Mumma Mia, here we go again!  Oh, sorry, I see Eurovision was last week.. well, there’s something good to start the weekend off with.. there’s No Eurovision! I heard we were the only country to receive no telephone votes whatsoever, which some reckoned to be due to CGI Abba characters mentioning that when they won the competition in Brighton, back in 1974, the UK panel gave Abba’s song Waterloo ‘nil point’. Some things are just never forgotten! Oh well.. 

What a week of changeable weather, more like April than May, especially if your days off were either or both of the T’s!  Tuesday was a wet day but at least it was windy and then Thursday brought still more rainfall, so once again the ground is soddened and hence the ‘run off’ comes down the rivers and into the sea. Not what we need at the moment, as it does not enhance the bathing water quality. I doubt if there’s much the water companies can do about it though, without massive infrastructure changes which are not likely to take place with the current expenditure forecasts. House building is always first for the investors and green power generation is doing Ok as well, as they are profitable but who wants to invest or spend money on basic infrastructure (least of all the Government..) and with rising sea levels and more and more people pouring into this area (we are so popular that even Croydon Council have bought flats in one of the new wharf developments.. hmmm) long term planing for clean surface water and sewage disposal is not going to be cheap. One other slight problem, if you don’t live near or get into the water, are you bothered!? So, as I mentioned on Wednesday, there’s the SAS (Surfers Against Sewage) protest planned to take place at Brighton’s West Pier tomorrow morning at 11.30am. Do not worry about the paddle out aspect if you don’t have a board or it would be awkward to take it, as numbers at the site will make more of an impact with the Press. It may well help bring more pressure to improve things, where and when possible.

RRD have set up three ‘camps’ at Lake Garda for budding wing foilers who are under 20 years old. I think this is a great idea, as we need a water sport that gets the attention of young people, as it was with windsurfing back in the eighties and the kites of the noughties, to get things moving again. Seeing other people your age having fun brings more people to the party! 

The events are going under the name of Young Wings and are aimed at youngsters who are already foiling and want to progress and possibly make Winging part of their future. I’ve just spoken to Benji Ardern, the UK side of RRD, who is currently out in Sardinia for the last day of the Dealer Meeting week (one we could not attend sadly.. very sadly) and he will have more info on this recently launched initiative on his return,  but for now here’s a link if this is of interest to your Young Person… https://equipment.robertoriccidesigns.com/products/young-wings/?__s=4f9jhgr5oaksias7ps6z

If you fancy a Winging vid for those that are a little older.. Robby Naish has recently posted one re. getting speed from his Naish setup and whether or not it’s actually fun when you achieve it.. an interesting point and now that he has mentioned it, I’m sure it will become a point of conversation.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x0hGyAfF4g

James’s is heading West Tomo to attend a family event, so it is just Moi at the store this weekend, so please bear with me if you come along and I am already with customers.. will do my best to get everyone sorted ASAP. OK, what of this weeks Weekend Weather.. dry and force 5?

Saturday, starts off with rain showers, which depending upon whose forecast you look at but quoting the Met, will not stop until around 2pm (and if it was like Thursday, not exactly showers either..). The wind is just as useless, as Northerly 5-10kts pretty much all day but will swing Nor’Nor’East at around 6pm. Tide is High at 08.27hrs on a 4.6m, so not great for SUP or Wing on the river. Well, what a waste of a good day off!  

Sunday is not strikingly better, but at least it currently shows only an odd shower in the afternoon (generally around 4pm, when we get out of here) and we should have a 20°C air temp. Wind is still from the Northern sector 7-13kt, so nothing to get excited about (when will we get a useful weekend wind..?) and with the Tide being High at 9.25hrs on a 4.9m, not a lot of River action to be had either. 

And that is it for this week.  Please forgive bad grammar and any typos, as it’s been a rush , as it always is.  I will post any further info we receive  re. the RRD Young Wings asap but for now, I hope everyone has a great weekend (good luck to the Shoreham Outrigger teams who are competing at the National Sprint Championships being held at Dorney Reach this weekend)  and we or rather I, am here 9.30 – 5.30pm Tomo and 10 – 4.00pm on Sunday, should you be in need of anything. 

Cheery pip all!