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WARMING UP FOR WITTERING! THE LOCALS MEAN BUSINESS!

With the 2XS West Wittering Wave Classic just around the corner, a solid crew of competitors have been making the most of the recent windy spell to get dialled in ahead of the big event. The wind has been nuking, the waves have been pumping and the sailing has been hardcore!

John Carter headed over to the Witterings last week to capture the action on what turned out to be one of the best days of the season so far. With a stacked local line-up, ramps aplenty and gusts nudging 40 knots, the crew were pulling out all the stops. There were big back loops, stalled forwards, tweaked push loops and the odd spectacular wipe-out for good measure.

And with the weather throwing everything from black skies and driving rain to blazing sunshine into the mix, it was a proper South Coast rollercoaster. If this was merely the dress rehearsal, the 2XS Wave Classic could be one hell of a show!

Photos: John Carter and Simon Bassett.

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JOHN CARTER: STORM CHASE AT THE WITTERINGS!

“I’d heard through the grapevine that a local crew were planning an afternoon session at Witterings and, with the event just around the corner, I thought it would be interesting to see if they were on form at their home stomping grounds. The wind was forecast to be howling from the WNW, with some swell kicking around to add to the equation. The word was that we’d be meeting at the suitably named ‘Storm Chase’…Pezza’s house (Mark Perry). You couldn’t really ask for a more appropriate venue!

I’d somehow managed to persuade old comrade Paul Hunt (Hunty) to pick me up from Portsmouth, and we were hoping to meet up with Mark Perry, Chris Audsley, Ian Whittaker, Dan Macaulay, Lucas Meldrum, Daisy Bassett, Jamie Hancock, Martin Venthem, Paul Hatton and Tony ‘Tasty’ Ford for the afternoon low-tide-pushing session.

Pezza’s place is partially designed with windsurfing in mind, so it’s super-cool for the boys to rig on the front lawn, with an outdoor shower and après beers waiting for them afterwards. There’s even a skate ramp in the garden to keep the kids and the braver adults entertained. But today, the skateboards could wait. It was already absolutely nuking when we arrived, and the windsurfing was about to take centre stage.

The Witterings crew are a tight-knit bunch who tend to stick together and sail as a group whenever the conditions line up. One of the great things about Wittering is the sheer number of ramps stretching way out to sea, giving a big group of sailors plenty of space to spread out and find their own piece of wave-riding heaven. No shortage of launch ramps, no shortage of waves and, judging by the forecast, absolutely no shortage of wind!

The boys were rigging small and, from the off, were hurling themselves into big back loops and end-over-end forwards. You had to keep your eyes peeled when shooting because there was always something happening, whether it was on the waves in front or way out the back on the outside ramps. Blink at the wrong moment and you’d miss move of the day…Sorry Jamie Hancock with that incredible wave 360!

Ten minutes into the session, the sky upwind was looking as black as the ace of spades. The odd squall is all part of the South Coast game, as wild weather barrels through the Solent and sweeps down past the Witterings. The crew made a quick dash for shelter, but the drama didn’t last long. Before we knew it, the sun was back out, the clouds had cleared and the wind promptly cranked up to nearly 40 knots. Just your average afternoon at Witts, then!

The wild conditions certainly weren’t putting anyone off, and the action was coming thick and fast, rain or shine. Chris Audsley, still nursing an injury, was nevertheless throwing down some tasty wave 360s, while Hunty and Pezza were trading hefty back loops. Dan Macaulay, meanwhile, managed to deliver the wipe-out of the day after escaping jury duty for a bonus session.

Midway through the session, Lucas Meldrum sailed down from Bracklesham and proceeded to put on an aerial masterclass. Tweaked push loops, one-handed backies and a couple of mega-stalled forwards were all on the menu. Class! It was the sort of display that shows he is a slight class above the rest and deserves his title as British Champion and place on the WWT / PWA world tour.

As each rain squall passed through, the wind would back off for ten minutes, giving everyone a brief breather before returning with a vengeance as the sun burst through the clouds again. Wittering was putting on a spectacular weather show, with some seriously committed windsurfing to match. It was one of those sessions where the conditions seemed to change every five minutes, but nobody was in any hurry to call it a day.

By 4.30pm, Hunty announced that he had to leave to collect the kids from school, handing over my return-lift duties to Martin Venthem. Then Pezza produced a tray of beers for the après-session proceedings, and, well, it would have been rude to refuse. There are some sacrifices a photographer simply has to make!

One thing this crew definitely has is a strong sense of community, built around their shared love of windsurfing at the Witterings. The sailing is hardcore, but the camaraderie is just as impressive. We eventually headed home around 5.15pm as the wind appeared to be dropping off. Of course, that wasn’t quite the end of the story.

Reports soon came in that the wind had filled back in, with Max Metcalfe among those scoring an epic sunset session. Legendary cameraman Joseph-by-the-Sea was on hand with his drone to capture the magic light and moves. I have to admit, I was a little gutted to have missed the late shift…there’s nothing worse than packing up just before the wind decides to deliver the session of the day! Still, there were some beautiful moments of light while I was shooting, so the trip was far from a disaster.

As a warm-up for the 2XS Wave Classic, all I can say is that the local crew look to be in seriously solid form, despite a few injuries here and there. When Audsley and Whittaker are both back to full strength, the opposition will have their work cut out on the locals’ home stomping grounds.

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Just up at West Wittering Simon Bassett was on hand to capture some amazing images!

“The hammer has been fully down with 6 days of wind and big storms hitting the beach at West Wittering .

Storm Austen kicked off with gusts over 50 knots -you could see waves breaking 2 miles off shore all the newly formed sand bars were lit up. The second storm Boelo had a better swell and wind direction with action nearly all states of the tide…hopefully the next one will arrive intime for the 2XS wave classic 13,14 and 15 of November!”

The message from Wittering Towers is clear: the locals are warmed up, the conditions are ready to fire and hopefully this year’s event will be as much of a celebration of windsurfing as last year’s historic get together. Bring on the 2XS Wave Classic!

More info on the comp here:

2XS Wave Classic West Wittering 2026 – 2XS

Windsurfing, Kitesurfing, SUP, Surf Equipment Shop – 2XS®