insideSUSSEX Magazine Issue 16 - June 2016 | Page 77

DAYSOUT

WAKEBOARDING WITH
LAGOON WATERSPORTS
With three UK venues and one in Barcelona, Lagoon Watersports has been operating for over
20 years. Dedicated to helping customers become confident in the water through a range of
really exhilarating activities including stand up paddleboarding, windsurfing and wakeboarding,
their emphasis is on top-class training to safely guide both learners and more experienced
watersports enthusiasts on their adrenaline-packed adventures. Deciding to stay on dry land for
once, Polly Humphris sent her husband, Tom, off to try out some wakeboarding at Hove Lagoon.

Living near to Hove, and often seeing
wakeboarders zinging their way along the
cables at the lagoon, Tom and I have talked
about doing a wakeboarding course with
Lagoon Watersports before. They have a brilliant
reputation and I’ve never failed to get a smile
and a wave from one of the many instructors
that work there on my frequent walks past their
venue and up a few steps to the seafront.
Fortunately, this laid back and highly
approachable attitude is evident as soon as
you walk into their reception too. It can be
intimidating trying a new sport, especially a
sport that takes you off dry land, straps you
into a pair of boots affixed to a board and then
pulls you along a cable run hitting speeds of
up to 20mph, but, the instructors at Lagoon
Watersports immediately put you at ease.
While Tom got togged up and headed outside
with British Water Ski and Wakeboardqualified instructor, Ash, for a brief on-land
demonstration of how to get up on the board,
I had a chat with staff member, Tracy, about
who goes wakeboarding and when. “We’ve
got some kids who are quite nifty riders at
only 8 years old and our oldest rider was in his

70s, so it’s a much more accessible sport than
people think,” she told me. “We have disability
groups that come along and we simply adjust
the equipment to suit them; if you’re game,
we’ll make it work, and we’ve never had to say
no to anyone yet. People who visit Brighton
and are looking for something different often
do a one-off session, but most people get
hooked and come back again and again. Our
memberships are only £50 a month, which
allows people to ride twice a day, every day
that we’re open, and within that membership
you can use the stand up paddleboards too.”
So it’s accessible and affordable, but is it
easy? “It feels a little bit odd at first because
you feel as though the board is slipping about
from under you,” Tom told me after an hour on
the water. “But, Ash is a great instructor and
teaches you everything at a manageable pace.
It’s all about bending your knees and relaxing
into it, and it only took me about two tries up
and down the cable to feel comfortable. I’d love
to do it again already; it’s exciting and a really
great adrenalin b