Hi everyone.

Me and the wife bought two (almost brand new) windsurfing kits for £100 off ebay.

After some messing about on the water (after watching some you-tube videos) its become apparent that we need some proffesional advice.

I have read that we should do some kind of RYA course but we're not sure of the best place to go.

We're based in Northwich, Cheshire... the places we have looked at are...

Manley Mere
Congleton
Wirral marina
Bala

Could anyone who has used or been taught at one of these sites please give us some constructive feedback.

All help would be very much appreciated.

Also any advice on costal windsurfing would be great.

Thanks in advance.

Sean

Hello,

£100 - thats cheap!

Are you looking for lessons now or when it warms up a bit? Also are you complete beginners?

Moomoo,

We can set up the rig and boat about ok... we tried it all out at pickmere lake last year... did about 4 trips.

So i wouldnt say we are 'total' beginners but we do need some basic skills.

Looking at starting when it gets a little warmer.

Any advice about where to go to learn the fastest would be great.

Can reccomend Astbury at Congleton,I know Alison well & have worked with her in the distant past,great coach & you will learn a lot from her & the team what ever your level,very close for you as well being Northwich based.Give them a call and have a chat tell them Andy Airwave mentioned them and they should look after you.
Hope this helps.

In the dim and distant past me and my eldest son did a RYA level 1 weekend course at West Kirby. Very good course and at least got me hooked into windsurfing but I am sure most places have same/very similar courses so without up to date experience would probably go with nearest RYA centre unless they are way over priced. One other thing to consider is wind reliability - on your first lessons you want enough wind to be able to sail without too much gusting. If the centre has a reputation for massive gusts/lulls/wind shifts although it will give you a taste of what you might come to expect on a typical days windsurfing when you are more proficient it's definatly not the best for learning.

As for coastal windsurfing you really do need to get some experience on a lake first unless you go on an overseas windsurfing holiday (Neilson/Sunsail/etc) who have really good safety cover. If things get out of hand on a lake you can just hang onto your board and eventualy you will end up on the bank - worst case long walk back to where you started from. At the coast where conditions can change quite quickly worst case is you get swept out to sea!

RYA courses will cover what you should do in the above worst case senario!

West Kirby is a good place to start your coastal windsurfing and once you are comfortable/confident with it the waves open up a whole new dimension.