The wind prediction this weekend was for nuclear wind to touch every part of the country, so where to go, Southend-on-sea, Weymouth, or West Kirby. Weymouth would have to be very special to boast any great times, so for me it came down to the drive, right or wrong I went for the shore journey to Southend, but not before a quick stop off at Point Clear.

It seams madness I don’t have any recorded speeds from Point clear, its my local speed spot yet I’ve only ever been in the bay once with a speed board and that wasn’t windy, normally were the other side of the bank trying to get a bit of air. With an early tide and a great forecast I meet up with the boys at the beach when it was still dark. Dave still looked asleep, Nik just wanted to show off his new truck. Shaun had become a farther to a lovely little girl earlier in the week, so we were unsure if he’d even turn up.

The wind was so strong it took two of us to get kit to the beach, but as soon as I got into the wetsuit the havens opened and the wind increased so much we couldn’t see more than a few meters let alone see the course. The rain cleared tem minutes later but sadly took the wind with it, I took my kit for a swim but had no chance of getting planning so it was off to Southend.

With everything rigged in the van I shared my kit with Steve Thorpe, the wind was still light but looked to be building so I took out the 6.0 Vapor on my Manta 49, Steve had the 5.5 and a custom 46. I had also persuaded Nigel Bowley to bring his kite down, having one Weymouth and being so close to me in Namibia I wasn’t sure showing him my favourite speed spot was a good idea.

We got enough wind to have a sail and get some reasonable times, but all three of us needed more sail area. The upwind course had way to deep an angle to use in with the wind angle, but heading out towards the pier got as some reasonable times. We weren’t alone for long and soon there were plenty of sailors running the course, some had used the time watching on the beach to make a better sail choice. Even Duncan from Boards mag was holding down a bigger sail than me, not that I’m complaining, it made a pleasant change to be sailing smaller than others.

By the end of play all three of us had times in the 42 area, I'm pleased to say we till haven't let the kites have there day. I just piped Steve to the post with jist 0.01 of a knot on the 2sec max but a knot on the 500m, see my GPS track from southend for your self. but while we had a good day, those at West Kirby appeared to have made the right call. The wind just kept building and hit the 60knot mark in the afternoon. Bob Cunningham put in some ballistic times and hit a peak of 46.7 which is fantastic, but while Kirby can hold a 500m run its not as easy as Southen-on-sea.