Six out of Seven
Got to apologise for anyone that just couldn’t get out, but what a week. Mine started and finished in a garage, but in-between the wind just kept blowing. Sailing started with all the boys at West Wittering, and gradually moved east until I got back to my regular Essex haunt of Clacton, but not before finding a new spot and posting a new personal best on the GPS speed ladder.
After last weeks session at Worthing the van was calling for a bit of tender love and care on the way home, dropped in to the garage Monday morning just long enough to order up the parts and headed back down South to stay over at Harty’s.
Mini Gorge was the first to the beach and called West Wittering as the best, looked a bit onshore to me but the wind was hauling. Timo, Hunty, Chris Audsley, turned up with JC (John Carter) and were soon getting rocket air. It was amazing how many small sails were out for a mid week session, the number became more obvious as the winds swung more onshore.
Garmin 210 gps
See speed track form Southend
If I’m honest I should have taken a 4.7, but was enjoying the rare occasion of using a 4.5, back on the beach Simon Basset couldn’t hide his pleasure of holding the same size rig as me, unfortunately for Simon Garry Mason caught the reason on camera… its my new mini me.
The winds may have eased a bit for Wednesday, but East Wittering was still had an inviting site shore wind for Harty and myself to enjoy. 6.0 on the 3S 97 was perfect to a little over at times, but with sun pointing strait down the lens it didn’t make for the best of pix which I was also trying to get of an upcoming Harty article. Not that I was worried, just gives me another excuse for a south coast trip.
Between sailing sessions the phone was hot with calls for speed on Thursday. West Kirby and Southend had similar forecasts and depending, which weather forecast you favoured gave one or the other the edge. I use windfinder.com the most and it gave Southend a couple more knots over West Kirby, but most of the boys were heading North.
Not wanting to sail alone I was heading up there with them, but with each corner the CV joint on the van kept calling for home. The final decider was a call From Richard Ashington, he was up for Southend so I wasn’t alone, plus it was on the way home. I tried to change the minds of those bound for West Kirby, it was so close Steve Thorpe admitted to sitting at the end of his road still deciding which way to turn.
Rigging in the dark at Southend is becoming a habit; I rigged a 6.0 and 5.5 while Richard just went strait for the 5.5. The Ray started to uncover at first light, but once we got down to the waters edge I realised I could retire the 6.0. Any one who’s sailed the Ray knows the cost of a wrong sail choice, its one long walk.
The Ray has two courses that sit East and West of the launch spot, the wind was the perfect direction for the Westerly course, but for some reason the water state made it impossible to sail as small waves were running down the river. Even crossing over and down to the East run was a bit of a mission on a speed board, but once round the corner the water started to flatten, nice and flat for awhile but as the bank turned away a small rolling chop started to come back and run along the bank.
My Garmin was showing 45kt max speed at the end of my first run so I new for sure there was more to come. Hugging the back as I headed up wind showed me how tight the course was, so much so I was able to free off as I got nearer the start.
I’ve never seen the water so low, there are banks out there I didn’t realise existed which I have to confess made me nervous, especially as it wasn’t going well for Richard which left me out there on my own. I did another six runs before calling time on the lack of water, and each run had my Garmin showing a 47-point something with the best screen display of 47.9knots.
We hung around for two hours for the course to become usable again, but as we headed out the wind swung making it impossible to get any further runs it. I had nothing to complain about but I felt sorry for Richard as he’d got everything back in shape and was having no problems holding down the sail.
While Southend showed it potential again, it also proved it can’t be guaranteed to give perfectly smooth water every time as I’d thought. We’ve now been there a couple of times where we’ve seen a little rolling chop on the course, but what seams strange is the water gets smoother as the tide comes in against the wind. Next big forecast we get I hope coincides with a rising tide.
Up at West Kirby Bob Cunningham and Steve Thorpe had been locked in battle for the lead. Apparently conditions were best in the morning and when it come down to the final score Steve had taken Bob by 0.3 of a knot. The three of us have not pushed the Aussies down the GPS leader board, but for me the most encouraging speed has to be Steve’s.
Steve has finally put to rest the old argument that speed sailors have to be big. Steve and I used both used a Tabou Manta 49 and Gaastra Vapor 5.5 and our speed difference could be put down to location more than anything. I believe control is way more important than weight and is the defining factor for top end speed
Like me, the winds started Friday gently, after three big days I felt I’d been in a car wreck, but as the day the wind recovered quicker than I. We don’t have a great spot for a Westerly on a low tide, Point Clear is the norm but that’s with a good mud walk, Clacton’s OK but off shore and gusty. Shaun and I have been looking for a spot further upwind but as you can see from a couple of the last picture, we’re not sure how safe the van will be.
Right at the end of Jaywick are a few new houses, and a couple of cctv’s that give a little comfort. With all the building going on in Essex Jaywick looks a prime spot to get some investment, its got a great beach so I’m sure the developer’s won’t be far away.
Having not sailed anything much under 100l for ages, the 3S has soon become my most used board, Shaun and I had about two hours sailing before sunset closed the day. Think this could another option in a North Westerly as well, apart from the sea wall there’s nothing else stopping the wind coming over the land, but that we’ll have to wait and see.
Any other week we would have been stoked with the conditions at Clacton on Saturday, scooting across the water on a Remedy 6.4 and Rocket 105, but this wasn’t any other week. Even for those that couldn’t make it, Chippy Dave, Anthony etc, it did make sure they were out on the water on Saturday and realise that the winter hasn’t really got hold so far this year. It’s still warm enough (relatively) to leave soppy hats and gloves where they belong, back in the van.
