I'm going windsurfing for a week in coldish conditions (10-15C) in September, do you know any good shops where I could get a
windsurfing suit (i.e. looser forearms and higher neck and stuff, but still thick) in London? It's not just for that week, I'll use it
loads for the next few years as well.
I'm asking because so far I can only come up with sailing shops who sell diving wetsuits...
Thanks in advance!
Why not have a look online for a suit??
Also, you may not need a windsurf specific suit these days.. neoprene is so flexible now that you don't really need looser fiting
forearms etc so a surfing wetusit will do the trick... I've been using a bog standard C-Skins surfing suit as my winter windsurfing
suit for the last few years, and thats been in temperatures down to below freezing.
Where are you going? Anywhere nice??
Al.
Ocean Leisure underneath Embankment tube station has a pretty good selection.
http://www.oceanleisure.co.uk/
There's also Mike's dive shop behind Liverpool Street station, which is smaller.
Yeah I tried using just a bog standard hire wetsuit last time (it was about 15C) and after a week 9am-8pm sailing my arms just went, a
more experienced surfer told me it was cos the suit was too tight around the forearms (thus cutting circulation) so I'd rather not have
that problem again!
Going to the Glenan archipelago, it's a great place when there's wind!
I'd imagine a 3mm full suit would be fine there in September (not that I had ever heard of them before!).... I'll still be wearing a
short-arm 3mm suit here in Wales in Sept.
Some manufacturers do still make windsurf specific suits (Neil Pryde, Sola, Spartan) but most don't anymore.
I used to suffer from really bad forearm cramps in the winter, epecially if I try to wear gloves and know how frustrating it can be....
The real trick is not to hold onto the boom so tightly but just rest your hands on it and commit to the harness more...
I would image that you hire suit was probably a little too tight and wouldn't have been made from nice new super-stretch neoprene...
once you try a nice new suit on you'll feel the difference.
Have fun!
Al.
Yeah I thought that too, Northern France, late June, Gulf stream and all that, even with the wetsuit it was quite cold (colder than the
Thames in April!), I think it's because it's 15 miles out towards the sea (not the beach). Or maybe I'm a wimp, learned sailing in the
mediterranean where everyone is in shorts all the time and you can swim in winter...
Anyway, thanks for your help, I have already been to Ocean Leisure but couldn't find much windsurfing stuff (had to go to Covent Garden
to get boots as they had ran out) but I'll give it another try.
And yeah the harness is a godly invention, the day I learnt how to use it it was like light came down from the heavens etc. etc.
Now people laugh at me cos I use it all the time inc. in Beaufort 1-2 winds (why make an effort...)
What I find quite interesting is watching videos of the guys breaking the speed record, they don't seem to be harnessed! How can they
hold up 11-13m sails at those speeds?!
[Edited on 4-8-2006 by flying froggy]
I think you'll find the guys going for the speed record are well and truly hooked in and won't be using sails quite that big either...
Such a big sail just creates too much drag.
In fact, the windsurfers compete in the 10 sq m class which includes craft powered by sails up to and including 10 sq m.
Al.
Boardwise have a store in London but having never been there unsure what they stock? May be worth a call first?
http://www.boardwise.com/info/bwstores.asp
I had the same problem getting hold of a suit in London. Not that many shops at all!
Ended up in Boardwise as per adam's comment.
Phone ahead though.
Got a Psycho I from Ocean Leisure, it's lovely and very warm.
Any advice on how to pack it for a plane journey? The guys at the shop rolled it carefully from the ankles upwards, using the zip to
tie it together. Is that ok to shove into a diving bag for a couple of hours, or would it damage the superstretch neoprene?
[Edited on 8-9-2006 by flying froggy]