Wednesday 2nd September - Windsurf ***** - The Manor at Felixstowe – sunny periods.

Foil – 17.37 knot max, 16.14 knot ave ., 10.28 knot hour, 14.04 knot mile , 45.47 km., 9.05 knot alpha.

Exocet RF 91 AST with Slingshot Hover Glide 76 with Tushingham Lightning 6.5m.

I was not expecting to windsurf today and was looking forward to another session tomorrow at one of my favourite venues, Point Clear across the border in Essex. So with the sun shinning I did my exercises in the back garden and was thinking of taking our salad lunch over to perhaps Levington on our bikes when the breeze started to fill in:) I put a message out on the Felixstowe WhasApp but got very little response so decided to hitch the trailer and go and check out Felixstowe’s best foiling venue, The Manor. Mag came down with me in the van to walk home and managed to collect 5 kg of coal. I managed to get a double parking place in the car park which is still free as the signs need to be replaced before the meter can come into operation!  The tide was high having only just turned and the beach was fairly quiet and there was a good cross on breeze blowing. I set up my foil board first to give the wind time to build and settle and with 17+ mph on the gauge I rigged 6.5 which proved pretty much perfect for most of the session:) I be honest when I left the beach I thought I had rigged too small but soon hit the wind line and headed off really broad, by far my favourite point of sailing. Then six and a half miles later I was at East Lane Martello tower flying nearly all the way, running down the swells in the sunshine with the shortie back on:) It was a bit lumpy as I passed over the River Deben, churned up by the outgoing tide!  On turning I thought it had turned light and I was worried it was going to be a long slog back but I was wrong and soon pumped up onto the plan and was beating back, my upwind technique is improving and I am keeping the board out of the water a lot more now just by feel and slight movement back and forth. I had to put in a tack to get past the shingle bar and the water was again awash with waves as I crossed the Deben which I did slowly. Once in open water again I was up and flying nice and high upwind in an increasing breeze, I was surprised when I checked Landguard weather station when I got home and discovered the wind was only 16/17 knots, it felt more! On reaching The Manor Martello I gybed and had another broad run down to The Fludgers, really broad playing with the waves, sailing close to the beach just to show off, I loved it so much I did it all again before calling it a day, the foiling just gets better and better and am really loving it, the large amount of my pension spent on a foil and board is defiantly worth every penny:) I couldn’t believe I had it all to myself, where was everyone???? Now looking forward to Point Clear tomorrow:)

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http://mkwindsurfing.co.uk/booms/

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