10.5knots from a 25ft yacht

I sailed my boat ("playtime" - an awful name which I didn't choose !) from Ipswich to Ramsgate with a friend at the weekend. Crossing the thames was pretty rough, it felt like force 8 - but was probably only a gusty 6. Toughest bit for me was probably when the GPS started switching itself off as we were jybing down the main entrance channel to the thames, which is about a mile wide. It got kindof hard to work out the course with a big commercial boat behind us, no gps, and bloody great waves everywhere. And felt as sick as a dog, which I guess is the effect of a lightweight lift keel, in a lumpy sea.

All in all not much fun, but a good experience.