Back on the Water
Various factors had conspired to keep me off the water lately. A lack of wind—or, on occasion, too much wind—weekends away, and work were the usual culprits. Adding to the delay, the construction of a new shed, which is now almost finished, had left my windsurfing kit inaccessible for over a month.
One Last Hoorah on New Year’s Eve Eve
As 2024 drew to a close, I felt the need to squeeze in at least one more windsurfing session before the year ended. After an extended break, it’s ideal to ease back in with a relaxed session. The trouble with windsurfing, though, is that it’s entirely dictated by conditions. Around here, at this time of year, it’s often feast or famine—either no wind at all or a raging storm. I wasn’t quite ready to face the latter.
The forecast for New Year’s Eve Eve looked promising. The wind was predicted to pick up ahead of a major storm set to hit on New Year’s Eve and linger into the New Year. I met Alistair at Llanrhystud, but the wind hadn’t fully arrived. I rigged up and waited on the beach, watching as Alistair gave it a go. He floated out through the waves, managed to waterstart beyond the break, and sailed back in. It didn’t look like much fun. On his next attempt, he spent ages trying to waterstart without enough wind to succeed. When he finally made it back to shore, he’d had enough.
I hadn’t even gotten wet but decided to pack up and call it a day.
Trying Again on New Year’s Eve
The forecast for New Year’s Eve promised much stronger winds—maybe even too strong—but it was worth a shot. Once again, we met at Llanrhystud as the tide dropped. Although it didn’t feel particularly windy at first, I rigged up a 5.0 m sail with the forecast in mind. Alistair opted for a 5.3 m.
Once on the water, it was clear that this was far too much sail. I struggled, overpowered, and soon headed back to swap for a smaller board. That helped, but the session remained challenging. My arms were already fatigued, and there was no chance to relax. Alistair decided to downsize to a 4.5 m sail. I followed suit, and this helped somewhat. While there were still moments of being overpowered and some lulls with not quite enough wind, for the most part, I finally had some control.
By this point, though, fatigue was setting. Despite the struggles, I managed a few decent jumps, landing a couple of them. My gybes were less impressive—only one or two could be called pretty—but at least I was back on the water.
Wrapping Up 2024
In the end, I was grateful to have squeezed in one last windsurfing session before the year ended. Let’s hope the wait for the first session of 2025 isn’t too long!
