What happened to the weather while I was gone, the wind seems to have dwindled while the temperature plummeted? I thought a mid week spell on the water was driven by desperation, but after what we tried to get out on during Saturday, it didn’t seem so bad. But looking around the beach it looks like we were the only ones to get the Spartan message.

During drivenbywind we had some of the coldest weather I’ve sailed in years, but by the time we called the event to an end, I wasn’t alone in using a Spartan wetsuit to beat the cold. Looking at the beach this week it looked like winter is already closing the beach to a few riders.

With a strong forecast for the weekend, Shaun and I decided we’d leave the camera in the van; besides, we were alone on the water. What a mistake, we should have made the most of it as Saturday brought little more than fools wind, and guess which fools it tempted out.

Guessing it wasn’t going to be the best of days we tried to kite out of Brightlingsea, not the best launch spot with cables and beach huts surrounding the car park, but its got to be tried. We could see a few other idiots doing the same over at point clear so we thought we’d head strait over to join them.

Two miles down the beach and right at the end of the bay the wind just stops. Nothing-new there, but so much for kitesurfing being a light wind alternative, at least with windsurfing we can have floated back in. The wind had dropped to zero, and with no chance getting the kite off the water, it was a long swim in against and out going tide.

While there was plenty of time to think “never again”, it was also time to appreciate my wetsuit. After the success of last winter we’ve seen a fare bit of improvements to this years model. Though the warmth wasn’t necessarily a bonus with the swim I was having, the new neoprene was. Being super flexible it was more like being in a summer suit, but if I had to go for one new feature it would be the new self-draining legs.

Ever wondered why Kitesurfers cut their wetsuit legs off half way up the calf. The water coming off the edge of the kiteboard drives up the wetsuit leg, it does happen sometime when windsurfing but now we have a new seal material that not only helps to block the water coming in, but lets it drain out rather than having legs that look more at home on Popeye.