Like windsurfers and kitesurfers, surfers are particularly interested in the wind, its direction and intensity. Because wind conditions wave quality.
But while the funboarder prays that the elements will send him an ox-gutting wind, the surfer hopes that the wind will be nil or very light.
Wind affects not only wave breaking, but also the water surface, so surfers need conditions that are not too windy to paddle or ride a wave.
Top conditions, light wind or off shore :
- The wind is nil or very light: the swell arrives glazed, smooth as a mirror, the dream surface for the board to glide with maximum fluidity. This often happens in stormy weather, just before the storm.
- The wind is off shore, i.e. it blows from the land to the sea and, if it’s not excessively strong, by digging into the wave, it produces a double effect: the wave breaks evenly, allowing the surfer to move from the bottom to the shore. In the Landes region, the prevailing wind is an on-shore north-westerly, which rises in the late morning or early afternoon. We therefore recommend surfing in the morning to take advantage of the onshore breeze.
By smoothing the ocean and ordering the swell, the onshore wind makes it easier to read the waves: the relief and shape of the wave are clearly marked, and the surfer can guess well in advance where the wave is going to form.
By digging into the ripples, if the seabed is suitable, the off-shore wind will allow the waves to tube in.
Off shore, good no good, some disadvantages too:
- By blowing for a long time over a vast expanse of water, the off-shore wind eliminates residual waves and allows larger waves to reach the shore, ordered as if on parade, hence those perfect lines seen far out on the horizon: good!
- A perverse effect of the onshore wind, however, is that it will kill a swell that is too weak, leaving the surfer facing an ocean transformed into a marine lake. Too strong, on a small swell, it will slow down the waves and make surfing very sluggish.
- A strong onshore wind tends to get under the surfer’s board and slow him down when he’s trying to catch a wave. Sometimes, too, it throws up spray that blinds the surfer at the moment of take-off.
- On the other hand, the waiting surfer, seated on his board, gives the wind a grip. The wind pushes him offshore beyond the take-off zone, forcing him to continually reposition himself by rowing towards the shore.
- Offshore wind makes surfers hysterical, because it’s a bit like the Holy Grail: all surfers jump in their cars and rush en masse to the spots to take advantage of potentially perfect conditions. Sometimes, the enthusiasm leads to anti-sport behavior, such as the “Labrador complex”.
- In perfect wind conditions, if the waves are powerful, they won’t always be easy to negotiate for a beginner: dug in by the headwind, the slope will tend to be quite steep, requiring effective placement, paddling and take-off.
Bad conditions, strong onshore wind from the ocean:
- A chop forms on the ocean surface, hindering the surfer’s paddling and gliding over the wave.
- Intermediate waves begin to form, and as they cross each other, they give birth to waves with a very random break. The waves, instead of breaking regularly, produce incessant changes, variations in troughs, closing sections, requiring the surfer to constantly readapt in a hurry.
- When the wind hits the back of the wave, it causes sections of foam to fall, blocking the surfer’s progress and shortening his surfing time on the same wave. A strong onshore wind produces waves that close, so finding the wave that opens requires, more than ever, a good sense of the sea and experience.
- A thousand lapping and criss-crossing waves make it difficult to read a chaotic ocean, so much so that the wave’s intentions are guessed at late on. As a result, surfers find it hard to anticipate, forcing them to take spontaneous, “last-minute” actions, which are obviously difficult for beginners.
- Waves are flattened by the wind, so it’s not always easy to guess where the peak is, the starting zone that will offer enough hollow to start the wave.
- Tip for beginners surfing at the bottom: swell and wind tend to pull you constantly towards the shore without you realizing it. As a result, he frequently has to paddle out to sea to stay behind the waves.
- Beware: on the Atlantic coast, the prevailing north-westerly wind, combined with heavy seas, amplifies the phenomenon of the “baïne” current.
On-shore, not all bad:
- The beginner surfer will appreciate that the waves are a little flattened by the on-shore wind, forgiving timing errors or a slow take-off.
- In addition, changing conditions will sharpen your sense of observation, and you’ll be all the better for it when conditions become easier.
- Wind on-shore, surfers tend to stay at the office or at home. A downhill run or the concentration of waves on a beachside sandbank can nevertheless offer good sessions, without the crowds.
Wind, just like waves, their power and direction, is an essential parameter of the discipline, which is why surfers learn to understand and decipher the weather.
Surfers – and this is where the difficulty of the discipline lies – have to adapt to changing climatic and topographical conditions: to appreciate these wind-related variations and understand the ocean environment, a surfing course will help you avoid certain pitfalls and have fun faster!