Read MoreAfter last weeks session at Worthing the van was calling for a bit of tender love and care on the way home, dropped in to the garage Monday morning just long enough to order up the parts and headed back down South to stay over at Harty’s.
Mini Gorge was the first to the beach and called West Wittering as the best, looked a bit onshore to me but the wind was hauling. Timo, Hunty, Chris Audsley, turned up with JC (John Carter) and were soon getting rocket air. It was amazing how many small sails were out for a mid week session, the number became more obvious as the winds swung more onshore.
Garmin 210 gps
See speed track form Southend
If I’m honest I should have taken a 4.7, but was enjoying the rare occasion of using a 4.5, back on the beach Simon Basset couldn’t hide his pleasure of holding the same size rig as me, unfortunately for Simon Garry Mason caught the reason on camera… its my new mini me.
The winds may have eased a bit for Wednesday, but East Wittering was still had an inviting site shore wind for Harty and myself to enjoy. 6.0 on the 3S 97 was perfect to a little over at times, but with sun pointing strait down the lens it didn’t make for the best of pix which I was also trying to get of an upcoming Harty article. Not that I was worried, just gives me another excuse for a south coast trip.
Between sailing sessions the phone was hot with calls for speed on Thursday. West Kirby and Southend had similar forecasts and depending, which weather forecast you favoured gave one or the other the edge. I use windfinder.com the most and it gave Southend a couple more knots over West Kirby, but most of the boys were heading North.
Not wanting to sail alone I was heading up there with them, but with each corner the CV joint on the van kept calling for home. The final decider was a call From Richard Ashington, he was up for Southend so I wasn’t alone, plus it was on the way home. I tried to change the minds of those bound for West Kirby, it was so close Steve Thorpe admitted to sitting at the end of his road still deciding which way to turn.
Rigging in the dark at Southend is becoming a habit; I rigged a 6.0 and 5.5 while Richard just went strait for the 5.5. The Ray started to uncover at first light, but once we got down to the waters edge I realised I could retire the 6.0. Any one who’s sailed the Ray knows the cost of a wrong sail choice, its one long walk.
The Ray has two courses that sit East and West of the launch spot, the wind was the perfect direction for the Westerly course, but for some reason the water state made it impossible to sail as small waves were running down the river. Even crossing over and down to the East run was a bit of a mission on a speed board, but once round the corner the water started to flatten, nice and flat for awhile but as the bank turned away a small rolling chop started to come back and run along the bank.
My Garmin was showing 45kt max speed at the end of my first run so I new for sure there was more to come. Hugging the back as I headed up wind showed me how tight the course was, so much so I was able to free off as I got nearer the start.
I’ve never seen the water so low, there are banks out there I didn’t realise existed which I have to confess made me nervous, especially as it wasn’t going well for Richard which left me out there on my own. I did another six runs before calling time on the lack of water, and each run had my Garmin showing a 47-point something with the best screen display of 47.9knots.
We hung around for two hours for the course to become usable again, but as we headed out the wind swung making it impossible to get any further runs it. I had nothing to complain about but I felt sorry for Richard as he’d got everything back in shape and was having no problems holding down the sail.
While Southend showed it potential again, it also proved it can’t be guaranteed to give perfectly smooth water every time as I’d thought. We’ve now been there a couple of times where we’ve seen a little rolling chop on the course, but what seams strange is the water gets smoother as the tide comes in against the wind. Next big forecast we get I hope coincides with a rising tide.
Up at West Kirby Bob Cunningham and Steve Thorpe had been locked in battle for the lead. Apparently conditions were best in the morning and when it come down to the final score Steve had taken Bob by 0.3 of a knot. The three of us have not pushed the Aussies down the GPS leader board, but for me the most encouraging speed has to be Steve’s.
Steve has finally put to rest the old argument that speed sailors have to be big. Steve and I used both used a Tabou Manta 49 and Gaastra Vapor 5.5 and our speed difference could be put down to location more than anything. I believe control is way more important than weight and is the defining factor for top end speed
Like me, the winds started Friday gently, after three big days I felt I’d been in a car wreck, but as the day the wind recovered quicker than I. We don’t have a great spot for a Westerly on a low tide, Point Clear is the norm but that’s with a good mud walk, Clacton’s OK but off shore and gusty. Shaun and I have been looking for a spot further upwind but as you can see from a couple of the last picture, we’re not sure how safe the van will be.
Right at the end of Jaywick are a few new houses, and a couple of cctv’s that give a little comfort. With all the building going on in Essex Jaywick looks a prime spot to get some investment, its got a great beach so I’m sure the developer’s won’t be far away.
Having not sailed anything much under 100l for ages, the 3S has soon become my most used board, Shaun and I had about two hours sailing before sunset closed the day. Think this could another option in a North Westerly as well, apart from the sea wall there’s nothing else stopping the wind coming over the land, but that we’ll have to wait and see.
Any other week we would have been stoked with the conditions at Clacton on Saturday, scooting across the water on a Remedy 6.4 and Rocket 105, but this wasn’t any other week. Even for those that couldn’t make it, Chippy Dave, Anthony etc, it did make sure they were out on the water on Saturday and realise that the winter hasn’t really got hold so far this year. It’s still warm enough (relatively) to leave soppy hats and gloves where they belong, back in the van.
