Wednesday 28th December - Windsurf *** River Orwell at Levington – cloudy but mild with some rain.

Fin – 27.21 knot max, 25.002 knot ave., 9.47 knot hour, 22.36 knot mile, 32.15 km., 9.36 knot alpha.

F2 Zantos 295 with 36 fin and Tushingham Vulcan 6m.

With rain forecast all day I was not going to go but it eased off so I decided to drive over to Levington to check out conditions on the River Orwell arriving at the marina around 11, plenty of wind but not much water. So, I decided to try the fin board today and took a chance with 6m with winds gusting over 25 mph! I had to ask a couple of people to zip me into my winter wetsuit, the first could manage it and the second left it an inch from the end which meant I took in water when I went in:( It was a struggle to get to deeper water as the wind was not really strong enough to start with but it improved and I got some nice long runs in towards Pin Mill, always gusty and lumpy as the tide came in but I managed the best part of two hours and did not get cold. Only managed one gybe today as run out of wind when the time came to turn or I was too close to the bank meaning it was too shallow! There were some big gusts coming through and it is tiring sailing a fin board so decided to call it a day as my son is coming this afternoon so wanted to get home:) In the end I was pleased with my max, ave., and got some pretty good miles in too! There is going to be several days of big wind but the tides are not great and with family here will probably give it a miss?

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