Words & photos - John Lymer

Trips to the coast are good for a change any time. With the low water level at Watergrove, an outing definitely seemed worth the effort. We particularly like Fleetwood, but only in an Easterly or Westerly and at low tide, so West Kirby in a South Westerly it was. Just 3 of us, but the wind direction was perfect to start with and a good Force 4. It turned squally, picking up to Force 6 later in the afternoon and veering Westerly. That made for a bit of a fight with a 6.4m sail! We opted to finish rather than downsize. Just as well, because there was hail and heavy rain as we packed up ... then the wind dropped to something manageable again, but maybe it picked up again later too?! On the plus side, I managed 30.2mph with a freeride (not freerace) sail and Dave Martin topped that - properly flat water next to the wall is a definite luxury!

By the time of some late afternoon photography Norbert was off the water. John was behind the camera, so that just left Dave Martin ... and lots of West Kirby regulars. Here's a sample of the action ...

Click on a picture to see larger images then use the arrows or swipe to scroll through them