The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
‘Like windsurfing without a mast’
As the new sport of wind winging takes off, James Litston tries his hand at scudding across the Solent
Like a lot of people in Britain this summer, I had resigned myself to a staycation. But with Cornwall so crowded and favourites from Brighton to Bournemouth already booked up, what were the options? I concluded that 2021 was very much a year for trying something different. That is how my friend Matt and I found ourselves at the point where the Solent meets Southampton, getting rigged up in wetsuits and life vests for a two-day introduction to wind winging.
“It’s a rather new sport and it’s continually evolving,” explained Paul Sweeney of Nomadic, a beachside kitesurf and paddleboarding school, as he showed us how to handle a “wing”. “It’s like windsurfing without the mast and kitesurfing without the lines, so it’s simple and accessible. Better still, it has less of a learning curve – and wings can be operated in a wider range of wind conditions, too.”
The basics did seem simple. Standing on the beach, I found the lightweight wing – a semicircle of synthetic fabric supported by an inflatable boom – easy to manoeuvre. When held in its neutral position by the strap on its leading edge, it hung in the air like a kite, but when pulled closer to the body by the handles on its central strut, it harnessed the breeze to generate propulsion. Gentle pressure applied to the front of the wing was sufficient to change direction. It all sounded very straightforward. But would it handle so well on the water?
Professionals use their wings with hydrofoil boards to raise them above the water, but stand-up paddleboards are more appropriate for beginners. Having armed us with all the right equipment, Paul led us to the lagoon that forms at high tide behind Calshot Beach, sheltered from the Solent’s swell (and the shipping channel’s tankers) by a shingle spit. “Remember to look out for obstacles and hazards,” he reminded us as we mounted our boards, launched the wings and wobbled off to put theory into practice.
It became immediately clear that I hadn’t quite grasped the choreography. With the position of your feet, your stance and your grip on the wing all playing their part, there is a lot to remember on top of staying balanced on the board. Compounding my predicament was the unpredictable wind, which changed direction repeatedly before dropping off altogether. Without it, the wing was hard to keep airborne, even with efforts to boost its power by pumping it, as a bird flaps its wings.
To be fair, even Paul was struggling to show us the moves with so little breeze, and after a lot of “self-rescuing” by paddling back to shore, I was done. Admittedly it was frustrating to have had such limited success, but even so it was great to spend an afternoon on the water. “Besides,” Paul said, “you did well to get yourself upright on the board. A lot of first-timers don’t even get that far.” It was reassuringly kind of him to have set expectations so low.
Matt and I regrouped and shook off our slight disappointment at our base for the night, the Harbour Hotel, which may well be Southampton’s best digs. Over cocktails at its rooftop bar, we could see all the way back to distant Calshot Spit, an omnipresent reminder of what was still to come, while a seafood supper seemed fitting, given how much seawater I had swallowed.
By the time we had knocked back a couple of nightcaps, we had forgotten any lingering exasperation caused by our poor performance that day and had talked ourselves into a sense of renewed determination. We went to bed feeling fortified (if somewhat tipsy) and seriously committed to succeed in our efforts the following day.
The next morning brought moodier skies but, happily, a more consistent breeze. Back at Nomadic, we donned our wetsuits and launched on the lagoon. This time, my wing stayed airborne effortlessly, now that the wind was so much livelier, allowing me to focus on the details of grip and positioning. Paul was calling encouragement from a Ballistic powerboat, swinging round to tow us upwind each time we were swept back to shore.
Under his patient guidance, it all came together and I was soon skimming over the water at speed. Then, returning the wing to neutral, I slowly and methodically switched both my grip and my stance to the upwind position – and boom! The board changed direction and off I went, scudding across the lagoon. Talk about progress.
Needless to say, on my next attempt at turning, I tumbled into the water face-first. But even though graduating to a hydrofoil seems unlikely, I feel sure that a few more lessons with Paul are all I would need to be winging it.
Nomadic (nomadickitesurf.com/wing) offers wind-winging classes for £120pp for two hours, or three if you are a pair. Rooms at Southampton Harbour Hotel & Spa (harbourhotels.co.uk/southampton) cost from £230, with breakfast. For more information on Southampton, see visitsouthampton.co.uk