Yup, 2007/8/9/10 wasn’t quite 50knts though.
Took my iSonic 88 ltr and 3 sails, a 3.5/4.7 & 5.2 that’s all you need, when it blows it blows hard, invariably it blows 30knts constant which for me is 3.5/4.7 weather. Biggest problem is launching and recovery, there are so many folks crowded in a small launch area nearest the startline it gets a bit crammed. Seen all the “stars” there over the years, bought so many pints of frothy lager and shared the dance floor with some stunning French beauties.. It’s quite good fun, you must try it one day before you die 😆
It’s been running for years, attracts 000’s of windsurfers from all over Europe. Even during the “shrinking” years where loads of windsurfers turned to kiting and the sport almost ground to a halt, in Europe it was and still is very very popular. Rack up to any beach and you’ll find some French bloke and his family going out and back. Then there are the secret spots of Northern France/Spain/Norway where the hardcore go, Portugal still runs loads of wave comps, but we too here in Britain still have comps, be it wave, slalom or racing.
Hayling still holds the “water sports” show every Sept and it draws folks from all over the world, last year it was estimated 250k folks turned up over the long weekend.
Windsurfing ain’t dead by a long shot, we are just more choosy about where we go here in the UK.
Still hunt waves me, we’ve had some great wind this spring and over at West Wtts it’s been pretty damn good fun.
Dude.
😆