Last weekend we loaded 13 club members and several tonnes of kit into 3 very small cars and set off on the 4 hour journey to Nottingham for another big Student Windsurfing Association weekend with our friends in the North.
We gratefully escaped the cars at around 11pm and shook off the various dead legs and numb bums to go and meet our lovely host Ross, who's house would provide the various spots on the floor that we would call our beds for the weekend. After getting to know our host and his housemates over a few drinks, we headed out into town to meet up with the 150 other windsurfers that had descended on Nottingham from all over the country and spent the night catching up with some old windsurf friends, making lots of new ones and generally marvelling at how obscenely cheap bar prices are up North! After a slow start on Saturday morning, it was back in the cars for the trip to the lake, a short trip for most of us, except for Jack Osborne and those in his car who managed to go completely the wrong way, end up at a white water rafting centre and eventually turn up a full 2 hours late! Despite the freezing temperatures, we all got into our westuits and set about making the most of the strong winds to get out windsurfing. Our beginners Mary, Jaz and Georgie all got out on the water for a lesson, whilst Dan and Jo managed to bag 3rd and 2nd place in their respective heats of the team racing. There was plenty of kit for the intermediates to get out on too, including Charlotte who chose to rest her broken foot with a leisurely cruise round the lake on the front of Annie's board.
Saturday evening was the infamous theme night: We were dressed up as gangster sharks (of course) although some of our attempts at shark fins made us look decidely more like gnomes! Nevertheless, we headed out to enjoy the wonders of Nottingham's busy nightlife and discovered that Georgie's talents extend beyond windsurfing to include some unbelievable dance moves... Seriously, it was like being in a step up movie!
Sunday morning was a serious struggle, but bacon sandwhiches and liberal amounts of tea and coffee eventually revived us all and sent us on our way back to the lake where we watched some awesome tricks being thrown down in the free style competiton. A few of the braver ones among us donned their soggy wetsuits for one last windsurf before we all piled back in the cars for the trip home, which was thankfully broken up by a stop at a very random pub near Leicster to watch the rugby. With strong wind, two great nights out and windsurfing at every level of ability, Nottingham delivered as one of the best windsurfing weekends in the calendar... We can't wait to see everyone again at Nationals in Easter!!!
