Sunday 27th February - Windsurf **** River Orwell at Levington – sunny.

Foil – 16.04 knot max, 15.26 knot ave ., 9.26 knot hour, 11.77 knot mile , 23.74 km ., 13.31 knot alpha.

Exocet RF AST 91 with Slingshot Hover Glide 76 with Tushingham Storm 5.2m.

I wanted to make the most of a top forecast, wall to wall sunshine with a good breeze from the south with perhaps a touch of east in it making it ideal for Levington, the only downside was the temperature, struggling to reach 7 degrees and the 8.30 high water! With foiling buddy Robert away for a couple of days birdwatching I had the whole of the River Orwell to myself apart from the odd yacht and hundreds of Dunlins:) I arrived at the marina around 9.30 with plenty of water and more wind than I expected gusting over 25 knots, cross-on from the left and with the tide going out there was a good swell running too, it looked lovely in the sun so quickly set up the foil. Rig choice is always a lottery so I went for what I thought was my small 5.2 thinking I wanted an easy session as it was chilly and soon realised, I could have easily been out on my 4.2 especially with the big state of the river! I was a little nervous for the fist few runs being overpowered and stayed in front of the marina but as my confidence grew, I beat further down river towards the docks and the session turned into a gybing feast, some crackers but others ended up in a swim but great fun trying none the less and it is great using a small sail, so light in the hands! It was a full-on session from start to finish but I lasted over an hour and a half before I got knackered and decided to call it a day, shame really as the river conditions improved as the tide dropped but us pensioners have to pace ourselves:) I still had loads of water to land so stayed pretty mud free, pack up, shower and home before 1, top session in challenging conditions and maybe another go tomorrow, February has been a top month, this being my 11th session so far!

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