Next time Northern Ireland is on the news, and a map flashes up on screen, have a look at the large body of water in the middle, that’s Lough Neagh! Whilst little known, it is actually the largest lake in the British Isles. In terms of famous windsurfing lakes, it’s bigger than Lake Garda and whilst the winds are certainly not as consistent as Garda, a good day can whip up streaks of wind blown waves across the lake for multiple rides and jumps in one run. Think of freshwater windsurfing and most people imagine a small lake with a few ducks and nonplaning conditions, but a lake on the scale of Lough Neagh has its advantages, no tide, no current and unobstructed wind across its long, flat and slightly higher than sea level shores!
SIZE
In terms of numbers, Lough Neagh, or as locals call it simply, ‘The Lough’, is 30.5 km on its longest length (SW-NE), has a maximum width of 12.1 km (W-E), a length of shoreline approximately 125 km and measures over 300 square km’s. It contains over 800 billion gallons of water, but with an average depth of only nine metres and maximum depth of 34 metres, it is relatively shallow, certainly compared to Loch Ness in Scotland at 230 metres deep. The shallow waters do mean lots of bumps for windsurfing though, even if there are no deep dwelling monsters!
ORIGINS
Esta historia es de la edición Issue 392 - January/February 2020 de Windsurf.
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Esta historia es de la edición Issue 392 - January/February 2020 de Windsurf.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
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New School
Slingshot’s windsurfing brand manager, Wyatt Miller, has noticed that kids are drawn to playing with wings and puts forward an interesting case as to why he thinks this could help entice them and others into windsurfing.
Changes
Wave sailor Flo Jung reflects on our changed world during his lockdown in Germany.
THE LAST WAVE
Lockdown stirred the creative juices of reader Björn Alfthan, who peers into the future to present a fictional story set in the wild waves of Norway, five years from now.
STILL IN THE GAME
After a horrific fracture in his leg from a crashed aerial in 2018, Alessio Stillrich is back! John Carter talks to the highflyer from Gran Canaria about his move to the Simmer team, recovering from injury and how he learned to windsurf in Gran Canaria!
MOVE ON UP - GET ON THE FRONT FOOT
This month we look at how our front foot weighting can affect and improve different aspects of our main windsurfing moves.
SOUTH' KIPA
Nik tweaking it over home waters.
A NEW NORMAL
On a trip to La Tranche-sur-Mer in France last year, Tris Best estimated over 80% of the windsurfers were foiling. This summer in Portland Harbour, foiling activity has increased dramatically too he reports. With the market offering plenty of choice to recreational windfoilers, our test team check out some of the latest foil offerings.
TACKING – THE SEQUEL
Having given you time to practice, Harty concludes his tacking series by critiquing various tacking options, including the carve tack, as well as offering solutions to common slip-ups.
‘NO VAPOUR TRAILS TO SCAR THE SKY' *
Realising we may be about to enter an extraordinary period in our lives, Harty decided to keep a windsurf-centric lockdown diary. Here are some of his choice excerpts.
REDEMPTION DAY!
Renowned for its windsurfing and variety of spots to sail at, Kimmerdige Bay is a wave sailing jewel on the south coast of England. Timo Mullen gives a guide to its shores while reflecting on why a recent session there was a reminder that there is no place like home!
