Spring 2017 Newsletter

Post date: Sep 22, 2017 12:38:55 AM

Greetings Outdoor Club members,

I hope you have all enjoyed your winter adventures and are embracing spring in all its glory. With warmer weather soon approaching, the ODC grows in excitement with its offer of water sports. Two such water sports include stand up paddle boarding (SUP’ing) and windsurfing. Read on to marvel on what our officers have in store for you.

Stand Up Paddle Boarding

David Rees, SUP Officer

SUP (stand-up-paddling) is an all round outdoor workout! Working your core, legs, arms and, hopefully, your sense of balance, there’s more to it than just standing on a plank!

Similar to the Club’s long established kayaking regime, SUP classes involve both skills and distance sessions. Skills sessions typically take place in Matilda Bay and involve learning strokes and then practicing them in a few enjoyable games. SUP polo is one such game where teams try and score using a ball and the local mooring buoys. For distance SUP sessions we leave from the UWA boat shed and paddle, depending on the wind direction, either north-east towards Perth CBD or south towards Jojo’s restaurant. The latter route offers a delightful view of the Pelican Point wildlife sanctuary where many species of birds nest.

Sessions can have up to 14 participants and usually last around 90 minutes. Other advantages of SUP are the quick preparation and pack up times! 10 minutes before and after paddling is all that’s required, leaving plenty of time to spend on the water!

Balancing on a SUP board can be a new sensation, however first-timers quickly find that, like riding a bike, once you get used to the ripple of the water and the tracking of the board, it provides an opportunity not to be missed.

Heading into the sunny season of 2017/18, SUP offers the perfect opportunity to get some fun, social, outdoor exercise in one of Perth’s most scenic locations!

Windsurfing

Zaquan Alizan, Windsurfing Officer

Western Australia has one of the best settings in the world for windsurf! The season usually runs from October until April every year, when the thermal wind starts to kick in and wind consistently clocking at 20+ knots daily.

As a UWA Outdoor Club member, you will have a chance to learn to windsurf with our beginners gear, and progress on with a wide range of advanced gear. UWA is also conveniently located close to Pelican Point, probably the best spot for windsurf within Perth metro.

As we are approaching warmer and windier weather, be sure to look forward for another Windsurf Weekend Away in Lancelin! This is a fun weekend trip with plenty of activities at the beach, soaking up the sun, a big cook-out, and of course windsurf all day. Lancelin is a premier location for windsurfers from all over, so you too could experience the best that windsurf could offer.

The UWA Outdoor Club has been actively expanding windsurf for club members in recent years. We are currently looking to build a windsurf team to carry on to provide accessibility for members. If you are interested, contact the windsurf officer and we will get you up to speed with the on-goings and get you tonnes of time in the water so you can skill up quickly.