Welcome to West Pennine Windsurfing Club, possibly the best windsurfing club in the North West of England. Our club is also suitable for wing foiling and lighter wind activities such as stand-up paddleboarding and canoeing/kayaking. We're located in the Pennines above Rochdale, Lancashire, so we're convenient for both Manchester and West Yorkshire. We offer clean wind, cleaner water and a great clubhouse with hot showers. Annual membership is great value with opportunities for board storage and we offer temporary day membership for prospective new members. So if you're learning, still trying to crack that carve gybe or need somewhere to practice your flakas, get in touch and come for a sail!
Booking System - Please use the booking system button above to book your visit. This works best if you load the google sheets app on your phone.
Working Party 3rd November - alas only 7 volunteers showed. Undeterred, we continued pulling up trees on the headland, started clearing many of the loose stones from it and filled track potholes with several tons of stone.
Day at the coast - see a few photos from a West Kirby trip here.
RNLI rescue a windsurfer
Lake Bala weekend - here's how it went. And here's a short video we've just produced.
Board Repair - John dinged the nose of his board recently. Here's a step by step guide to one way of repairing it if you have the same misfortune.
Short video on our YouTube channel of our Chairman, John, windfoiling - click here.
August Working Party - 10 members pulled up trees on the headland, cleared 'ankle breaker' stones from the dried area of the reservoir bed, burnt weeds between the paving at the clubhouse and fixed a downspout. A barbecue rewarded the hard work before many took to the water by mid-afternoon in F4-5 wind. Thanks!
Recreational Sailing 9th August - a popular Friday afternoon sail - see some photos.
Olympics - Britain's Emma Wilson dominated the heats of the iQ Foil races from Marseille, so went into the medal race without needing to compete in the quarter and semi-finals. A mistake at just one mark cost her though - bronze medal instead of gold. While in the men's, Sam Sills made it as far as the semi-finals. Coverage on iPlayer: BBC1 morning, Day 8 4hr 13 mins (Sam) & 4hr 40 mins (Emma). Find out more.
July Social Weekend - not much wind, but plenty of activity even so. For one member the highlight was "camping and cameraderie". Here's a short write-up and a few photos, or watch a short video.
Ullswater weekend - here's a short account and some photos.
Good turnout on 6th July - and a good time was had by all ... except the poor member who dropped a phone in the water! See photos.
Working Party 30th June - 10 members managed a great deal! Weeds burnt off all the paving, car park & road vegetation tamed, some car park reclaimed from the undergrowth, stones cleared from the reservoir bed and stacked at the edge of the rigging area.
Anglesey 21st June weekend - good but not easy windsurfing in F5 and big swell at Rhosneigr Friday, then easier F4 Saturday, while others stayed at Newborough for a good high tide session there on Saturday. Some of our wingfoilers were at Rhosneigr too.
Wingfoil Coaching 12th May - all participants gave positive feedback! Norbert got properly on the foil and Scott managed his longest foiling run to date - just 2 examples. Thank you to Coach, Ben, and to Gabby for organising and helpers Fred and Dave Martin.
Wind-SUPs - members can now use 2 O'Shea inflatable wind-SUPs for paddleboarding, light wind windsurfing, or beginner windsurfing. Have a look at our latest acquisition when you next visit. It also means our Tabou Coolrider beginner windsurf boards are looking for new homes. Contact a committee member to make an offer.
'For Sale' - Members can post adverts on this online spreadsheet to advertise any kit you want to sell.
Tenerife Trip - 11th November. See details here.
Tree Maintenance - please watch the Shoutbox &/or Facebook group for dates and help us when you can. See here for details of the work.
Water Level - alas, the reservoir level is low. United Utilities aren't using an interlinked reservoir for supply, so Watergrove has dropped more than we'd like, but the sailable area is still okay.
Windfoil Coaching - we've arranged coaching 3rd November, unfortunately only for those who have their own equipment. Contact
Wingfoil Coaching - see details here for recent and planned coaching for members. Alternatively, if you prefer private tuition, this is also available to members and non-members - click here for details. After you've had a lesson you can hire a wing from Robin Hood Watersports.
Rules of the Road - ever been unsure who should give way on the water?
Is it safe to go in the sea? After heavy rain sewers may spill into rivers, which then discharge into the sea. You can get live updates to see if this may impact on your coastal sailing - check here.
YouTube Channel - the Club now has its very own YouTube Channel, all thanks to Graham Snowdon. The channel can be found here. Don't be shy, upload videos to Google Drive here or to iCloud from apple devices here and send Graham an
Wing & Wind Foiling insurance - RYA now offers members free 3rd party insurance for both of these sports, as well as windsurfing. Please make sure you contact the RYA to activate cover if you intend to wing and / or foil, or you won’t be covered. See more.
Shoutbox - To register for the shoutbox, if you're new to the club, or a prospective new member, or maybe you've just forgotten your password, then please
Saturday mornings - please try to avoid arriving 8.45 to 9.10, or you may have to wait a few minutes while the parkrun gets started.
Many of our members use Facebook to stay in touch. You can see our Facebook group here and there's space to chat and share photos. You will need to join Facebook though. These photos were uploaded to Facebook by Chris Peartree and Andy Whale. We have lots of photos of events and recreational sailing on our Gallery pages too. Send us some of yours, or tell us when you upload them to Facebook and we may copy some from there.
In addition to windsurfing at Watergrove, you can also take part in these sports:
- Windfoiling
- Wing Surfing & Wing Foiling
- Stand Up Paddleboarding
- Canoeing & Kayaking
- Mountain Biking
- Remote Control Model Yachting
- Walks
- parkrun nearby
Our SUP, Wingfoiling, Windfoiling and Canoeing/Kayaking pages emphasise these sports are welcome, so we've been sure to include photos of them on our homepage to reinforce that message. It's particularly good to see more use being made of the reservoir, club and its facilities in light winds. We're gaining new members by diversifying in this way and it's generating a really nice atmosphere around the club generally. You can invite visitors to join you at the Club - those venturing on the water should pay £10 for a Day Ticket. You're also encouraged to join the Club's Facebook group, where you can post photos and videos of your visits and promote what we offer. And of course you can always
Members tick all watersports they're interested in on their membership form. Our
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