Christchurch Harbour Windsurfing Guide
General info
Windsurfing ratings
Christchurch Harbour Gallery
Christchurch Harbour is a small and picturesque body of water enclosed by Mudeford sandbank and bordered by Hengistbury Head nature reserve (an SSI area). It is a great place to learn to windsurf and kitesurf as it is an extremely safe arena. It works in all wind directions and can be great for freestyle or blasting when the wind blows offshore everywhere else. Access to the water is limited to one location at Mudeford Quay but there is plenty of rigging up area and a pub and cafe as well. Visit Mark at www.spot-on-water.com the nearby windsurfing shop to check up on what new kit is available.
The only thing to consider is to keep an eye on the tides because it is only really sailable at mid to low tide unless you are prepared to walk for a very long way across mud flats to find a channel.
Features
Christchurch Harbour is a great place to windsurf at times when everywhere else is offshore or if you want a flat water alternative. It is just as good as Poole Harbour with an even more low key feel. Keep an eye out for 2-3 star Bigsalty Beginner Ratings on the forecast page to see when the wind is good for getting to grips with windsurfing.
Note that NW winds tend to experience some wind speed enhancement from the local topography - so keep this on your radar.
Considerations
There are yellow buoyed areas on the NW side of the harbour and some parts of the W side, adjacent to Hengistbury Head. These are important areas for wading birds, which are very vulnerable to disturbance from waterborne craft, particularly when they are fast moving (e.g. kitesurfers, windsurfers). For the sake of the birds that inhabit these areas do not kitesurf / windsurf within these buoyed areas. There is plenty of other space in the harbour that allows you to make the most of the conditions. Displacing 100s of birds for the sake of a couple of runs is just not cool.
As a safety precaution avoid getting too close to 'The Run' (the area of water connecting the harbour and sea), the water is extremely fast flowing and this doubles as a boating lane making it extremely busy with motor boats. Watch the banks during mid-low tide, as most will eventually become dry.