Wednesday 28th August– Windsurf ***** - The Dip - Felixstowe – sunny periods.

Fin – 21.01 knot max., 16.35 knot ave., 10.22 knot hour, 14.91 knot mile, 43 km., 7.68 knot alpha.

Fanatic Cat with Tushingham Lightning 9.4m and 39 fin.

After several days of wall to wall sunshine with temperatures in excess of 30 degrees today was a much more manageable 25 and cloudy, it even rained this morning! We had a bit of a drama this morning when a large section of our hall ceiling collapsed, luckily it did not hit anyone and the insurance company are now involved. Andy Mexome messaged on WhatsApp saying he was heading to The Dip for a foil session so after lunch and a trip up the town I hitched the trailer and headed down. My original plan was to go foiling but I am having a bit of a mare with foiling at the moment and the sea looked pretty lumpy for a learner like me so I went for my much loved raceboard which I can sail quite well:) With a cross onshore 12 mph of wind I went for the 9.4 as Andy arrived and set about rigging 7.8 for his foil but he has taken to foiling like a duck to water:) I set off beating out pas t the red and white bouy, making the beach at Landguard near the River Orwell in one tack. There is nothing better than heading upwind on a longboard, plate down and up on the rail, just so much fun especially when the sun showed it’s face:) It was too light for a full on reach back but still great sailing broad riding the waves. Andy was now out flying everywhere, upwind and down just a fraction faster than me but not a lot in it which makes me wonder if I need to bother with foiling as the longboard is great fun, so the jury is still out for me and foiling especially as I am struggling a bit at the moment! I wouldn’t mind trying a foil board just to see if that will improve things but don’t fancy spending big money on one! After a 4 mile reach back I liked it so much I did it twice more but only making it just past the pier and was joined on the beat by Andy:) If anything the wind was picking up which made the sea even bigger and as I was heading back to the beach after being out nearly three hours covering nearly 27 miles I hit my biggest speed, breaking 21 knots:) So a top 5 star session where 1997 kit meets 2019 and to be honest in these conditions were fairly evenly matched but I will preserve with foiling for the time being and fingers crossed I crack it in the end!

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