Surfladle

 Do.. We need the rain? Just thought I would kick off this rather late and frantic Friday evenings ramble in a manner that we are all rather used to,  i.e. getting WET and thanks to a nice big Low heading our way, we will once again ’enjoy’ this pleasure over this coming.. Weekend!

 

Yes, the forecast is looking wet and windy once again. Useful Wind is always welcome but as for the rain, I think we have had our fair share and as it does not seem to register as a commodity on our net exports list (why not?) what’s the point? Anyway, it’s not due to arrive here until late this evening, so I hope everyone that is attending the Lucas Meldrum Event at Hove Lagoon (kicks off at 6pm and open to anyone and everyone) will escape before it gets too heavy. Boards..

 

A new 2024 Starboard Ultra Wave board 82lt arrived with us today and it was a bit of an early bird, as these Wood versions are to order only, as they are not going to be a stock item in the UK.  In previous years the UK market has always wanted Carbon boards and with that in mind,  the Importers decided that this year they would only stock the carbon version of the Ultra’s to help their efforts in cutting cut back on the number of boards they hold in stock, which is something we are all trying to do during this ‘crisis’ period of the UK’s economy. So, the board was a special order and our customer, who was once a local but now resides in Spain, was not expecting to see it until February. You can guess how surprised he was when it turned up almost 3 months early.. and so were we! This is one of the first wave boards we have seen with a sunken mast track, which Starboard say does this.. ' For progressing wave sailors, a lower mast foot position helps advancing wave sailors balance their weight more forward, maintaining momentum easier and getting to the lip with more speed-.’

I am not totally sure what that means or whether this is true, but as we have a board going to a customer we will wait to see.. or hear! On a GREEN note, Starboard are now supplying their boards with a protective sock, to do away with bubble wrap or throw away packaging that we have filled wheely bins with in the past.. a nice touch.

The wood is visible through the washed paint, which makes it a lovely looking bit of kit and the colour scheme with that Fluro tail is striking (yes, it does remind you of the early Dyno boards). So why did he want Wood?  Well, the wood boards are a little less ‘harsh’ across the water, due to the very slight flex that is present in the hull when carbon isn’t. They can take those hard flat landings a little better as well, so that suits the area it is going to in Spain and to be honest, the rider is getting on a bit now..  a carpet slipper board will be nice for him… tee he (perhaps I should have held back on that remark until he has paid? Oh, he just has! ). Joking aside, Si has a lot of board experience tucked into his harness and I am looking forward to his feedback, once he has collected the little beauty and taken it for its first spin in Spain. And the price.. £2099.00 for the Wood (pre- order only but we may still have a board coming in Feb..) and £2499.00 for the Carbon version (due later this month).OK,  Straps..

 

F-One V-foot straps for Wing foil boards are a bit like the legendary rocking horse pooh.. maybe even harder to find quite honestly.. as  it has taken months for these to arrive and I believe they were stolen from the French stockpile,  we are indeed very lucky to have a ‘thieving’ UK Rep! 

So, my liege, if you are on a quest to find a set, we  have just one available for this weekend. Price is £99.00 now but as F-One still have them at £90.00 on their website, we will match that. What about Power… 

 

A quick update on how Shell are doing with their new style ‘Power Station’ on the roundabout. Today was the first time in the last week that I have seen a car on the charging bay, that was actually plugged in.  Many have been parking on the said bays but it looked as though they were nipping into the convenience store for provisions (the cars were definitely not electric). Queues for the two fossil fuel ‘stations’ have of course been constant as you would expect, so I did wonder if Shell were using this Power Station as a trial run, as it seems a bit of a gamble to push so much of a forecourt over to vehicles that can get their fill at home. Note. If you were not aware, Octopus are offering a GREEN Car user rate of just 7.5p KWH for 6 hours of cheap elecy overnight to charge the vehicle, 11.30pm to 5.30am and then a day rate of 37.5p KWH (A secondary note. This is much cheaper than they ‘charge’ ME for our house’s on-going long-term ‘GREEN’ Economy 7 Electric Heating) whereas they are not as far as I know ‘current’ly offering Petrol or Derv, to be available at home.. unless you live on a farm but that is Red fuel. Shell Henfield has now been closed for a refit and I do wonder if that will be updated in the same way.. interesting times and perhaps longer queues? Weather..

 

As I mentioned at the start, this weekend is bringing wind and warm rain to our shores. This is the current outlook..

Saturday, at around 6am, the wind will be from the South at 19-30kt and then should swing to Sou’Sou’West and increase 20-36kt. Rain is believed to be heavy throughout this period. By midday the wind will swing to the Sou’West and increase slightly. By approximately 2pm the rain should stop and at that point the wind will typically drop back and be more from the West at 15-27kt (the River is going to be busy.. watch out for the wind shadow from the new airport hangers). Dry for the rest of the afternoon. Tide is High at 14.00hrs (2pm) on a 5.7m,  so that ties us in nicely for the morning at Shoreham or perhaps Lancing, Worthing or Littlehampton if you wish to stay out closer to the High Tide time.

 

Sunday, we kick off with wind speeds of 20-38kt from the West’Sou’West and that is how it is going to stay for most of the daylight hours! No rain shown at the moment, so in theory there should be no horrible wind shifts and drops as the rain fronts move through (as has been the case just recently). Saturday may of course suffer from these but we will see. Tide is High at 14.57hrs on a 5.3m, so sailing locations pretty much as they are on Saturday. Now, here is the pleasant surprise. If the forecasters are correct.. we should have a temp of 14°C on both days, which for mid-November is truly scorchio! Oh, I hope they have that right!

 

And that’s it for this evening. It’s been a funny old week, for various reasons and one that makes you want to get on with life, so I trust that no one will waste their precious time lolloping around and do their utmost to make the most of it, even if it is slightly wet at times! 

Please have a great weekend and our doors will be open 9.30 – 5.30pm Tomo and again 10-1.00pm on Sunday, should you be in need or would like to colllect Kite or Wing repairs!