Saturday 5th July  – Windsurf *** River Orwell at Levington –  cloudy.

Foil – 18.60  knot max, 17.33 knot ave., 8.90  knot hour, 14.37 knot mile, 33.43 km., 14.37 knot alpha.

Starboard Freeride 150 and a Evolution Freeride foil with a Tushingham Storm 6.5.

After missing a sunny, breezy day yesterday but we had a wonderful time with the Granndaughter so am not bothered by that I was keen to get on the water today. The original forecast was three breezey day, Sat. WSW, Sun W and Mon N, I was hoping to go out at The Manor in Felixstowe today but the wind was pretty off so headed over to Levington Marina just after nine. It did not look overly inspiring when I parked being cloudy but I registered 17 mph on the gauge so quickly set up as the tide was dropping taking a chance with 6.5 which proved OK when the gusts came through but sadly it was a little up and down! I had enough water to launch from the usual little beach and was soon up and flying doing short runs across the corner getting some OK gybes. In the end I did manage three long runs down to Felixstowe docks with several yachts out enjoying the breeze including a couple of groups of yachts racing! I bumped into a mate out in a yacht intructing, he called me over, sailing too close I promptly lost the wind ending up in the water, my only dip in a two hour session! I then did a close fly past of the Ipswich Barge sailing to the dock, in fact there were three old barges out on the Orwell today:) With the wind going even more patchy and getting knackered I decided to call it a day, landing at low water by the marina entrance and not getting too muddy for a change! I then sat and took a few pics as there were several boats coming and going before packing up, showering and heading for home just after one! I made a detour to The Manor to check the conditions and it was sailable here now being SW. Sadly tomorrows wind has disappeared with Monday being northerly but with high tide on the Stour around 10.15 it’s a little early for a sail there but will make up my mind on the morning!

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