Lancing Green

Where the hell is that and why have I never heard of it you may well ask!!

Lancing Green has really come into its own for kitesurfers, as the majority of windsurfers tend to sail either at Shoreham or Worthing, though all credit to the kiters for sussing out a good location as the tide does not go out half way to France on big spring tides!

Winter Swell at Worthing

Lancing Green also has a very good bar on the beach (Paddy's Bar) and is probably one of the better reasons as to why to hang out there, couple that with acres of grass close to the beach for rigging, ample carparking off the road, and you start to see what makes this a good location.

The carpark is free from October through to March then there's a charge, plus quite often in Summer, the carpark plays host to bootsales, so the whole place can turn into a bit of a nightmare - also at least twice a year a traveling circus (no not kitesurf magazine) sets up their tents etc and exercises their elephants.

So what about the actual conditions, Lancing Green, like Worthing to the West and Shoreham to the East benefits from local sea breezes from May through to September - the rest of the year keep an eye on the forecasts, the map below will give you a good idea of what winds are suitable

Kiters setting up, the area is at about longitude "12" on the map below, where there is a slight crescent

Looking West towards the carpark & rigging area

Carpark and rigging area due South

Anything from the west, though that can be gusty through to NNE will work, though in the winter and early spring anything with East in them should have a health warning as quite a considerable wind chill goes with them.

The prevailing wind is from the SW, and even though in the summer the wind might start off in the NE with the local sea breeze kicking you'll find that the wind will swing round to the SW and blow a steady F5+ - though BE CAREFUL if sailing late on a summers evening, as the sea breeze will die as quickly as it kicks in, plus it will swing round offshore to the NW, leaving you with a bit of a swim, or worse still if you get stuck out at sea!

The first signs of the sea breeze dying are pretty obvious, with the wind dropping off, though some persistent "gits" often choose to ignore this, the wind will also start backing round to the west, and finally the NW and drop completely - you have been warned! Last season I dragged in three kitesurfers at Worthing who got it wrong!

That said the standard of kiting at Lancing Green is higher than that at Worthing, with quite a number of aggressive local kiters making their presence felt should an intermediate get in their way - hence many learners & intermediates choose not to sail there!

You will not find major problems with currents, though at spring tides there tends to be more of a rip in the shallows - low tide is good as the tide does not go out to far, leaving plenty of sand and shallow water providing plenty of small ramps that are either wind or swell driven.

As in all South Coast shingle locations high tides can be rather more demanding for launching, again depending on the height of the tides on any given day, wooden break waters can make a mess of most equipment and large "dumpers" at high tide can make launching always interesting!

Should you have a problem out at sea there's usually plenty of craft out at sea, and if you have to dump your kit and swim, there's a good chance it will get washed in further down the coast - but always advise the Coastguard if you abandoned any kit out at sea!

Apart from Kitesurfers you do get a few windsurfers out as well - in the summer the beach can get quite busy with day trippers and about half a mile east is Lancing Sailing Club which is a very active dinghy club.

A few other points, depending on the wind direction you can go coastal cruising, either west to Worthing & beyond, or East to Shoreham and across the bay to Hove & Brighton!

All sound good, doesn't it? However if Shoreham airport get their way kitesurfing, will be, if it isn't already, be banned from this location due to it being directly under the landing / take off path - only two years ago a plane crash landed on the beach where the "pretty boat" is at the top of this page - so we wait and see......

If you want to add your own comments see the link at the top of this page.

Feb 2003

Looking East towards Lancing Green beach

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South Coast Beach Breaks
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