LEARNING TO LOVE THE ONSHORES

Onshore wave conditions are what greet most first-time, and indeed expert, wave sailors most of the time. In part one Harty helps you assess the conditions, tweak the kit and advises on the all important business of getting out.

- Peter Hart

We were enjoying a sublime SUP surfing session on Inch beach in Kerry. The sun shone from an azure sky. Fun-sized, well-spaced sets rolled in from afar; steepened slowly as they met the shallow shelving seabed and, held up by a light offshore wind, kept that shape for an eternity before peeling. And the water was so smooth as to be oily. The surfers amongst you will surely relate to those idyllic sessions, often at dusk, when the atmosphere is so divinely serene and the acoustics so clear that you can have a conversation with someone 400m away without raising your voice.

But then uninvited, a cloud rolled in and with it a 5 knot onshore breeze. Within minutes the blue sea turned grey; the swells fattened out and random chop punctuated the space between them. It was as if someone had spilled a bottle of red wine over the perfectly laid dining table and down the pristine white designer frock of the immaculately dressed hostess. In a heartbeat the magic evaporated.

'Onshores' get a bad, and often unfair, rap. It's a binary prejudice inherited from surfing. Offshore winds, which hold the faces up and leave the water smooth good. Onshore winds, which turn the sea into a cauldron of random mush - bad. But for windsurfers it's so much more nuanced than that.

Onshore wave conditions can be excellent. Yes the sea can be a bit of mess but the wind, having blown from an obstacle free horizon, is usually strong and constant. And it's that same steady wind powering you out to sea that offers the best jumping opportunities. But most appositely, it's onshore conditions that prevail around most windsurfing beaches and the ones you're most likely to encounter as a novice wave sailor. You just have to know how to read them, tool up smartly and understand your best options. Let's start with wind direction.