News

Congratulations to the Windsurf & SUP Club’s Sam, initially a Sea Gorillaz and now a committee member and coach. He’s committed to all areas of the sport – waves, racing, foiling and shows no signs of slowing down as he’s just back from the 2021 Techno Youth World Championship’s in Lake Garda, Italy!

Great performance and experience for him and the other Scots, finishing 17th (Kai), 18th (Euan) and 21st (Sam) in their fleet…brilliant!

Write up from Techno293.org:

Lake Garda – the most legendary inland sailing spot in the world in a stunning location, has welcomed yet again the Techno293 Class. This time it was special, as we had 300 competitors from Asia, Africa and Europe and being a Junior and Youth Class, it meant it was a first major event for many of the sailors coming to Torbole. 

We’ve been here for 10 days of Techno, opening with the TWF 130 International Championships, then moving swiftly on to these 2021 Techno293 World Championships, as guests of the hugely experienced and superbly well organised local club, Circolo Surf Torbole, working hand-in-hand with the IWA (International Windsurfing Association) to ensure yet another successful event. And this has been the biggest windsurf championships in the world in 2021.The IWA classes took this opportunity to thank the host and dedicated to Circolo Surf Torbole the Ceri Williams award in recognition of those who, like Ceri Williams, demonstrate that they are seeking excellence and stand at the service of the sport of windsurfing and the kids who love it. Circolo Surf Torbole represents all the values of excellence pursued by IWA in its institutional activity. Especially in 2020 and 2021 the club guaranteed a very high level of sporting, educational and didactic activity, despite the enormous difficulties encountered in the pandemic.

It’s been a challenging week for all the windsurfers too, congratulations to all of them for coming to compete, for their good humour, their skills, and for carrying the baton for this amazing class. Everyone here is a winner, but it’s all about the World Champions.

Full article here

The club recently purchased a Foil & all round board. Ali was lucky enough to take it for a spin in Tiree a couple of weeks ago and used it for Wingfoiling, Windsurfing, Paddle-surfing and Windfoiling. Despite rider needing more practise, this is a seriously versatile & fun bit of kit … it will be great as the club expands into all corners of Watersports… Bring on season ‘22!

Our taster sessions saw about 70 folk out on the water over the weekend trying out all manner of waterborne activity, great feedback from everyone involved and some fantastic progression in a short space of time for some people trying out new water sports for the first time! Loads of families, individuals, young and old all getting out on the water.

The middle age groups including the FunKee MonKeeZ (up to 4.5m sails) and our GrooVee GorillaZ (up to 5.8m sails), headed out into the main Harbour (when the fog cleared!) to test out their skills on the Saturday, and on Sunday they competed on an upwind/ downwind race course, great progression through the weekend with some awesome skills on display!

Our most experienced group, the KraZee BananaZ (up to 7.8m sails) headed to Cruden Bay for a wave sailing session on the Saturday. They managed a cool float & ride session in the morning, and in the afternoon as the wind dropped, they ditched the sails and continued with an awesome surfing session.

Just after lunch on Sunday, the windsurfers grabbed a parent or similar adult, and any type of waterborne board or craft, and participated in the “Go Ape Parent Race“! Chaos ensued, with adults and kids charging around a buoy in a relay race with water churning, arms and legs flailing, loads of cheating going on (although there were no rules, so not sure how that works!) and some eventual winners!

A great and safe weekend run alongside all the other activity that was going on in the Marina that weekend, huge thanks to the guys at Aberdeenshire Sailing Trust who were really busy over the weekend too, and put up with us sailing/ paddling/ winging in their busy ‘backyard’!

