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LAST ORDERS FOR EASTERLIES: ROSS WILLIAMS

Just when JC had all but given up hope for any windsurfing action…plans drifting firmly into “maybe tomorrow” territory…a late call came in from Ross Williams: ‘it’s on!’. And when Ross says it’s on, you don’t ask questions…you grab your gear and go.

What followed was a chaotic session that somehow salvaged an otherwise frustrating day…and proved, once again, that it only takes one good call to turn everything around even if the action was short and sweet.

Photos: John Carter and Scott Gardener. Click on any shot to enlarge and scroll! 

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JOHN CARTER: After spending most of the day glued to web cameras up and down the south coast, trying to figure out what the latest pulse of easterlies was actually doing, frustration had well and truly set in. I’d planned to stay local, Isle of Wight can be all-time in an easterly, but the wind had nudged a little too NE, and the waves just weren’t wrapping into Ventnor. Classic. A full day of sunshine, wind on tap… and nothing to show for it.

With the light fading and my patience already gone, I pivoted to Plan B: photographing the local white-tailed sea eagles. An equally humbling pursuit, as it turns out…hours of waiting for a bird that clearly has better things to do. Nature, as always, keeping expectations firmly in check.

Then, just as I was committing to the wildlife grind, the phone rang.

Ross.

He was down at Bonchurch and reckoned there were a few proper waves sneaking through. That was all I needed. Immediate U-turn. Back home, grab every bit of camera gear I could carry (and probably a bit I didn’t need), then a slightly over-enthusiastic dash back along the coast.

I rolled up just in time to see Ross dropping into a clean, head-high set and laying into the lip like with a classic Ross Williams surf style hack. The light was perfect.

Game on.

After some fumbling around getting cameras sorted I was ready for action…plus I had a spare body and lens ready to tempt Scott Gardener, who was hovering on the edge of joining the action, albeit slightly held back by a not-so-minor injury.

For the next half hour, Ross Williams did exactly what Ross does best: picking off the best of the sets and attacking every lip with zero hesitation and even less regard for self-preservation.

But just as quickly as the session had switched into gear, it switched off.

Ross came in, session done. No dramatic finale, no sunset glory run, just a quiet exit stage left. Turns out he’d taken a fall the evening before and was pretty certain he’d cracked a rib. Which, in hindsight, makes the whole performance slightly more impressive… and slightly more ridiculous.

So that was it. A full day of wind and sunshine boiled down to a mere thirty minutes of action.

But sometimes that’s all you need.

Short, sweet, and just enough to justify the chaos…especially when it ends with a perfectly timed “last orders” debrief beer at the Spyglass Inn on the way home.

Job done.