but soon realised I could do better and in the end only just missed doing 30 knots with a 27 average and a nice set of gybes. I had my mitts and hat but did not get cold, the only shame was nobody else came to join in the fun:( With the tide dropping the runs were getting shorter but I beat to the bay then sailed across to the far bank in hope of a good gust in the flatter water there and had some nice broad runs up the river. With the water going and the wind going a little patchy I headed back to the van sailing up the marina entrance channel and only had to walk through a few metres of mud! With the diesel heater on I warmed up, had a couple of mince pies, packed up and headed home after my 80th session of the year, the same as last year and it is looking promising for a trip to Point Clear later in the week before we head off to Liverpool for Christmas! I had a look at The Dip on the way home, no windsurfers but a few kiters out on the River Deben, I would be tempted to sail here if I could sail in the flat river like the kiters do but the runs are too short and the water not deep enough for windsurfing:(

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