ALAN MITCHELL
“Temperatures were low at around three degrees but with the wind chill I reckon it was around minus 4, yes bloody cold, but not the coldest I’ve sailed in. Those days usually come along with NE or E winds during the winter. I do recall a session where I had to stop and warm up my hands on the beach after only a few runs. My sail had frozen over in just a few minutes and with a wet face you could feel your cheeks freezing whilst sailing along.
Sailing in these cold winds certainly is harder work as I never wear gloves. The poor old hands tend to suffer and I sometimes feel like I have hands and fingers that just won’t work, so a quick beach stop every five or six runs to get the blood back to your fingers and prevent “hot hands” which hurt like hell is a wise move! The conditions on this day were quite wild with perfect 4.2m condition most of the time, then from nowhere huge gusts would come through and before I knew it I was blown flat or if jumping then I was getting blown downwind several metres whilst airborne. My kit for the day was my 4.2m Ezzy elite and Goya quad 84L board. I always enjoy a windy day no matter how cold, although most people would say “Your off your rocker!” but for me I think I’m the lucky one out enjoying myself whilst they are stuck at work and moaning that it’s cold from their warm offices. After the session it’s always a quick change out of the wetsuit for me before de-rigging as this is when I seem to get cold quickly.”