Club Trip to Anglesey's Inland Sea, June 2022

Words and photos by John Lymer

12 of us, including members and their partners, once again had a great weekend at this little known gem! Some could only spare 1 night, while others had 2 or 3. We stayed at Pen Y Bont Caravan & Camping Site at Four Mile Bridge and that's were we launch from. Friday was warm and sunny and Force 4, Saturday quite cold and just Force 3/2. Sunday was the best day though - sunny, with temperatures just mid-teens, but the wind built from Force 5 to 6. Spring tides peaked early to mid-afternoon each day and the lagoon was sailable for well over 4 hours every day. And the icing on the cake - the water was between 30 and 80cm deep in the whole of the area we sailed! So it really didn't matter that almost all my duck gybe attempts ended in a fall. Saturday was marginal planing conditions even with very big sails, but it suited those still learning to windsurf and those with paddleboards. Saturday night was barbecue night. 14C and falling isn't ideal for a barbecue, but we're hardy windsurfers so it was very sociable anyway!

If any of this is tempting you - we're there again on 23rd September! Book early with the caravan site though. And be sure to bring some wind.

Here's some of the action, mostly featuring Andy Pepper (Pryde VX3 sail with a red luff tube) and includes a brief airborne moment too ....

Speed Ladder.

Ever wondered how fast you can go and how it compares to others? Well here's your chance to find out!

Most people who use a GPS (not too seriously) whilst windsurfing at our Club choose a Garmin Foretrex 101 or 201 (you can enter waypoints so it's okay for cycling and other sports too). These cost upwards of £85 for a new one on Ebay, but can cost twice that. Decathlon sell a different make of GPS for £80 and there are plenty of other makes and models that may also be suitable and you can try for 2nd hand too.

If you want to compare your speed (in knots ~ 1knot = 1.151mph) with others throughout the whole of the UK and Europe have a look here . A Navi-GT31 GPS and an Aquapak case are recommended if you are more serious. It uses an SD card, so you can download data to your computer without needing any special leads. The GT31 has come down in price to about £115, so not so different now from a Garmin.  

We'll keep things simple - no need to get the calculator out!

How it works ....

Email your single highest speed of the day in mph (or knots but just make it clear which) 

1. Include in your email the details in the table below
2. and the name of the person who has validated the speed

You can have one entry in the ladder for Watergrove and one for another venue. 

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

The best speeds to date were as long ago as 2011 and 2012 - Andy Whale with 34.8mph at Watergrove and Andy Pepper with 35.0mph at Fleetwood. We'll wipe some older speeds if/when you send us some new ones. So come on, what are you waiting for?!

Look here at new record set in November 2015 - 53.27 knots = 61.3mph!

Or here at previous record - 48.7knots = 56.0mph!

Gump of Juice Boardsports managed 52.4mph at West Kirby in September 2010!