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Saturday 19^th August – windsurf **** sunny periods

25.60 kt. max., 24.33 kt. ave., 8.10 km., 15.81 kt. mile, 37.10 km., 12.34 kt. alpha.

My third session in as many days and all of them in less than ideal conditions :( but everyday getting over 25 kt. max so not all bad! I could have gone to Point Clear or Mersea but decided to save the 80-mile round trip and stay local. So, at 7.10 Mag and I took our breakfast with her bike to Levington Marina, with 20 mph on the gauge it was looking promising:) After breakfast Mag has a read while I rig my big freeride kit. With loads of water in the Orwell I set off at 8 in lovely sunshine. It’s not long before Mag peddles the 6 miles home while I go in search of some gusts. The wind isn’t as good as my last session here and it’s only breezy on the river from the corner up with next to no wind towards the docks:( so no long reaching runs this time! I broke 20 knots after a few runs and gradually increased my speeds to 24 sharing the river with loads of diving Turns:) I have a beat upriver and have some nice runs back before heading to the van for a delicious beef sandwich. Out again with a little more breeze I try a few runs down towards the docks but have to turn half way as I ran out of wind! I am now finding enough wind to get some planning gybes and it takes me well over two hours to fall in and then I do it twice in a minute! With the tide now going out I catch my best gust of the day and break 25 knots before the wind goes really patchy so decide to call it a day.

So about three hours out and getting a 24-knot average so not too bad. Not much wind forecast for next week so that could be it for a while:(

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Not as windy as it looked and 96/6m was OK. No South in wind so sea was choppy for a bad half hour about 3 hours after high. Never smooth or predictable but nice to be out even if I had 10 minutes of stinging rain. Outside gybes a bit better since I worked on them, must remember to apply advice. Glyn also out for an hour, and another visitor. Would have been 4* if not so choppy in this direction.