Stand Up Paddleboarding

Use our Contact Us page for advice on paddleboarding at Watergrove reservoir. 

For many years West Pennine Windsurfing Club has allowed its members to canoe and more recently to paddleboard, especially on days when there isn't enough wind to windsurf. We recognise the club is under-used at such times, so have recently decided to welcome people to visit for the day, or join for the year, to do other activities such as stand-up paddleboarding and canoeing. Be aware please, it may not always be possible to visit in light winds, as most of our members are windsurfers and won't often be there at such times to let you in. However, if/when you join you will get a key and can then come up anytime you wish in daylight hours. And of course, if/when we get more SUP and canoe members, that will help access for future visitors to pursue these activities too.

When planning to visit, please text the Secretary or other contact (see Contact Us page) to get the code for the combination lock on the gate at the bottom car park by the dam. We change this code regularly. You should also look at the Shoutbox on our website to make sure other people will be present on that day (or until Covid recedes, you will need to use our booking system instead). You can visit for the day, but you'll need £2M third party insurance cover (probably included if you have household insurance but please check) and you'll be asked to pay £10 for a day ticket. You can get up to 3 of these in a year and then you would need to join. We deduct any day tickets purchased in a year if someone subsequently becomes a club member - now £125 for an individual and £180 for a family. Under 16s join for free, but a parent must be at least a social member, which is £35. Please contact Darren, our This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., with any membership enquiries. We have a handful of storage spaces currently available if you decide to store your kit at the club - £50/year. Please bring some bottled water, as you shouldn't drink water from taps in the clubhouse at present.

Here are a few photos that we'll add to as the year goes on - click.

Please don't paddle too near the stone valve tower in the SW coner of the reservoir (bottom left in the screenshot below). Also, our lease doesn't allow us to go up the channel in the NW corner at all. This is a Nature Reserve and we get complaints if people venture up there, as it could separate young waterfowl from their parents. You can see both areas on the screenshot below and Andy Whale has marked the 1.3 mile perimeter route he paddles with his partner.

You may find the weather links on our website useful when planning a visit. xcweather will show you the predicted wind speed every few hours for the next few days and you may prefer it when the wind is less than about 12mph. We have a webcam and an anemometer mounted on the clubhouse to show you the actual conditions. There's a Met Office link on our homepage too.

Some useful links:

SUPNorthWest is an active group on Facebook. It's a good place to look to arrange visits to new places, meet others and buy and sell kit.

Stand Up Paddleboarding tips and safety advice from the RNLI

Video - Learn to SUP in 5 minutes

British Stand Up Paddleboarding Association

There are 2 sections to this page - 'First Time Windfoiling' by John Lymer, followed by 'Competitive & World Championship Windfoiling' by Jennie Roberts. You can't say we don't try to cover all the bases! As time goes on, maybe we'll be able to complete the sandwich with some of the learning to progress between these two extremes?

First Time Windfoiling

Words John Lymer

This article gives some first impressions of windfoiling, learnt from just a single outing, preceded by watching several helpful YouTube videos. It may help others who are about to embark on their first windfoiling adventure, or help you decide whether or not to give it a go. And for those who have no intention of trying it, hopefully it will at least give an insight into what the buzz is all about. 

You can also see a short video of my early efforts here and another one 3 years on here .

The Kit

I bought a JP Hydrofoil ES 135 board (2021 model) and Neil Pryde Glide Wind 1700 from Robin Hood Watersports in July 2021. This is the cheapest windfoil board RoHo supply and the package was £2099, which was a saving of £150 on the separate prices. A 135 litre board is the middle size in the range and was what was recommended to me, even though I only weight about 62Kg. At 114cm long, it's shorter than any windsurf board and at 85cm wide is almost as wide as a formula board. The foil is aluminium and carbon and is actually a thing of beauty! A foil with large wings was recommended to make the learning process easier. It will also be good in light winds if I become more proficient and later on I can fit a smaller wing to the foil if I need. The foil’s mast is 80cm tall, so it can lift the board quite a height off the water. In my case, this was sometimes followed by a sudden ‘splash down’, but the rounded rails of the board are designed so you get away with that much of the time, rather than being pitched off the front quite so often as you might be with a conventional windsurf board. I wore a helmet and impact vest.

