Skip to content
windplease

West Winner Bar

The offshore sandbar that makes Hayling famous — waves outside, glass inside, and only for a few hours around low water.

Hayling Island · HampshireDirections

Loading the week's forecast…

Loading map…

● Spot · shaded: the wind directions that work here. It is not a riding area or a permitted kite zone. Two fingers to move the map.

Location & launch

Know before you go.

Launch
No shore launch — this is the offshore sandbar itself, reached by riding out from Beachlands at low water.
Wind
E · ESE · SE · SSE · S · SSW · SW · WSW · W winds work here.
Tide
Mid to low tide only — the bar is submerged and useless above that.

The shaded area shows the wind directions recorded as working here. It is not a permitted kite zone or a safe launch boundary. Check local signs.

Local rules, hazards & spot guide

Need to know

The things that catch people out here.

  • This is not a launch — it is a feature you ride out to. Launch at Beachlands or CBK and ride out.
  • It only exists from mid to low tide. Know exactly when the tide turns before you go out there.
  • Reasonable waves on the seaward side, glassy lagoon behind. Which one you get depends entirely on where you sit relative to the bar.
  • If your kite goes down out here you are swimming 800 metres in a tidal stream. Have a plan.

Conditions

NESW
  • Best
  • Works
  • Offshore
Works in
E, ESE, SE, SSE, S, SSW, SW, WSW, W
Best in
SW, WSW, W
Offshore (careful)
N, NNE, NE, ENE, NW, NNW
Wind quality
clean
Water
Mixed
Depth
standing
Best tide
Low tide
Spring range
4.1 m

Cleanest wind on the island — nothing upwind of it but water.

Tide rule

Mid to low tide only — the bar is submerged and useless above that. The flood covers the bar fast. Do not still be walking on it when the tide turns.

Sea breeze · May–Aug

Beginner
Not suitable
Intermediate
Good
Advanced
Ideal

Only exists for a few hours around low water and requires the confidence to be 800m offshore.

Hazards

Most serious first. The level is in words as well as colour.

  • high

    tidal cutoff The bar covers quickly on the flood. Riders and walkers get caught out on it regularly.

  • high

    current Strong streams run either side of the bar into Langstone and Chichester Harbours.

  • medium

    remote You are 800m offshore with no shore access. A gear failure here is a swim.

Access & rules

Launch
No shore launch — this is the offshore sandbar itself, reached by riding out from Beachlands at low water.
Permit
Not required
Insurance
Third-party liability expected
Tuition
Not permitted

Parking

  • Beachlands car parks (launch from shore)

    paid

Safety

Who is around if it goes wrong. None of it makes the water safe.

Lifeguards
None
RNLI
Hayling Island RNLI

Offshore feature — self-rescue capability is essential.

The spot

The West Winner is a sandbar roughly 800 metres off Beachlands. It is the reason Hayling has the reputation it does: on its seaward side it generates rideable waves, and behind it, from mid to low tide, it forms a shallow lagoon of near-glassy water.

It is not a spot you launch at. You rig on the beach and ride out. And it is emphatically not a beginner feature — you are a long way offshore, in strong tidal streams that run into two harbour entrances, on a bar that the flood tide covers quickly. Know when the tide turns, and be honest about whether you could swim back.

Links & local

Schools & shops nearby

Nearby alternatives

Other launches around Hayling Island, with different conditions.

Sources

Where this record came from, and how confident we are in it.

Confidence: medium · 2 independent sources · status needs-review · updated 2026-09-07

Verify locally. Coordinates 50.7786, -0.9832. Conditions, access arrangements and beach rules change; check them on the day before you rely on anything on this page.