How the rating works
One 0–100 score that answers a single question: will the water be flat enough to efoil?
What goes into the score
Wind
Wind matters most. Up to about 10 km/h the water usually stays flat; from 20 km/h chop starts to build, and above 30 km/h it is almost always a no-go. We use the forecast mean wind for each hour.
Gusts
Strong gusts ruffle the surface even when the mean wind is light, and make take-offs twitchy. They weigh less than the mean wind but still pull the score down.
Chop
Chop is the short wind-wave that local wind builds. Once there is more than half a metre of it, the foil starts slapping and the session stops being fun.
Swell
Swell arrives from far away. Period is what counts: a 3–5 second sea is steep and dumps on the beach, while a long-period swell (10 s and up) barely registers on a foil. We adjust swell height for its period.
Onshore vs offshore
Every spot has a bearing out to open water. Onshore wind (blowing towards the beach) builds chop fast and counts for more; offshore wind keeps the water flat near the shore and counts for less, but it pushes you out to sea, so be careful if your battery or motor gives up.
The 0–100 score
Every hour we combine wind, gusts, chop and swell into a score from 0 to 100. We then cut it back if the total sea is big, if the wind passes a hard ceiling, or for rain, fog, cold or thunder (thunder means 0).
The day’s score is the best average of three daylight hours in a row. The “window” is the longest stretch of the day scoring 60 or more.
Scores are for daylight sessions. Night hours are shown for context only, with no rating or verdict: after dark we show you the next dawn’s verdict instead.
- 80–100 · Flat water. Go.
- 60–79 · Rideable, a bit of texture.
- 45–59 · Chop or swell. Experienced riders only.
- 0–44 · Too much wind or sea.
The dawn verdict
Plenty of mornings on this coast start flat and fall apart by mid-morning. The dawn verdict only looks at first light (civil dawn) to two hours after sunrise: Get up and ride (70 or more), Maybe (50–69, check the water at first light) or Sleep in. The alarm time is 20 minutes before first light.
Reports and group rides
Reports. After a session, tell us on the spot page how the water was (Glass, Good, Choppy or No-go) and for which hours. We show you what we forecast for those hours so you can compare, and store both side by side. Anyone can see each spot’s anonymous summary; notes and who wrote them are for approved riders only.
Group rides. Approved riders can host and join group sessions. To get approved, an approved rider who knows you has to vouch for you. Rides aren’t public because they say where a group of riders and their kit will be.