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!
NEW Booking System - Please use the button above to book your visit. We replaced this with a new system on 7th January 2025 and hope you find it easier. Please post a comment in the shoutbox if you have any problems, or
Breaking the ice - see photos of 3 hardy paddleboarders and the snowy scenery on 11th January.
Windsurfer crosses the Atlantic - 4000Km in 26 days - click
Tenerife November holiday - this was such a big hit some of us have already booked to go back next year- 31st October for a week or more! Read how it went and see photos here. If you're keen too, JET2's Black Friday sale gives £100pp off and may end soon. Deposit is just £60.
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.
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.
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.
'For Sale' - Members can post adverts on this online spreadsheet to advertise any kit you want to sell.
Happy New Year! New Members can join from 1st January 2025 and get 15 months for the price of 12! Contact our
Water Level - the reservoir level has risen significantly again due to 85mm of rain on New Year's Eve/Day and more since. By 16th January it was within 1.0 metres of full.
Day Ticket price rise - we've held the price of day tickets at £10 for at least 20 years. For 2025 these will now cost £15, which is broadly in line with comparable clubs and West Kirby. A maximum of 3 day tickets are allowed in a year.
Events - take a look at our draft programme for 2025, starting with our AGM on Sunday 23rd March.
Defi Wind 2025 - 40Km windsurfing race with 1500 competitors, along the Mediterranean coast near Narbonne, France. Yes, really, you read that right! Check it out on YouTube. Andy Pepper has entered this epic event -
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. The latest Bathing Water Classifications were published for England's beaches late Nov 2024. These range from poor to sufficient, then good and excellent. Fleetwood manages a good rating, but West Kirby and Fraisthorpe are just sufficient. See the full list here.
Windfoil Coaching - we're arranging coaching for April 2025, 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.
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.
Rules of the Road - ever been unsure who should give way on the water?
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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