On Sunday 23rd September, women from far and wide descended on Lagoon Watersports in Hove for the ‘Go with the FLOW’ Ladies Day.
Unlike last year, we were not welcomed with light winds and glorious sunshine but instead heavy rain, freezing waters and howling winds, however this would not deter the ladies.
After registering in the comfort of the club house the 35 women ventured outside for a very energetic warm up with coach Lucy before hitting the water for windsurfing and SUP lessons on the lagoon, which provided a great amount of shelter from the ferocious weather.
The original plan had then been to head onto the sea for the first women’s only Blue Mile, but due to the weather this had to be postponed until a later date, which allowed the wakeboarding sessions to be brought further forwards.
All the ladies that had signed up still attended even with the less than promising forecast and stayed on the water for as long as possible, so well done ladies! It was great to see everyone from first timers to national competitors all on the water enjoying themselves.
In between session the ladies kept warm in the Lagoon Cafe, with hot cups of tea and yummy treats, whilst making their very own Nalu Beads bracelets under the watchful eye of Lex Balladon. I am loving my new Gwithian bead, so hope you are all loving yours too!
A big thank you also goes out to Helen of Rhomboids Massage who saved some aching shoulders after the on water work out!
The wonderful KB4Girls ladies were also around offering kiting advice for all and inspiring a few of us to get onto the water in the near future, plus the wonderful Andrina took all of the great images you see on here.
To round off the day we ran a raffle in aid of the Blue Mile WWF fund, thank you to all that bought tickets and well done to the prize winners! The biggest thank you goes to the following who provided some fantastic prizes for the well deserving ladies:
Nalu Beads http://nalubeads.com/
KB4Girls
Flymount http://www.flymount.com/
Jan Sleigh and www.k172surfshop.co.uk
Sam Ross http://www.sam-ross.co.uk/
Starboard http://www.tushingham.com/
Grasshopper Foods http://www.grasshopper-foods.com/
Nik Baker, ION Essentials and Fanatic www.k-66.com/
Lagoon Watersports http://www.lagoon.co.uk/
All in all, it was a fantastic day, but here’s to hoping for better weather for the next event in early 2013! A final special thank you to Lucy McCormick, Helen Trehane and other other staff of Lagoon Watersports for all their hard work, plus to Lex (and John!) Balladon, Andrina and the other KB4Girls for all coming along and making the day extra special.
FLOW – For Ladies Of Watersports is a group which aims to encourage more women to get on the water and active across a variety of watersports. Started by windsurfer Amy Carter, the group initially focussed on this one sport but soon expanded and begun to work alongside other women’s watersports groups to encourage women to take part in surfing, SUP, kitesurfing and wake boarding. Find out more about FLOW at www.flowatersports.com
More info on KB4Girls – the women’s kitesurfing group – here http://www.kb4girls.org/chapters/europe/lancing–uk.html
More info on Wide A Wake – the women’s wakeboarding group – here http://www.wide-a-wake.com/
