- You do not need to be strong. Technique carries the sail, not your arms.
- You do not need to be young, or sporty, or to have done anything like it before.
- You do not need to own a thing. Boards, sails, wetsuits and buoyancy aids are all here.
- Most people sail their first fifty metres on day one. That is the normal outcome, not the exceptional one.
I've never done it. Where do I start?
With a taster — a short first session with a coach, a big stable board and all the kit. Most people are sailing away from the beach by the end of it. If you enjoy it, you carry straight on into a beginner course.
Do I need to be strong?
No. You start on a big stable board with a small, light sail chosen for your size, in flat shallow water. Children of five manage it. Nothing about the first day depends on how strong you are.
Am I too old for this?
No. There are people in their seventies on this water. How fast you progress depends on hours on the water, not on your age.
Do I need my own gear?
No. Boards, sails, wetsuits and buoyancy aids are all here and come with your lesson. Bring swimwear and sun cream.
I did it years ago and I was hopeless. Do I start from scratch?
Usually not. Tell your coach what you managed back then and they'll place you — most returners land around level 2. Expect half a session of rust before it comes back.
What if I'm the worst one in the group?
You won't be — groups are grouped by level, so everyone around you is at your stage. If you'd still rather not chance it, a private lesson is just you and a coach.
How long until I can actually do it?
Sailing and turning around: a day or two. The harness and planing — the part that feels like flying — usually comes within a week of regular sessions.
What if I still don't know what to book?
Then don't choose — just ask. Send an enquiry saying roughly where you are, or say it at the desk, and someone will work out what fits. Nothing is paid until the centre has confirmed it with you.
The first time the board lifts and goes, everything else falls away. It is a genuine adrenaline hit — and it turns into the healthiest addiction going. You will find yourself checking the forecast at breakfast for the rest of your life.
You arrive knowing nobody and leave in a group chat. Everyone rigs on the same beach, everyone is tired in the same way, and nobody cares what you do for a living. Friendships here tend to outlast the holiday.
Once you can sail, a holiday is never just a beach again. Karpathos, Tarifa, Dahab, Fuerteventura, Jericoacoara, Maui — places you have only ever seen in clips become places you can actually go, because now you can ride there.
Hours of sea, sun and real physical work. You eat properly because you are hungry, you are off your phone because your hands are full, and you go to bed salty, aching and grinning. The fitness arrives without you ever calling it exercise.
And the skills underneath it: ION grades windsurfing on six levels. You do not need to remember them — your coach tracks where you are. This is just so you can see the shape of it.
Standing up, sailing away from the beach, and turning round to come back. The moment it clicks is usually day one or two.
Hooking into the harness, feet in the straps, and the first time the board lifts and goes. This is the stage everyone remembers.
Carving turns without stopping, riding a wave, leaving the water. The point where it stops being a lesson and starts being your sport.
ION grades every rider on the same six-level ladder. Your coach signs off each skill as you get it, so "what level am I?" always has a real answer — not a guess.
You are handed the board and sail that suit where you are today. Nobody puts a beginner on kit that will punish them, and nobody leaves an improver on a board that holds them back.
Group lessons are cheaper and more fun. A private lesson moves you faster because every minute is about you. Most people mix the two.
Tell us roughly where you are and we will come back with what to book — a taster, a group lesson, or a package that takes you through the levels. Nothing to pay now.
Not sure what fits? Just ask →Say roughly where you are in the message box and the team will come back with what to book.
They are flying above the water in wind that would leave you slogging. If you already windsurf, you have most of what wingfoiling asks for — you read the wind, you know the right of way, you are comfortable out there. The board work is new, the instinct is not.
See the wingfoiling journey →