A breeze in your sail and the sea beneath your feet, windsurfing is a surprisingly accessible extreme sport in Abu Dhabi. Andy Mills finds getting good at it, however, might not be quite so easy.
Abu Dhabi doesn’t feel like a particularly windy city, so you might wonder how watersports that thrive on the gust of a breeze can play a part on the surrounding waters. Take a trip to any marina and you’re more likely to see powerboats and big cruisers than sailing yachts, while even a stroll through the city at this time of year will leave you yearning for the faintest hint of a breeze.
Despite this seemingly breathless climate, wind-powered watersports are readily available in certain pockets around the shorelines and the low levels of wind make for perfect beginner conditions. With that in mind TOAD decided to take the plunge (literally at some points) and give windsurfing a go.
Booking through Noukhada Adventure Company, who host a whole range of different activities from eco tours by kayak to bike tours along the Corniche, we turned up for an hour-long session on the relatively newly opened Yas Beach. They don’t offer lessons as such (what you’re paying Dhs100 for is an hour-long rental of the windsurfing board), but the extremely friendly guys there are happy to help you get started.
The boards they use for beginners are converted from stand-up paddleboards, the added length and width making them far more stable and easier to find some balance on. If you’re already a dab hand though, they also have sleeker pro-style boards for rent.
Getting onto the boards is simple in the shallow section of water they use at the hotel end of Yas Beach, and standing up on one really shouldn’t give anyone issues apart from the most Bambi-legged of novices.
The first tricky part is pulling the sail upright using the attached rope; there’s plenty of weight to haul thanks to its immersion in water. Fortunately our helping hand from Noukhada teacher Johnny, reveals that a slow movement allows the excess water to drain off making the final haul somewhat less back-breaking.
There’s plenty to remember once you have the mast at 90 degrees to the board though – which way the nose of the board is facing, what direction the wind is blowing, where your hands should be and the position of your feet. More often than not we found ourselves slightly befuddled and heading for an early dip in the sea. It’s more complicated at first than the pros make it look.
Eventually we do manage to get the right combination and the wind catches our sail to help us make some progress. Sometimes that’s kind of sideways, but Johnny yells encouraging tips to move the sail forward… which reveals some initial joy of proper windsurfing, generally followed by our hand on the boom (furthest away from the mast) losing grip, the sail spinning and another impromptu swim.
It’s tiring work, especially in the early afternoon heat, but we’re reassured that if we want to take a break for a few minutes the hour-long rental won’t be enforced too rigorously. Taking that as a cue, we have a breather and check out the blisters that have appeared on our hands from pulling at the up-rope for the sail so many times. Blisters will happen; Johnny’s hardened hands pay testament to that.
Still, not wanting to be beaten we head back in for one final fling. It’s easier for having let early frustrations die down and for giving our arms a break. More often we’re up on the board, moving gingerly under the guidance of the wind now. It’s a good feeling.
Another hour-long rental and we might well have it sussed to some satisfactorily level, but it’s tiring work and the blisters need tending to, so that extra hour is relegated to our to-do list. Even Johnny reckoned we’d be ‘really good’ after another session so that’s an added bit of ego-boosting inspiration… or cunning marketing trick, it’s hard to know.
Afternoons are best for windsurfing as that’s when the wind picks up and the Noukhada guys make it a good laugh for those trying these sports out for the first time. They’re understanding too and won’t make you feel like you’re failing, even if you nose dive off the board as many times as we did. If you have a spare hour or so and Dhs100 burning a hole in your pocket, it would be difficult to think of a more active and rewarding (mostly) way to spend both.
Noukhada Adventure Company, Al Meena, www.noukhada.ae (02 558 1889).
When the wind blows
Other wind-assisted watersports you can try around Abu Dhabi
Kite surfing
Use a kite to pull you across the water at Yas Beach or in Al Dabayyah.
Kitepro Abu Dhabi, (050 544 1494).
Sailing
Learn to sail a catamaran for Dhs600 for two hours from Yas Beach.
Noukhada Adventure Company (02 558 1889).
Skydiving
Indoor skydiving; fall on the power of some fan-generated wind.
Spacewalk, Abu Dhabi Country Club, Al Saada Street, Al Mushrif (02 657 7777).
