Nowadays, no-one sets off for a spot without checking the internet. Whereas a few years ago it was more of a game of chance to be in the right place at the right time, today various weather and wind websites provide detailed forecasts for almost every spot in Germany, Europe and the whole world. Many providers also send the data to your smartphone, so that the information chain is now almost seamless. Gosh, those were the days when we used to sit in front of the radio on Friday evenings, waiting for the marine weather forecast and hoping for a windy weekend like a little child hoping for a surprise from Father Christmas. In Germany, Windfinder and Windguru in particular have established a leading role among windsurfers. In addition to forecasts, Windfinder also offers current wind data from spots. The Kiel-based company now receives data from 18,000 stations worldwide. And there will certainly be more in the future, as Windfinder itself offers special measuring devices at favourable prices, especially for surfing stations, clubs and schools.
However, in addition to the well-known top dogs, other supra-regional services have also established themselves. The presentation of wind trends on the relatively new sites Wisuki and Windyty is particularly visually appealing. It is difficult to make objective statements about the reliability of all services. However, experts agree that a forecast more than a week in advance is not really meaningful. Regional services abroad make sense
For surfing travellers abroad, the websites and apps of national providers also make sense, because in areas such as the Croatian Adriatic, the Greek Aegean or in narrow mountain valleys such as Lake Garda, the GFS models on which the established wind forecasts are based reach their limits. Better forecast accuracy often compensates for the sometimes simple visualisation, cumbersome handling or language barriers. But despite all the technology, the old saying still holds true too often in the digital age: What is the windy day after three days of calm? Monday!
The large overview of weather sites and weather apps for windsurfers can be downloaded as a PDF below.
