West Kirby is a town on the north-west corner of the Wirral Peninsula in Merseyside, at the mouth of the River Dee and famed for being one of the best speed sailing spots in the UK. Speed sailing legend Farrel O’Shea gives us the lowdown on his local speed strip.
HISTORY
The West Kirby speed sailing spot is a Victorian marine lake on the sea front. The lake is filled up by the bigger tides and at low tide the sea flows out leaving the water trapped in the lake by a retaining wall. The lake itself is approximately 700 metres long and 80 metres wide. The marine lake has been a popular recreational windsurfing location since speedsailing began back in the late 80s / early 90s and has held many prestigious speed events.
ACCESS
Access is super easy, albeit at a reasonable cost, about £13 a day to park and use the facilities. It’s worth the price as the beauty of West Kirby lake is you can park within 5 metres of the water’s edge! Although it’s great for all windsurfing, from beginner to expert, West Kirby’s most unique feature is as a speed sailing location. It offers a combination of potentially strong wind and very flat water, producing numbers on your GPS that you rarely see in many other places in Europe, if not the world.
CONDITIONS
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