Manly is the premier windsurfing location in Auckland
Facilities
It has extensive grass rigging areas, outside showers, toilets and excellent viewing areas from the raised dunes.
The 1.5km beach is pure NZ golden sand and super kind on your feet and fins both in and out of the water.
It offers a fantastic range of conditions depending on the wind and works in all directions except South East (In this case go to Orewa for mythical ‘Down the Line’ wave-sailing)
Check out the web cam and wind meter for live weather.
Where to Rig
Right by the toilets (and the Yacht Club hose) or in Manly Yacht club’s huge rigging reserve.
Local Shops
NZ Sailing in Silverdale. Purveyors of everything nautical at insanely good prices.
Who Sails
Here you will regularly meet some of Auckland’s best sailors such as sponsored riders like Tim Wood (Gaastra/Tabou), Jack, Luke and Angus of Team 10 (North/Carbon Art), Dan Thomas (JP) and some ridiculously expert free sailors such as Maui resident Dallas and freestyle master Paul T. All the locals are mega helpful and the vibe is awesome.
Best Conditions
North-West Manly is the best spot in Auckland; it is a clean wind, cross-on and brilliant for slalom in 15-25 and awesome for bump and jump above that. Head to the reef off Tindalls for steep ramps and fun swell.
Northerly is also really excellent, similar to above but more onshore.
North-East is gustier in the bay, but flatter. It’s better for slalom sailing or making the dash across to Owera. This is real treat as the swell can be large and you get a real mix of conditions, specially with the onshore surf at Orewa. This trip is pretty safe as you are never too far from Stanmore then Red Beach and any kit breakage results in a wind assisted paddle to one of these lovely sandy bays.
East is gusty but flat so bring your big slalom gear – 125+ and 7.8+.
West is gusty in the bay, but super flat. Big slalom gear gets you out past the Stanmore headland where there is an amazing area that gets flatter the further upwind you go toward Orewa. The huge bay seems most like a lake in this direction. Go with a friend though; if you break something in a westerly, next stop…Great Barrier.
South-West Hoon downwind to Tindall’s (or drive round) and enjoy cross shore clean wind. When the tide is low the reef creates a nice speed zone.
Summer
(Jan and Feb) Manly is heaven and while it’s not quite Maui wind or temperatures, sea breezes crank up around midday and reach about 15 knots of constant hair dryer Northerly magic. This is when we get our most consistent racing practice in board shorts around the 200m buoys in a figure of 8 and often with a start boat. Predicting such conditions is tricky though; if it hasn’t reached 13knots by 2pm, it’s back to the teapot.
Formula Sailing
Manly provides the full range of conditions and is ideal for honing your skills or learning.
Other useful information
Manly Windsurf Club on Facebook