It’s a heaty wave! What on earth did we do to deserve another 3 days of good weather in a row.. lose the Euros?  If only God could organise a nice day on a Tuesday but I guess he works in mysterious ways and the question has to be,  will summer continue into the Weekend, as from today the School Hols begin!

Going to be as quick as I can tonight,  as I’ve  been at the helm all week and going stir crazy, being stuck in when the sun is out. So, hang on and it will all be over, real quick. 

What’s on this weekend regarding water and Shoreham? Well, the Outrigger Club is hosting the National Outrigger Distance races on Saturday and Sunday. On the Saturday it’s the  V6 (6 seater canoe) crews racing over  a course distance of 16 to 24km. The distance is governed by the conditions, hence the 16km min and 24km max. Sunday sees the OC 1 and OC 2 boats out (Outrigger Canoe 1 and 2 persons with rudder steering) along with the V1 boats (a single seat outrigger without a rudder) competing over course distances of 12 to 16km. This is the event info from the club.. 

On Sunday July 21 experienced paddlers (individual paddlers with two years plus ocean outrigger small boat experience) can enter into V1, OC1 and OC2 races (approx. 12 to 16 km).  The cost to enter is £30 per person per race. The course will be dependent on the weather conditions. The National Championships are open to all Great Britain Outrigger members.

I think I’m right in saying there’s a ‘social evening’ being held at the Yacht Club on the Saturday eve and as they are holding a raffle to raise money for the UK V6 Team who will head off to Hawaii for the Worlds shortly, it’s open to the public to attend (please comment and confirm or deny if you know more about this). There are great prizes to be had (we have donated a very useful Red Paddle PFD in Blue, available at £49.99  if you don't win it.. click here) and it could be a perfect evening to meet everyone and perhaps become involved with the club. Hopefully the weather plays ball and all competitors have a fun and memorable weekend at Shoreham.

A quick and polite word about the safe Swimming Zones. Last weekend a local mentioned that the swim zone at Widewater had been ‘visited’ by a couple of wing foiler’s, who were still on the foil. We all know that when needs must, you might have to come ashore into a Swim zone but if that is the case, please drop your speed down to a crawl on a finned craft and if on a foil, please don’t be flying. Today I’ve had another local person ‘mention’ that a power assist or E-foil was noted as being on the foil inside of the Yellow Ski marker buoys this morning, which on a day like today (hot and therefore a lot of swimmers about) is likely to be noticed and is technically breaking the 6kt rule, which is to stop planing craft entering the area between the beach and the buoys.  The yellow markers buoys were introduced back in the day when water skiing became popular, as there were many accidents and injuries caused to swimmers and boaters alike, by the boats being too close to the shore at skiing speed. So, please be aware of the markers and everything will be fine.. 

No road closures taking place this weekend as far as I can see but there are ‘lots’ coming up, mainly around the Shoreham Flyover area (signs everywhere!) so do update yourself on Google if worried about getting home. OK, the weekends weather.

Saturday, we see the weather cool again (26C today, 20C tomo)  and the puffy white clouds return, although we should have sunny periods. Winds are light and from the South on Guru but the Met say Sou’Sou’West 8-17kts, so we shall have to wait and see. Tide is High at 11.14hrs on a 5.7m, so a lovely day for river and estuary paddling, if you’ve been waiting for one! 

Sunday, things may get a little cooler and cloudier still, according to Guru, with a brisk Sou’West’West wind, 10-14kts in the morning and possibly 14-23kts West during the afternoon. The Met say cloud and Sun 21C and agree with the Guru wind prediction, so an afternoon of fun could be had by kites and windsurfers, as well as the foils. High is at 12.02hrs on a 5.9m.. a really good day for river paddling.  As we all know, the coast’s weather can be really nice when everywhere else is pants, so it may be a nicer weekend than they say. As for next week, a Windy Monday and then after that, it’s not so ‘happy’. 

And that’s it for this week, apart from to mention that the RRD £1399.00 Wing foil packages are selling through and there are no more coming, so don’t delay too long if you’ve been thinking about one. We still have a good supply of inflatable SUP’s , although the Fanatic board numbers are getting low and there’s no more stock available from Fanatic at the current ’low’ prices… things are now selling out. Have a great weekend everyone!