Anyone who spent one or more days on our coast this summer will agree: there was always a more or less strong breeze, which on the one hand provided refreshment, and on the other hand was a blessing for many water sports enthusiasts. Where at one point there was talk of an "ailing summer", this group is experiencing a more than exceptional water sports season.

Frank Vanleenhove (63) of Surfers Paradise in Knokke-Heist, has been at the beach for 43 years in that position and kept a close eye on the number of wind days all those years.

Frank is an avid wave surfer, windsurfer, kitesurfer and wingfoiler, the "Big Four" as it were, for several years now united under the term "surf sports".

Frank: "We are indeed experiencing a very exceptional water sports year. The average surf athlete who relies on the wind only takes off from 4 beaufort, say 15 knots. From then on, fun is guaranteed. Over the years, for the Belgian coast, this has always been an average of 1 day in 3, around 30 %. This year, however, in what we call the preseason, we recorded 59 days ! wind on the 91 days that April, May and July count. That's 2 out of 3. As for the high season, we counted 15 days ! of wind in July, which is let's say half. August is not over yet and we are at the same number of wind days, so highly exceptional. Today there was another strong NNO wind, 6 Beaufort, and we saw waves of up to 2 metres at high tide, so everyone had a great time and it was another great day.

Indeed: all surfers are walking with big smiles on their faces these days, a bit jaded though, and from various quarters I even hear that, if it continues like this, it will no longer be necessary to go on holiday abroad.

Because admit it, what many people don't know: when the wind blows on our Belgian coast, it can be top notch, world class even. Especially with the seawater reaching 20 degrees very quickly due to the nice weather. The only problem was consistency: we don't really have a wind season. Sometimes the wind can blow for one or two days, but then also sometimes not for two weeks and then we are all starving and dreaming of faraway places like Tarifa, Canary Islands, Greece, Egypt to name but a few...where it can blow every day for weeks on end but knowing that, when it blows on the Belgian coast, it can in fact be much better...The only thing we might not be able to compete with is the colour of the water?

On the other hand: with us, we have everything and the offer is complete. I myself have travelled all over the world to do my thing everywhere and sometimes you really are in places that are very difficult to reach and where not even a dog goes on holiday.

Meanwhile, every coastal town has its own well-organised water sports club with demarcated water sports zones, rescue and safety are provided, and above all, the accommodation is so extensive that the whole family can come along without any problem.

There are toilets, showers and cloakrooms, as well as a wide range of drinks and food, and most clubs offer courses and rental equipment. These water sports clubs, together with their visitors, have now become an integral part of any tourist resort. Since a few years, all regulations have become more than clear, every club member is fully insured through the umbrella federation WWSV (Wind en Watersport Vlaanderen) and there is the perfect cooperation with all services involved such as Sport Vlaanderen, Westtoer, MRCC, MDK and of course all municipal services. The days when these clubs were regarded as amateurish misfits are long gone, and that becomes very clear when you stroll along our coast: everywhere you see colourful kites in the air, sails scouring back and forth over the water, and when the wind is right you also see dozens of wave surfers on their boards in between. Agreed, the latter will probably continue to travel the world to surf real ocean waves, but if it depends on the wind, all windsurfers, wingfoilers and kitesurfers will continue to colour our coastline in the coming years. As far as they are concerned, this summer can't go wrong already! Without a doubt, the 2025 summer season will already go down in history as the windiest of all time."