Suffolk location guides for Alton Water/Felixstowe South, North /Aldeburgh/Walberswick
- Alton Water
Flat Water: YES Wind Chop: Small Waves: NO Beach: n/a (Grass) Wind Direction : W-NNW / (ANY)
Car parking : YES (free to members) Toilets : YES, plus Showers Caf� : YES
Nearest Windsurf Shop : Ski-Surf, Colchester And a little further : Wet'n'Dry, A13/A130 Jn. There is also a small chandlery on-site.
Wind information : On-Site Wendy Station.
Alton Water reservoir is located near the villages of Tattingstone and Holbrook, approximately 6 miles South of Ipswich. Approach via the A12, the A137, and the B1080.
The sailing area is the SE section, and is approximately 1/3-mile across by 1/2-mile wide. The wind here can be horribly gusty, but North Westerlies can be fairly clean. When you are learning this is not really a huge problem, but it can be very frustrating otherwise. Easterly winds (coming up over the dam) are generally not worth bothering with. If you are a fairly confident sailor, I would strongly recommend trying out Aldeburgh and Felixstowe as alternatives.
You must either be a member or purchase a day ticket to sail at Alton Water, but the charges for this are very reasonable.
- Felixstow South
Flat Water:
Car parking : YES (Free/20p) Toilets : YES Caf� : Several
Nearest Windsurf Shop : unknown
Wind information : none nearby. Tide information can be found here.
Felixstowe is located on the East Coast of Suffolk, approximately 9 miles SE of Ipswich. Approach on the A14, and at the first roundabout go Right for the SW launch site, or straight ahead for the NE launch site, and follow to the sea.
There are three distinct launch sites at Felixstowe. The one to choose depends on the wind direction, but in general the NE-most site (known locally as "The Fludges") is the most popular. Park on the roadside (free) near the toilet block. The SW-most site is the next most popular. Park in the car-park (20p per hour until 6pm) near the old theatre. Note that you cannot drive from the centre site to the Fludges site without driving slightly inland.
There can be a very nasty side-shore rip at the Fludges site, caused by water entering or exiting the River Deben. Be very wary of this, as it often means rigging at least 1m larger sail than you think to counteract the lack of apparent wind. Beginners should use the SW-most site instead!
- Felixstow North
Flat Water: YES Wind Chop: Some Waves: YES Beach: Shingle / Sand Wind Direction : N-SW W
Car parking : YES (Free/20p) Toilets : NO Caf� : NO
Nearest Windsurf Shop : unknown
Wind information : none nearby. Tide information can be found here.
Felixstowe is located on the East Coast of Suffolk, approximately 9 miles SE of Ipswich. Approach on the A14, and at the SECOND roundabout go right, then left at the lights. Keep going until you find the Cliffland Car Park, just before the golf course. There is plenty of grass for rigging, although this means carrying your rig down some steep-ish steps. If you're not yet confident enough for this, there is some grass at the bottom of the steps that you can use instead.
There are three main sailing areas, but whether they are all useable depends on the tide:
(1) Firstly there is the small lagoon formed between the spit and the seafront. This is useable from mid to high tide, and is perfect for beginner/intermediate practise and excellent for forcing gybe practise as it's not very wide! The lagoon is shallow at the beach side, but deep next to the spit (you can sail right up to it until the nose hits it without catching your fin!). (2) Secondly - but only at mid-tide - there is a large "ring" of shallow enclosed water on the seaward side of the spit. Again this is very safe for the intermediate, great for flat-water gybe practise, and also popular with the kiters. (3) Thirdly there are nearly always breaking waves and nice ramps on the point of the spit, even if the surrounding water is pretty flat. Great for jumps and you can still gybe on the flat water on the inside, and blast out to sea afterwards.
For more aerial photos of the bar, see the gallery at www.debenentrance.com. (2006 pics are up there now).
Despite the safety of most of this location, there can be some pretty nasty currents caused by the nearby river mouth, so ask the locals for advice if in doubt. High-tide can get a bit tricky for launching and landing, as the water comes right up to the concrete steps, but if in doubt (or in trouble!) you can lauch or land from the safety of the lagoon, it just means a short walk back to the car-park.
- Aldeburgh Flat Water: YES Waves: NO Beach: Mud / Shingle Wind Direction : SE-NE E
Car parking : YES (free) Toilets : NO Caf� : NO
Nearest Shop : unknown
Wind information : none nearby. Tide information can be found here for the sea, and here for the estuary (there is nearly 3hrs difference!).
Aldeburgh is located on the East Coast, about 20 miles North-East of Ipswich. Access is via the A12 and A1094. Turn right when you get into Aldeburgh and follow the road until it turns into a shingle track alongside the seafront. Follow the shingle track as far as the Martello tower, and launch from there. Keep away from the mooring bouys when sailing, as they are attached to large concrete blocks that are obviously not good for your fin... You also need to avoid the join between the channel and the surrounding marshland at mid-tide, as the marshland right up to the shingle drive can get covered at high-tide.
As can been seen from the aerial photo, you have a choice of sailing on the estuary or on the sea itself. Most people sail on the estuary as there are better locations nearby for sea-sailing (see Felixstowe and Walberswick).
The beauty of this location is that it works in one shape or form in all wind directions, and is especially useful because the prevailing winds in this area tend to be offshore.