Well, that week went quickly. Friday evening is here and we have a very different ‘It’s the Weekend’ to that of a normal November about to arrive.

Yep, the weather patterns are all over the place and the once notoriously cold and crisp November, which was thought of as the freezing month with frost after frost and second only to Jan-Feb for low temperatures,  appears to have ‘changed’ its ways. Due to Global warming, I guess but as ‘Bert’ is on his way, bringing buckets of lovely rain and hopefully a dollop of useful wind, some may say ‘what’s there not too like’? Fingers crossed that Bert is, as he sounds…   

Even though ‘Movember’ is known to be cold, the cold spell this last week has been a bit of a shock and what a shame the dry settled period had to end as well, as locally the tracks and fields had dried out very nicely, possibly for the first time this year! Hats off to the valiant four who ventured out onto the estuary for a Wednesday wing foiling session (I won’t mention names in case they were supposed to be elsewhere!) in air temps that were definitely close to freezing. One of them did drop in prior, to ask about the best thing to add a bit of warmth to his 5mm wetsuit, both on and off the water, so my mind went back to the early days of windsurfing and out came a Cagoule. Still one of the best ways of keeping wind chill at bay and stopping the evaporation effect, as the moisture leaving your wetsuit takes the heat with it. He made the purchase (a Sola Charge) and then dropped back after his session to say that it had worked a treat.. so do think cagoule if you are feeling the chill.

https://www.surfladle.com/jackets-cagoules-and-dry-trousers

Re. Wing’in, we recently supplied a customer from Seaford with a pair of 2025 North Mode Pro Wings and asked if he wouldn’t mind giving us a bit of customer feedback, as it really does help others make the decision, especially as there are so many brands available now (over 100 Wing Foiling brands worldwide). This is what Andy Lowe had to say..  

Hi Danny. I have used both 3.5 and 4.8 and I am very impressed, as are those that have seen it on the water, with some good and interested comments. Used the 3.5 twice and on Monday in quite light conditions when others were using a 5m! There is enough bottom end power to pump and get going and it feels so solid, with no deformation when it is powered up or in gusts (feels a little like my experience with the Ezzy Wave or Zeta sails!) As such it also flies really well and I have done some of my highest jumps of recent times, even when I wasn’t expecting to, as it really wants to power you and fly you! The boom is super intuitive and easy to use and is the closest to windsurfing I have felt. You don’t have to think about your hands in transitions as they just naturally find the boom and also their natural place. Overall, I am really pleased that I waited for this version with the ShiftLock boom to come out. If I get any photos of it in action I will send you a couple. Thank you!  Andy

 No pics from Andy as yet (wind has been lacking..) but you can see more about these North wings on the website. Stock is low on 2.9m, 3.5m and 6.5m but other sizes OK at the mo. Delivery is usually next day to the shop.

https://www.surfladle.com/wingsurf-wings/new-wings/north-mode-pro-wing-and-shiftlock-system-2025

Now let’s cut to the slack and get into this weekend’s weather…

Saturday, well, dear old Bert should be well and truly here, in his vest and shorts, as the temp is going up to 13°C! That will be a shock in itself.. Off with the Heating! That‘s the good news, as he is also bringing heavy rain and wind speeds ranging from 24kt to 49kt (27 – 56mph). Guru show 32 – 49kt, Met say 23 -46kt, although the Met Severe Weather warning does say gusts of up to 70mph on exposed coastline.. which is here. The direction is a bit of a worry as it’s looking to be Southerly, better known as an onshore wind, which is the best for damage to buildings and the worst for getting off the beach in strong winds >  Some of you who do not windsurf etc. may wonder why? Because your angle of attack is only about 30% towards the wind and that means you have to sail along the face of the waves (with your back to them) rather than pointing straight into them, as when the wind is side shore (much easier to get over the waves using the bow of the board).  Once you are out, the Blade Running begins. It’s called that as you have to dodge the breaking waves on your way out to sea, because if they catch you and you end up off the board, re-starting is often difficult due to the waves shadowing your sail from the wind (kites are not as bad of course) and quite often the waves put you through the ‘rinse cycle’ and rapidly return you to the beach, for a long walk back to where you started. I hope that explains it.

 Luckily the tide hits Low at 10.40am (High at 16.45hrs) but it’s a horrid 5.1m Neap, which *could mean no shallow water safety zone when launching or landing. (* I say could as you never know, due to the channels which run along the beach altering the depth of water). It is supposed to swing slightly to the West around 1pm but by that time it may be game over,  re. launching and the wind speeds having increased. The forecasts are of course a guess, so we may find that we get lighter winds at that time, hence I will update tomorrow morning (Shakey Beach Video or no SBV, I am not getting out of the van if it’s chucking it down!). I’m pretty sure there will be an influx to Pagham from all locations, so do expect to be with every man and his dawg if you do head that way.

Sunday, maybe it’s not Dear Old Bert but Young Vibrant Bert, as he will still be firing on all cylinders, bring’in on that Sou’Sou’West 32 to 46kts once again, which Guru suggests will stay with us until late evening, when it then drops back to 20-30kts and swings to the West. The Met say it will drop back at around dusk, either way it’s a strong wind day. Air temp could be around 14°C so the body should be feeling ‘with it’ again by then. Rain is forecast and Guru say it will not be as heavy as Saturday (at the moment) and it could be dry for much of the day, whereas the Met say nope, rain all day. High Tide is at 17.55hrs so the Low will be 11.45hrs. It’s a 4.9m Neap so that will make it interesting launching once again, unless we have a fair bit of Sou’West in the wind direction. As for the following week, Monday and Wednesday ‘currently’ looking good for high winds and Tuesday for the lighter foiling winds. Rain is likely to be a feature of both high wind days.

And that’s it, please forgive grammar and typos, as have been rush’in. I hope everyone gets something useful out of this weekends weather and should you be in need, we are open both days. Stay safe, have Fun.