With such a phenomenal forecast sweeping the county this week, it felt like a let down to rig an eight metre  but it seems the wind prediction only fell short in the southeast. I had one run on a 6.4, then another with a 6.9, the wind was dropping quicker than I could get sails out of the van, but by the end of play it proved to be the best summer sailing of the year.

Chippy Dave and Shaun Dove were in attendance as normal, but we were joined by an old friend that all but given up windsurfing years ago. I used to work with Chris Haywood when we were making Catamarans, but it was our UK travel trips I’ll remember best, and like today they came full of promise which was often let down by the weather.

Chris seems  to be part of a big band of windsurfers that are finding their sea legs after too long shore bound. It seams common place to go in search of a replacement for windsurfing after a spell of light wind, unfortunately that spell sometimes gets stretched after  the winds return. The last time we sailed together a seven meter seamed huge let alone using an eight without cambers.

Our normal haunt of Clacton was too on shore, so we had settled for Seawick a few miles to the west, and after our re-rigging frenzy the wind settled leaving a warm cross shore wind blowing out of the east. Having not had a real sail for months, I did some long reaches to make sure the knee was looking good for speed sailing in Namibia.

After a couple of hours sailing we took a true British moment and stopped for tea, the perfect time to come up with some stupid ideas, “if we keep sailing out, I’m sure we’ll hit Kent, we should have popped into Whitstable Windsurfing for a cup of tea”. No one took it serious , but once back on the water we were reaching out for a long blast, when I saw the buoy for the shipping channel, “come on Chris lets go round it”.

By now it was just Chris and myself, the buoy came and went, then another and another, finally Chris finally asked if we were ever going to gybe, “I’ll gybe if you do, but I’m up for going all the way”. Actually I was thinking it might not be the best of plans when Chris jumped and fell, think it was more deliberate, a way of turning  without loosing face.

We were so far out it was possible to make out Walton on the Naze which is way past Clacton, but it was Clacton Pier that was acting like a magnet. As we got closer the wind started to drop so Chris headed back down wind while I kept heading on. As I approached the Pier the wind was lifting over the high buildings leaving the swell to keep me going.

Soon as I gybe, I realise what a bad decision it would have been to go on to Kent, it took a mile of drifting before I got enough wind to get going, and soon caught up with Chris who had decided to head for land and walk home. Back at the van I put the kit away with Dave, Shaun had packed up and left for a weekend trip with the wife.

We saw a sail being walked along the beach and by the time I caught up with Chris he didn’t want any help, it was more of a mission to carry the sail back himself, I did offer to go and get the board, but that turned out to be a car ride away.

Kent will have to wait until we have a better backup plan, and is a sure thing for some time next year, but that failed forecasts proved to be the making of one of the best summer sailing days of the year.

If your wondering why the lack of picture, we were having too much of a good time to stop for pix.