54 FEATUREUK WINDSURFING
Teaching with Neilson
The next stage of my windsurfing came in 2013 when I
earned my RYA Windsurf Instructor qualification. The
year after, when I was 18, I worked at a nearby school
teaching sailing, windsurfing and other assorted sports.
Soon after I began teaching with Neilson, and have
been ever since. Through this experience I have seen
the issues of holiday windsurfing, attempted to find
ways around it, but most importantly found my love for
the sport. Every little move is an achievement,
something to be proud of.
Windsurfing can take you around the world, but domestic
windsurfing in UK waters is tricky, or at least perceived to
be. The water isn’t as balmy as the Med, wind is driven
by low pressure systems as opposed to Trade or
thermals, and brand new off the shelf kit isn’t cheap!
The very first thing needed to windsurf, before anything,
is find somewhere to do it. A perfect location should be
local, with breeze. A few extra amenities is always nice
but not essential. Many go abroad to get this perfect set
up: soft sand, warm water and kit already rigged on the
beach! Life doesn’t get much easier. The Aegean Sea
has the Meltemi to provide great breeze, Sardinia has
the Mistral, Vass has ‘Eric’, The Canary Islands have
their own unique winds and so on.
Lochs and lakes
The UK has no lack of good - even great – spots
though. A quick Google search usually finds
somewhere to windsurf; many places already have
windsurf clubs. We all know it’s more fun to windsurf
with other people, so why not investigate? It’s a great
way to learn too! Sometimes it can take
experimentation; my local spot in Edinburgh is a tiny
loch, only 5ft deep. It’s perfect for learning new moves,
and as it’s surrounded by land. If anything goes wrong
then it’s only a short swim in! Lochs and lakes are
available to explore, it could become your personal
spot (but always be willing to share, not necessarily
just with other windsurfers...). Windsurfing doesn’t
have to be confined to coastal locations.
The other thing that may be off-putting is the UK’s
climate. Sadly, there’s not a lot to be done about the
actual temperature of the air and water during off
seasons. Wetsuits are great at keeping you warm and
technology has greatly improved. It’s now not unusual
to be hot in rubber even when air temps are low. Sure,
neoprene is not as cool as boardshorts but then needs
must. A well fitted wetsuit will keep your body heat in,
and you can get extra thick steamers with hoods for
those particularly cold winter days. When the right gear
is available, there’s no excuse not to be out and before
long it’ll be all smiles.
uk
WIND
SURFING
In an ideal world, we’d all have jobs that we can do
whenever. I read about a group of guys based near
Rutland Water who are all electricians, plumbers and
similar. These guys work hard, but when the wind
comes they have nothing to stop them jumping in their
vans and heading to the lake. If we were all in the