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WINDSURFING EQUIPMENT &
ESSENTIALS:
TAKING THE RIGHT STUFF!
WORDS: SIMON WINKLEY
PHOTOS: ALEX IRWIN - SPORTOGRAPHY.TV
WINDSURFING IN A NEW OR REGULAR LOCATION IS AWESOME AND CAN CLEANSE
THE SOUL IN SO MANY WAYS BUT, AS WITH ANY ACTION SPORTS, THERE’S PLENTY
OF KIT-RELATED THINGS THAT CAN GO WRONG IF YOUR NOT CAREFUL. CREATING
YOUR OWN EPIC FAIL MOMENTS WITH KIT COULD CAUSE YOU – EVEN AS A GROWN
ADULT - TO SHED TEARS OF RAGE, PAIN OR IMMEASURABLE SADNESS - AND CRYING
ON THE BEACH (APPARENTLY) IS NOT A MECHANISM TO IMPRESS FELLOW
WINDSURFERS. So throughout this article I humbly offer tips and hints to get you
to the water with all the kit and essentials you need for a safe, productive and
stress-free session at any time of year.
Focusing on the kit
Whilst some people live quite close to their local spot –
and windsurf there on a regular basis - not many of us
could actually claim to be able to rig on our lawn, open
the garden gate and step smugly onto the beach suited
and booted with kit in hand. So it’s pretty likely that a
journey will need to be made. The good news is that
nowhere in the UK is more than 70 miles from the coast
and there are splendid inland locations aplenty. Currently
based on the Surrey/Kent border, my local spot for an
inland blast is the excellent, windsurf-friendly Queen Mary
Sailing Club with elevated water and one-mile reaches.
Whenever I can, however, I like to escape to the coast
with a 45-minute drive to the nearest spot – the same
time as it takes to get to QM.
I think just about everyone I know who windsurfs has, at
some point or other, forgotten a piece of kit. And guess
what? The thought of driving all the way home to pick
up the (delete as applicable) sail, mast, extension,
boom, UJ, fin, finbolt, screwdriver, wetsuit, harness etc.
that you recklessly abandoned on your garage floor -
and back again – is a situation (for most) that is fraught
with panic and despair as you stand on the beach
watching other (more organised) windsurfers zipping
back and forth in solid conditions. A desperate plea to
others might sort you out yet there’s no guarantee of
blagging it. A friend of mine once sailed a session in 25
knots at Hayling Island having left his harness at home
and couldn’t feel his arms for about a week afterwards.
He never did that again.
You might be lucky and have all your kit stored
permanently in a well-racked-out van which you can park
in a secure location. If your only option however is to
store kit somewhere safer and load your vehicle every
time it’s windy then perhaps some sort of military regime
of kit storage and packing is needed to ensure that you
have what you need and that you don’t end up with a
garden trowel in your kit box instead of that essential
freewave fin. Having a laminated checklist taped to your
kit box or pinned to your garage/shed wall could help. As
a minimum – pack your car/van and then, before
committing to leaving for your chosen spot, work from the
bottom upwards to do a visualization/recall of each piece
of your windsurfing hardwear and personal kit to check if
you have forgotten anything.
uk
WIND
SURFING