Redcar Wind Power

The northeast coast of England on its day has some of the best surfing and windsurfing conditions in the UK, but many of the spots are a closely guarded secret or off the beaten track. Redcar though is a well known windsurfing beach and its credentials as a windy spot not in doubt given the huge wind farm just offshore. John Carter, Timo Mullen and Steve Thorp fill us in on a recent Redcar session, one of the North Sea’s top windsurfing spots.

- John Carter, Timo Mullen, Steve Thorp

John Carter – “Over the years I have ventured up north to explore the stretch of coast between Northumberland and Yorkshire with varying degrees of success. Fickle winds, unreliable swell and difficult to access spots make finding quality windsurfing a roll of the dice. If you want a slice of the pie or pudding up north, then you will have to remember it will be a bit colder, grittier and the water is not as blue as down south! But the sessions I have scored have more than made up for the efforts required and were worth every penny of the risk.

When a north swell comes down from an Arctic low there are numerous reefs and beaches which can come alive, but you also need the right wind direction which is where the stars need to line up. Eight or nine years back Timo Mullen and a hardy crew of locals sailed Redcar in a WNW wind, in the midst of winter and scored some a decent cross offshore logo-high beach break. Timo had already sailed an epic reef break at first light and this was a bonus session to top off the day. I vividly remember the industrial landscape and a raw wind that made my fingers burn. It was bitter cold, but epic conditions and interesting to experience the power of the North Sea as opposed to the Atlantic. I like exploring, but as far as I was concerned the box on Redcar was ticked and I had no particular reason to go back.

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