Windsurfing Revival

by Alan Cole · Sunday, March 29th, 2026

Windsurf sessions have been few and far between lately, but with Alastair visiting on holiday with his family, a weekend sail had been on the cards for a while. Fortunately, the wind gods were on our side, delivering a solid north-westerly forecast for Saturday.

I rallied the troops and we gathered on the beach — a slightly reduced crew these days: Steve, who’s been struggling to get a decent session in recently; Alistair, still going strong at 70; Alastair, still finding his feet here; and me.

The sun was shining and the waves looked promising as we rigged up. I started on a 5.7m with my 104-litre board, while Alastair went for a 5.6 and both Steve and Alistair rigged 5.3s. After just one run, I came back in and swapped straight down to a 5.0m on the 89-litre board I’d already prepared. That proved to be the right call.

Conditions weren’t easy, but they were manageable. I was nicely powered early on, and as the wind and waves built through the session, it became fully maxed out by the end.

I was a little rusty after time off, and my jumping on this tack still isn’t my strong point, but I got through it with just one brief encounter with the whitewater — cue ice-cream headache and a mouthful of seawater. It was also properly cold, with air and sea temperatures around 7°C, and a biting wind chill on top. Despite that, the gybes were solid.

Steve struggled again — his hip and the cold don’t seem to mix — so he managed just a single run, though that’s still progress from last time. Alastair was sailing well, though I didn’t see much of him before he headed off for an estuary session later with his son and daughter. Alistair had a good outing too, even if he spent a fair bit of time downwind and walking back up over the slippery fossil forest. He didn’t seem to mind.

Despite there being three Al’s and a Steve on the water, I still felt oddly alone for much of the session — I barely saw anyone once I was out.

As a final note, my UJ snapped just as I was packing up — perfect timing. A few minutes earlier and I’d have been dealing with it half a mile offshore. A replacement is already on order, ready for the next session.