Race Results

Loads of volunteers and organisations to thank for making the Wet ‘n’ Windy Weekend possible and successful…Aberdeenshire Clubsport (funding support); RYA Scotland (organising J&Y series/ prizes); Peterhead Sailing Club (facilities/ safety boats/ advice); Aberdeenshire Sailing Trust (advice/ marina access); Loch Insh Watersports (windsurf kit); Peterhead Port Authority (keeping us safe in the harbour); Puravida Boardriders (prizes); TRAC (prizes); Sailrepair (short notice kit supply!); Robin Nicol – RYA (coaching and all round advice & support); Catriona Lindsay – Clyde (wins the “coach of the event” prize!); Scott Sangster – Loch Insh (awesome windsurf taster sessions); Nick Goodchild – Azure Watersports (Wing tasters, cool gadgets and heavy lifting!); Richard Beattie (safety); Emma Kemp – Newburgh Windsurf SUP Club (SUP taster sessions); Rob Walker and Frank Peet (Cruden Bay wave coaches); Mike and Fee Bland (ChimpZ coaching); John Clark (ChimpZ coach and transporting Loch Insh kit!); Sam Hawthorn & Jan Witte (MonkeeZ/ GorillaZ/ BananaZ coaching); Robyn Phillips – RYA (last-minute coach!); Paula Hawthorn/ Carole Hawthorn (Beach coords); Estelle Goodchild (Photographer); Jim Hardy (rigging, lugging, bbq-ing & virtuoso trophy maker); Martin Thain & Tina Biddecombe – Peterhead Sailing Club (Safety boats and keeping us right!); Colin Burwood – Shiny Networks (Safety boat, lobster & mackerel)…and anyone else we might have forgotten…Thanks!

The tickets for the Wet n Windy Weekend (next weekend in Peterhead) are selling out!!! We can’t wait…

So, with support from Aberdeenshire Clubsport we are offering some additional taster sessions (Windsurf and SUP), at 12:30 each day.

Perhaps you have been recently inspired by Sailing / Windsurfing in the Olympics?

More info about the weekend is here

These tickets are free and specifically for local individuals / families who find costs otherwise restrictive and are local to Peterhead.

In the last 3 months, the club has been busier than ever. Demand for SUP lessons is through the roof! Now that we are able to offer dedicated adult windsurf lessons, we are seeing progression from the dedicated bunch of boardsailing bandits.

With over 100 student hours taught, across 20+ sessions, we’ve enjoyed some fantastic conditions at Newburgh, Peterhead and Cruden Bay.

There is new interest in Sea Gorillaz and we’ve had some really great feedback from the sessions so far. New dates have just been added to the calendar and we have a big weekend planned later in August.

What next?

Recently the SUP conditions have been perfect and windsurfing has gone a little quiet. As autumn arrives, the waves and wind should return, which means we can progress the windsurfing skills further. The teaching calendar for SUP and windsurf is live now, with a new approach:

• More flexibility to suit the weather conditions ☀️. A few days in advance of lesson, I will decide what sport is best to teach and appropriate location. So it might mean a windsurf lesson one day and a SUP the next.
• Evening sessions. Wednesday evenings, let’s have a quick blast on the water – SUP or windsurf, again at the most suitable spot.
• Head for the coast. Feedback from coastal sessions is positive, demand is high. It’s often worth the extra effort / drive. We have world-class windsurf / SUP conditions right here at some beautiful sandy beaches. With safety a top priority we can get you more confident and sea-ready.
• We are organising funding to further imrpove the equipment we have available. We’ve just received some more windsurf kit including an awesome intermediate board. (…& more news coming soon!)

It’s the teamwork…

…that makes the dream work!

If you are keen to help, we are always appreciative of support. The club’s core activity is the Junior & Youth Windsurfing club, the Sea Gorillaz, and these sessions are only possible because of parents and volunteers dedicating their time to make it happen. It’s a good way to learn the sports yourself, give something to the community and get the next generation of rippers on board.

We are a grass-roots club and welcome all!

For all the Sea Gorillaz and new young windsurfers, we’re pleased to announce that there is a Scottish series of events this year. Please see dates above and we look forward to them all!

We will be again hosting our event up at Peterhead on August 21 & 22 – and we can’t wait!

Let us know if you are interested, or have any questions. We’ll be announcing more details closer to the time.