44TRAVELSW ENGLAND
WORDS: BEN PAGE PICS: JAN BOWDEN, LUKE RAISTRICK, STEFAN HILDER FOR MANY WINDSURFERS WINTER MEANS A TRAINING TRIP TO AN EXOTIC LOCATION SUCH AS SOUTH AFRICA OR MAUI. BUT WHAT OF THE UK IN WINTER? IT’ S NO SECRET THAT THE WINTER MONTHS ARE OUR WILDEST IN TERMS OF WEATHER, WITH THE SOUTH WEST OF ENGLAND BEARING THE BRUNT OF MANY AN ATLANTIC STORM. The winter of 2016 / 17 presented an opportunity for me to move to Devon. I took a year out from my medical degree to study for a BSC in sport science at Exeter University. This cunning postponement of my impending adulthood put me in prime location to make the most of what the winter in the South West had to offer.
While Exeter is not on the doorstep of any quality wave spots, it is centrally located to give day trip access to all of Devon and Cornwall. An hour gets you to Bigbury, an extra thirty minutes reaches the North Devon coast and an hour and 45 minutes gets you to the Ho’ okipa of UK windsurfing; Gwithian. Distances are great so fuel costs can be high, but with my enthusiasm for dodgy car camping I stretched out each beach trip to the max so I could get as much water time as possible from each trip to the fuel pumps.
Variety of conditions
One of the fantastic things about windsurfing on a peninsula is that wind comes from all directions, and it’ s always good somewhere. The variety of conditions on offer in Devon and Cornwall is staggering, no two days are the same, and with so many different spots to choose from there is no chance of getting bored. There were weeks where I sailed cross off, logo high port tack on the north coast one day, surfed head high glass the next and then went to the south coast for a nuking jumping session. All this with some incredibly scenic backdrops, few crowds and, because it was winter, free parking!
In a whole winter there were a few sessions that really stuck in my head. Many were at Gwithian, its reputation really does precede it and it’ s not hard to see why. Among many special times afloat though, there was one day in particular that I remember most. The forecast was incredibly borderline and I mostly went to the beach to see my friend Charlie Gilman. We rigged anyway and headed out for what looked like two-foot waves. As we hit the water, something happened, I don’ t know if it was the tide, or a swell change or what, but it suddenly quadrupled in size to completely hollow, logo high perfection.
uk
WIND SURFING