intermediate planing
windsurfing lessons
we're ready to help you take your windsurfing to another level with stronger winds and blasting in the footsraps
intermediate planing options
- A proven system that is 100% adaptable to your needs as you progress
- 3 hour lessons
- Private or Shared Group and One to One sessions
- Highly experienced RYA qualified instructors
intermediate planing windsurfing
Once you’ve spent time sailing in light to moderate winds and feel fully in control of your board in non-planing conditions, the next step is learning how to plane. Our Intermediate Planing lesson is designed exactly for that stage of your windsurfing journey.
In this session, we’ll guide you through the key progressions: getting the board onto the plane, locking into the harness, and stepping confidently into the footstraps. You’ll discover how to accelerate with control, maintain balance at higher speeds, and handle stronger winds and choppier water with confidence.
At this level, all coaching is run on your own kit, so you’re learning directly on the equipment you’ll continue to use. We plan sessions around the best conditions — whether in the harbour or in open sea — to maximise safety and progression.
intermediate planing lesson (1-2-1 or Shared/Private Group)
Conditions & Equipment
To get a board planing, we’ll be sailing in winds from around 18mph and upwards. These stronger winds create the lift needed to accelerate the board, step into the footstraps, and lock into the harness.
At this stage, it’s essential that you have your own suitable kit. Progression into planing requires practice, and using your own equipment is the best way to build confidence and consistency. Typically, you’ll need:
- A sail size of around 6.0–6.5m (adjusted for your weight and conditions)
- A board fitted with footstraps
- A well-fitted harness
If you’re unsure whether your kit setup is suitable, we can help you assess it before the session.
Tailored Coaching
Every rider progresses differently, so we customise the lesson to your current ability and goals. Whether you need to refine your stance, improve harness technique, or finally get comfortable in the straps, we’ll focus on the areas that unlock the most progress for you.
Who Should Join
This course is right for you if:
- You’re already sailing comfortably in non-planing conditions
- You own your own windsurfing equipment and are keen to develop new skills with it
- You’re ready to step into planing, using the harness and footstraps with control
What we may cover
- Discussing stronger winds and safety.
- Speeding up and improving the Core Skills such as Vision, Warrior and Counter Balance.
- Understanding windsurfing equipment
- Kit setup and adjusments.
- Harness and lines.
- Footstraps.
- Pumping the rig.
- The power of stance and vision.
Helpful Information
Things start to get a bit more exciting as you are tuning those moves and getting more dynamic, but we still need to consider everything from conditions to kit.
We’re ramping things up, now we’re windsurfing in stronger winds and rougher water. Kit tuning, location choice and safety gets more critical so there’s lots of new things to consider.
when do intermediate planing lessons run?
At the Intermediate Planing stage, the real progression begins when the wind picks up to beyond 18mph or so.Â
This can be at any time of year and we keep close tabs on the wind forcasts to make sure we get the weather to suit the session.
If we sail in the colder months, it’s important for our clients to have proper quality wetsuits and boots that will help keep you warm.
What kit does someone need to get planing?
By now you should be looking at getting your own kit, suitable for stonger winds and delivering more performance.
As an exmaple, this could be a board of around 180 litres, a sail of 6-6.5m, carbon mast and carbon boom.  What you need to realise, is very old cheap kit on ebay, may not help progression, so it is worth making an investment, to improve your enjoyment
As we mentioned before, you need a good wetsuit, proper fitting and flexible, along with boots. A helmet is worth considering, along with a harness and possibly a small buoyancy aid.