Set-up

I need to be in waist deep water or more before being able to sail the kit. The stance for foiling is more upright than for windsurfing and it’s important to keep the legs straighter. Any flex in the legs is transmitted to the foil, unintentionally making the board tilt and turn very quickly, at which point I lost control and either splashed down or fell in the water! I found I need the boom about 4” higher because of the more upright stance, though I normally have it a bit lower than recommended. I started with the footstraps outboard and will need to experiment whether that’s best and also try moving them forwards or back. I put the mast base almost as far back as it will go, as recommended by Callum at RoHo and by one of the YouTube videos. The sail should probably be one size (1m²) smaller than you’d normally use.I went out with a 7.5m rig in about 10 knots of wind, then changed down to a 6.5m when the wind increased a little. 

Technique

YouTube videos recommend you start with your front foot in the strap when the power from the rig starts to come on. You can put the back foot in too, but to start with, probably just in front of the strap is better and maybe a little inboard. I put both feet in the straps on some of my later runs. The foil is very sensitive to shifts in weight, so moving into the straps when airborne isn’t ideal – do it just as the power from the rig comes on. For the first ‘flights’ it’s best not to hook into the harness, though I was using the harness later in my session – it was too hard on my arms otherwise! It’s striking how steeply the board rises out of the water when you weight the back foot. And, if you lean back along the board’s length, you’ll rise. Conversely, shifting weight onto the front foot lowers the board – very useful in bringing things back under control! So, riding at a constant height above the water, to progress beyond the up/down dolphin motion, seems to be a lot about the weight distribution between front and back foot. I’ll need to practice pumping the rig to get on the plane in light winds/with small rigs, but apparently it’s weight on the back foot which is again the key to getting aloft.

The foil has sharp edges, so to ensure some distance between you and it, it’s safest to try and keep hold of the boom when you fall in. You’ll probably want to uphaul more than waterstart for the same reason – thrashing about with your legs to generate lift isn’t such a good idea near those wings!

Conclusion

My first windfoiling outing was a little disconcerting at times for sure, but thoroughly exhilarating! I’m sure it didn’t look pretty, so I’m glad there was no video evidence ... unlike the 2nd outing! There was a lot of up motion, followed by sudden down motion and questionable directional control too. But I also managed some flights of more than 100 metres and to lower the ride height gradually at times too. I’ll count that as a success. I can’t wait to get out and do it all again!

 And here are some of the videos I found useful -

(9) How to Windfoil - First Flights (basics) - YouTube

 How to FOIL by Balz Muller SUI21 - YouTube

 PART 1 – Idiot’s Guide To… Foiling!! - YouTube

How to Setup your Windfoil - YouTube

Competitive & World Championship Windfoiling

Words by Jennie Roberts

Following on from John's article about learning to wind foil, I have transitioned from 'normal' windsurf course racing to foiling racing in January 2020. I spent early summer last year foiling at WPWC getting my gybes and straight line foiling more competent and I later moved to the South coast for a higher variety of conditions, along with being with others on the same pathway to train with. For Summer 2021 I have had the chance to be a full time athlete, after finishing the second year of University in May - the perfect time for the competition season to start. I then went to Cornwall for our first competition of 2021 where I finished 4th Senior girl and 1st under21 in the UK. I am currently writing this in a tent in Silvaplana, Switzerland ahead of the World Championships starting next week. 

The kit we race is adapted for higher speeds than the recreational foiling kit, with upwind, downwind and slalom all raced on the same equipment. The kit, IQ Foil, is all one design with the women on 8m² sails and the men on 9m² whatever the wind and water state, from 5 to 30 knots. For the foil we have a 900 cm² front wing, 255 back wing, 115+cm fuselage and 95cm mast. The board is 95cm wide and 220cm long. 

Common questions; answered:

• Can you control how high you fly? Yes, placing your weight further backwards will bring you higher, and further forward will lower you back down. 
• How fast do you go? On this set up my maximum speed is 27knots (30mph). 
• How long does a race last? Slalom has a target time of 3 minutes and course racing has a target of 15 minutes. 
• How do I learn? To start, you ideally need to be able to windsurf non-foiling to a planing and gybing standard. This will make transitioning to the foil slightly easier than learning the basics on the foil equipment. Lots of centres now have foiling courses for you to try and if I see you up at Watergrove I'm happy to chat or answer any questions! 

See you on the water, Jen