The home of UK windsurfing. There'll normally be a decent crowd of people out when the conditions are right. Flatish water or waves on the sandbar.
Nearly two months without a sail so I decided to chance a marginal forecast and head to Hayling for the afternoon. It wasnt the best day, being marginal 7m+ weather for most of the afternoon, but the wind did pick up towards the middle of the afternoon and we had a fantasic hour or so of full on planing conditions. I managed my first full speed duck gybe surprising myself at getting round. Didn't quite plane out, but I was happy with staying dry and getting round in one piece.
I didn't realise there was an American Classic Car Show at Hayling Beach to stay so was a little surprised when I turned up to see hot rods and class cars all around the beach. As the wind wasnt up to much I went for a wander around with the camera before hitting the water.
The windsurfing itself wasnt much to write home about, the gusts were fun and the lulls tedious but that was about it. I did help a fellow sailor suffering from a snapped UJ by sailing a new one out to him but other than that quite a forgetable session.
There comes a time when recovering from injury that you have accept it's good enough and you can get back on the horse, so to speak. The sea may still be eight degrees and the air similiar, but today was the day. I briefly debated whether boots were required, before acknowledging my feet would probably go numb without them. The conditions weren't great but 140 days after I sprained my ankle, I made back on to a windsurfing board. In the sea, not on dry land. Obviously.
All in all it was better than I'd expected. Sure, there's some stiffness but I now have pretty much full movement. The wind was a little up and down all afternoon, and the small Hayling waves were best before the wind kicked in, but two hours of blasting in the sun during April was very satisfying to say the least. Roll on next time.
The forecast promised much and Chimet was kicking off, but when I arrived at the coast it was just a light breeze. Still having made the effort to drive down, I was certainly getting wet. 5.8 and the FSW turned out to be the right combination. There were a couple of moments when I could have used a smaller board, but only just. Limiting the length of runs is one of the best ways of improving and certainly makes for a great workout. A move every five minutes makes the time fly too. By the time you’ve racked up ten tacks or gybes the power hour is up and it’s time for rest and reflection. Of course, I didn’t do the rest bit and just carried on until I could barely move. Then drove back to London.
In this sport you got to take it while you can... This low past over mighty quickly, but fortunately it was timed for us weekend warriors. Forecast was 30 knots plus, but when I arrived at the beach it was only blowing 22 knots. So I rigged a 4.7m. Should have gone smaller!
Still first time out on the RRD WaveCult 85 and loving it. Much looser that the FSW - noticeable even on the flat water we had to day. There was a point where just about all the sailors went over to the sandbar so I headed over thinking I was missing something. I wasn't. Tiny windswell breaking all over the place in random directions. Enough to make you sea sick. The WaveCult was also great for jumping, although it's so short I had to watch I didn't nose dive the landing. Managed that a couple of times. Ouch. Still, am sure I'll get used to it...
Fantastic session all in all, hopefully the first of many this autumn.
Oh and I wore my new Ion 5:4 winter suit. Boy was that warm ;-)
Stitched together from Ash's shots last weekend
The windy July continues and this weekend ash and I headed down to hayling to enjoy the good weather by the sea. Ash acted as chief photographer and got some great shots.
Saturday was the better day windwise. We got down late afternoon and I was amazed to have the sea front all to myself! The tide was up but the shore break was being gentle and launching wasn't the challenge it can be. There's a tack and a gybe sequence in the gallery - the fact I can make both more than not on the 110L is becoming less of a surprise to me now :) of course there's also a gybe sequence I didn't make...
After the afternoon in the sun we 'checked in' to fleet farm campsite, spent the evening in a local pub enjoying good food and drink before retiring to the van.
Sunday was also windy but it never really got going. A few planing runs early on dissipated as the clouds moved in. Back to heli-tack practice. I'm getting there. Slowly but surely. My current tip is massively stepping forward through the rig rotation to counterbalance the weight of the rig. This all makes perfect sense on dry land but somehow you have to feel on the water it to work out a new move.
Four weeks to go before Mexico with Jem and i'm looking forward to it. Must remember to buy some tape for the inevitable shredded hands.
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An average forecast together with early afternoon low-tide meant everywhere would be flat water so I lazily opted for my closest spot, Hayling. Got there late morning and met up with Dave. We were greeted by a steady force 3 and decided to go out anyway, hoping the conditions would improve. Dave rigged big with a 7.5m while I went for my trusty 5.8m on the 110 FreeStyleWave (yes Jem, it was a good call). The next hour or so was light wind freestyle for me while Dave was mostly planing. I'm getting round more and more heli-tacks now which is really satisfying. Fortunately, after about an hour the wind picked up and the rest of the afternoon we were planing. Dave even took some photos of me.
After the wind had already blown down a tree across the A3, getting to the coast was a more of a challenge than normal. It was the Fat Face Hayling windsurfing festival this weekend and by the time I arrived, there were already plenty of vans and tents parked up on the beach. Although it was dark, the wind was howling and the rain still lashing down.
I woke early to the sound of more rain driving against the van, checked the forecast and decided to get on with it. Measuring the wind at 18knots, although I'd taken the Evo down with me, I opted to stick with the 87FSW and a 5.2. There was a clear swell breaking on the bar and my combination turned out to be perfect for the first 30 mins or so. Then the wind picked up. Really picked up. And it was gusty, one minute not a lot and the next bang...
Still, the waves were rolling in and everyone was getting some decent rides and airtime. By the time I came in at lunchtime, I could barely hold on any more. Checking Chimet it turned out the gusts were over 40knots...
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