4 categories

finally gpt the falcon 142 to 30kts compared to the mistrals its been a chore but handled it well and did a couple of times shame the wind only kicked for a bit 

falcon 142 / koncept 7.5 / 46 aquaris carbon 

6 categories

Sunday 9th September – windsurf ** Point Clear – cloudy start but sunny later.

F2 Xanto 310 with Tushingham Lightning 8.5 and 44 cm fin.

21.49 knot max., 19.09 knot ave., 8.02 knot hour, 15.22 knot mile, 36.40 km., 11.14 knot alpha.

A day that promised so much in the end delivered nothing, those weather men have a lot to answer for! After missing a good late afternoon session at Felixstowe yesterday I was looking forward to getting to one of my favourite local venues today, Point Clear. With 15/20 knots from the SW forecast today and even more on Tuesday we decided to pack the van and stay away in Essex for a couple of nights. We arrived at Point Clear at just past ten with a few already there.  Checked the wind, gusting to 20 mph, put the 282 on the beach and nearly rigged 7m but got the 7.8m out and added the 295 but then with the breeze dropping rigged the 310 adding to my line up of yellow boards on the beach! Wobbled off the beach and with the lagoon too light I headed out to sea beating out into the middle but only planing in short bursts with a lot of wallowing in-between:( Landed on the outside of the shingle bar and East Mersea to take some pics as the wind just got lighter and lighter. I headed back towards the van but ended up in the weedy lagoon, lovely and flat but only the odd puff of wind. Foil newcomer Shaun Cook was also there but it was frustratingly very up and down so I returned to the van for a yummy salad and everyone’s opinion was how crap it had been and were calling it a day. After lunch it was only me and Bradfield James left, the sun had come out and the wind looked to have increased slightly so we ventured out for another go and had the best spell of the day, getting my best speed too. The wind had gone from WSW to SW which meant you could sail parallel to the beach and it would have been really good if only the wind played ball but I had a few planing runs sailing up to Brightlingsea once. With the tide now dropping along with the wind I decided to call it a day heading back to the van to change and have a welcome cuppa. I then had a photo shoot lining my 5 yellow F2 boards up. The boards come from the late 1990’s cost me about £250 and I wouldn’t change them for anything as I am not a great lover of the rocker less modern wide boards which might be a fraction faster but I don’t think so well suited to the choppy conditions we have on the East Coast! After a walk around the sea wall we head ten miles to our overnight spot at Alresford and hope to bike along the River Colne to Colchester tomorrow before returning to Point Clear on Tuesday for hopefully a decent sail, fingers crossed!!!!

PS. Looks like I missed another good late afternoon at Felixstowe, not as good as last night as wind a bit up and down but that’s just the way the cookie crumbles, win some loss some

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