Two of our hire boards

Equipment Hire Scheme

The club have a scheme whereby new members who are just starting out can hire a complete board and rig package for a very reasonable monthly fee, far less than you’d pay at the major hire centres, and you can take the gear anywhere to sail it, use it as much as you like whenever you like. It’ll get you started and you’ll make rapid progress since the boards are so stable and easy to sail.

We reckon someone quite keen won’t take long to master the basics, at which point they will be wanting some of their own gear and probably a little more advanced as well, so we’ve set the hire period at 4 months so that we can accommodate two learners each year. We’ll need a deposit off you but you’ll see from the details that its not excessive. Best of all, the deal for new members includes fully comprehensive insurance for a whole year.

The cost for rental is just £35 a month, around £1 a day. This gets you a beginner size board, a rig with two sails (for different wind conditions), kit bag, easy rig, harness lines for when are ready for them, fin screwdriver etc etc. We start the hire period at the beginning of March and then again at the beginning of July.  If there is no queue of people wanting to hire the gear we’re quite willing to extend the hire period if you want, though previous beginners using the scheme have all made rapid progress and are ready for a smaller board. Also if you really don’t like it at all you can return the gear early for a refund of your rental. Can’t say fairer than that can we?

The Gear

We have two 2008 F2 Discoveries and a Fanatic Viper, 280cm long, 225litres, complete with their own board bags, ideal raw beginner board, nice and big and stable but still easy to plane, learn harnessing and getting in the straps. The rigs sets are currently a 4.4 Arrows Aerial coupled with a 5.2m Arrows Craze, a 4.7 m Arrows Ranger, with a 5.7m Simmer and a 5.5m Pacific and a 6.5m Rushwind. We include mast, boom and all the fittings, ropes and pulleys etc to get you out on the water and we’ll be happy to show you how to rig it. We will do our best to match the rig sizes to you experience level and size/weight.

What You’ll Need

You’ll need a wetsuit and boots (these can be bought very cheaply now from, I believe, Decathlon, Tesco and occasionally Lidl and Aldi though they will likely only be suitable for summer use) and a buoyancy aid and some means of transporting the gear (so you’ll need a roof rack and stout straps for your car). If you wish to sail through the winter months, we would advise that you invest in a good quality winter wetsuit.

The Small Print

The scheme is only available to new full club members so you will need to sign up before the hire gear can be allocated to you. Best to get in touch to check that the gear is available first, we’ll be happy to reserve it pending your membership application. As part of the first year membership and joining fee (£100) fully comp insurance for the hire gear is included.

We hire the gear on a 4 month basis at £35 per month payable in advance plus a  deposit of £100 which will be refundable, so you would need to pay £240 for the hire  at the outset. If you return the gear early you may, with a refund for unused months and of course you will get your deposit back. If we have no demands on the gear at the end of the four months the period may be extended if you wanted it to. You will be asked to agree to and sign a hire agreement form which can be downloaded here.