{"id":48084,"date":"2026-03-29T09:14:42","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T08:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?p=48084"},"modified":"2026-03-29T09:14:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T08:14:51","slug":"windsurfing-revival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/2026\/03\/windsurfing-revival\/","title":{"rendered":"Windsurfing Revival"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I rallied the troops and we gathered on the beach \u2014 a slightly reduced crew these days: Steve, who\u2019s been struggling to get a decent session in recently; Alistair, still going strong at 70; Alastair, still finding his feet here; and me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019d already prepared. That proved to be the right call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Conditions weren\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was a little rusty after time off, and my jumping on this tack still isn\u2019t my strong point, but I got through it with just one brief encounter with the whitewater \u2014 cue ice-cream headache and a mouthful of seawater. It was also properly cold, with air and sea temperatures around 7\u00b0C, and a biting wind chill on top. Despite that, the gybes were solid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve struggled again \u2014 his hip and the cold don\u2019t seem to mix \u2014 so he managed just a single run, though that\u2019s still progress from last time. Alastair was sailing well, though I didn\u2019t 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\u2019t seem to mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite there being three Al\u2019s and a Steve on the water, I still felt oddly alone for much of the session \u2014 I barely saw anyone once I was out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a final note, my UJ snapped just as I was packing up \u2014 perfect timing. A few minutes earlier and I\u2019d have been dealing with it half a mile offshore. A replacement is already on order, ready for the next session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n