Latest News - 14/01/2022

Friday Chills proceed weekend spills.. Spin here and Sky coming.









 Friday evening and that is working week no. 2 of  the Year 2022 almost completed, which can only mean that we are at the Weekend! 
The Chill is now here, which after the balmy 12°C we had over the Christmas break is feeling pretty COLD, especially when the Sun goes down. Predominantly Jan - Feb are the UK Watersports industries Shutdown Months, as the air and water temperatures do not make being on (and at times 'IN') the water much 'fun'. Purchasing grinds to a crawl, if not at times a complete halt and so some shops close the doors and bugger off for a well earned Holiday in the Sun or head off to Snowy Slopes! But if this cold period goes to plan, in the past it has generally been followed by a breakout of windy and warmer weather towards the end of Feb and right through March and into April. Then a quieter time wind wise follows in May and early June, when we have more settled weather as summer kicks in. This is hopefully followed by the Sea Breeze season (I said it Bill!!) as it has been the bread winner for most. That then peters out towards the end of August and we head back into more unsettled weather during September, with storms rolling off of the Atlantic until the end of October. November should be the freezing month, with the first hard frosts of winter cooling things down, and then, once again, it warms during December through to the first week of January, bringing the last warm'ish winds of the year, as it did 'last year'. Get all of those right and you have a perfect Watersports Year!  So.. how many times has the perfect year occurred since 1994? I would say not once,  as WE have not had the Perfect Weather Year as yet (doing what we do you have to say a prayer to the Weather Gods and then see what happens).Sadly something always goes array with one of  the seasons and that screws up your prediction for annual sales, which in turn screws the turnover. You have to look way back into the late Seventies and early Eighties to find those perfect years which is why Windsurfing as a Sport took off. ( Note. Oddly enough they were prior to the Hurricane of 87 and started dropping off after that.. in my opinion!). The change in winds is also why sports like Kitesurfing came about; as the wind stats changed the kites suited the conditions much better as a toy to play with! Maybe that is why SUP also developed, as our summers have been getting less windy. Foils and Wings are definitely due to it! Anyway, enough of history but there is one thing that cold winter days always bring... Sunsets and afterglows that are vibrant, as per this afternoons which James went down to the beach to 'capture'. Happy Days, whatever the weather. 
 I posted the News about Spin Wings arriving (on Facebook) earlier today and just to let you know that we have another drop of Fanatic Sky Wing boards arriving in the next week, if Dartford Hub is not so overwhelmed as it has been recently.. 4 weeks for one shipment to get through! The board sizes are a 5'0" and a 5'4" which compliment the 5'6" already in stock. All are priced at £1249.00. We are still awaiting the first of the TE boards.
Always like to sell a bag with any board but board bags are now more of an issue than the boards, as the most popular Wing board bag is the ION Core but there is no availability and prices have just been upped considerably (they have gone from £69.00 last summer to £109.00 now) due to the ever increasing shipping costs. We are working on it (anybody with a sewing machine fancy starting a cottage industry?) but supply is still pretty awful from all of the suppliers. Please do be aware that we are expecting further price increases so if you can afford to 'buy it now' (and this is not a SALES ploy) you could save yourself a lot. A pair of gloves which were £42.00 before Christmas.. now £69.00! Inflation % is not what the Government say! Enough of that.. what does the weekend's weather and tides have in store?
Saturday we have light winds from the Sou' Sou'West at 8kts, a dry  8°C air temp and a foot and a half  of a wave! Tide hits High at 9.34hrs on a 5.4m.. be up early to paddle Rivers!
Sunday they say Sou'West' West running at 10kts with a possible spit of rain early morning but a temp of 10°C is also possible! Wave height slightly more in the morning (almost 3ft) but dropping back by afternoon. Tide hits High at 10.15hrs on a 5.6m, so you can have a bit of a lie in if you are paddling one of the tide affected Rivers . 
We are here 9.30 - 5.30pm Saturday and James is in 10.00 - 1.00pm on Sunday, should you feel a need to shop.
 
And that is it for this week.. hope you all have a great weekend and don't wish the winters away.. how good would Spring be if not for Winter!  BFN

 

 

 

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