Party: SUP Club – Going Down

Party: SUP Club – Going Down

So tonight sees the return of a SUP Club favourite – the downwinder / down-tider from Chalkwell to Thorpe Bay. It's a one-way ticket, and we are cutting it fine with the tide and relying on the wind staying firmly north-westerly for super-flat water (looking good so far but it's a fine line – a tiny bit more westerly and we will get a bit of chop accompanying the tailwind). Anyway, point being we just need to be sure that everyone attending tonight can definitely cope, come what may – most of our regulars will be perfectly fine, but if you're not yet confident you can stand up and paddle strong for 90 minutes in coastal conditions, please give this week a miss... Meeting from 6.10pm for a quick 6.25pm briefing at Chalkwell (www.supsect.com/chalkwell-beach nearest postcode, SS0 8JJ) – then we'll definitely be launching the shortest boards first at 6.30pm prompt, then graduating up via the longer boards to the full-on raceboarders at 6.40pm. It's about 7.5km to the slipway just beyond Uncle Tom's Cabin (SS3 9HG www.supsect.com/thorpe-bay) then we'll book enough taxis for everyone as soon as we land (possibly grabbing a beer while we wait for them to arrive!) to go back and collect vehicles, drive back and pack up, before reconvening at The Shorehouse for drinks and a good old-fashioned Harvester dinner. If you want to ferry vehicles around beforehand, fair enough – but please not at the risk of being late back to Chalkwell (at 6.25) as we're not hanging around for stragglers or the tide will have gone!