Thursday 23rd September - Windsurf **** Levington Marina on the Rive Orwell – sunny and warm:).

Foil – 20.14 knot max, 18.97 knot ave ., 10.38 knot hour, 16.69 knot mile, 44.22 km., 13.54 knot alpha.

Exocet RF AST 91 with Slingshot Hover Glide 76 with Tushingham Lightning 7m.

Fin – 26.16 knot max, 22.99 knot ave ., 9.65 knot hour, 17.98 knot mile, 21.59 km., 16.72 knot alpha.

F2 Zantos 295 with 36 fin and Tushingham Lightning 7m.

Have been looking forward to today for several days now, breezy and sunny, the first proper wind for ages. The direction was going to cause a problem, westerly but maybe turning NW so I decided to take a chance and head to the River Orwell at Levington as west is ideal there and hope it did not go too north, in fact the main direction today was probably WNW but had everything between W to NW! which proved OK:) I was expecting a few other sailors but, in the end, had the whole river to myself as the others went over to the Stour, I think? I arrived around 9.30 with plenty of water and a good breeze so quickly set up my foil board and took a chance with 7m which proved OK for most of the session, you never have the right sail for the whole session on the river as the wind is gusty. Although it was sunny and warm, I went with my full autumn wetsuit which was perfect as I waded the short distance out to the marina entrance channel and was soon flying down towards Felixstowe docks, as there was a touch of north in the wind the water was not as flat as if it had been due west but I was surprised to brake 20 knots and very nearly got a 19-knot average. It was great fun buzzing the many yachts out, you can creep up on them and surprise them but they were all very friendly:) I had some fun gybing which is improving slowly, just need a few sessions here with the wind in the west! You could fly the whole length of the river on many runs with some really big gusts coming through but the old 7m Lightning handles them well, it is on its last legs so am looking for a replacement! With a coaster heading to Ipswich I stopped by a lovely old yacht moored by the creek entrance down towards the docks to take a few pics! Then with the tide pretty high, the wind picked up as did the swell so I decided to head back but not before a few good runs in the flat water opposite the marina with some good gybes too:) I was going to stop for lunch but decided to quickly try my fin board before the tide turned. I had an hour on my new Zantos 295 with the 7m still running down the big swell sailing in between the moored boats. I was pleased to hit 26 knot max but was losing too much ground by bearing off so had to beat back. I had some fun gybing but it was hard work staying upwind now the tide had turned so decided to call it a day, lucky as the wind was also dropping! So really enjoyed my day out on the Orwell on both the foil and fin, then the top shower with only a 6 mile drive home – win win :) Maybe a foiling day tomorrow, finger crossed!

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I was wondering if you would like to take a minute to vote for my pic in this years Felixstowe Photo Competition. My picture is FFF in the seashore section – all votes are greatly appreciated:)

[url=https://www.visitfelixstowe.org.uk/features-and-stories/felixstowe-photo-competition-vote-now/]Vote Felixstowe photo competition 2021 here[/url]