Weymouth & Portland Harbour

The winds

Where to windsurf and kitesurf at Weymouth

Portland Harbour was built for the Royal Navy. Its first breakwaters went up between 1849 and 1872, and two more were added by 1906. On the south-west side, the shingle bank of Chesil Beach and the causeway road to Portland close the harbour off from the open sea. Channel swell breaks on the bank while the wind blows over it, so the harbour stays flat in a strong south-westerly.

Weymouth Bay lies north-east of the harbour, outside the breakwaters. The town beach curves round to Overcombe and Bowleaze Cove and faces south-east, with Portland sheltering it from the west. Boards and kites launch from Overcombe Corner, at the north-east end.

The navy left in 1995. Part of the old base on the Portland shore became Osprey Quay, home to a marina and the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, which opened in 2000. The academy hosted the sailing at the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with one course inside the harbour and four in Weymouth Bay. In September 2026 it ran the iQFoil World Championships, the Olympic windsurfing class.

Weymouth Speed Week started here in 1972, run by the Royal Yachting Association, with runs timed over a 500-metre course. It still runs each October from the academy, now timed by GPS, and kites, windsurfers, wing foilers and boats all take part. In 2019 and 2022 the fastest run of the week was made on a kiteboard, at just over 41 knots.

Which wind suits the harbour and which suits the bay

South-west to west is the prevailing direction, and it is the harbour's wind. At Hamm Beach, the main launch on the harbour's western shore, a south-westerly blows offshore. A westerly gives the smoothest water, but gusts come off the land near Ferrybridge.

Winds from south round to east are for the bay. The beach at Overcombe Corner faces south-east, so a south-easterly blows straight onshore, and southerlies and easterlies come in cross-onshore, with chop and short wind swell. Inside the harbour, Portland bends southerly winds and leaves light, patchy areas, but an easterly blows onshore at Hamm Beach and builds small waves for bump and jump.

North and north-west winds come off the land on both sides. In the harbour they roll over Weymouth and the hills and arrive gusty and shifting. At Overcombe they blow offshore, carrying anything that fails away from the beach.

The strongest and most frequent wind comes with the Atlantic lows of autumn and winter, which is why Speed Week is held in early October. In summer, sunny days often bring a sea breeze. Sailing guides describe a light north-westerly in the early morning, cumulus building over the land towards midday, and then a breeze from the south-west that veers towards west-south-west through the afternoon.

Kitesurfing in Portland Harbour: the permit and the launches

To kitesurf anywhere in Portland Harbour, at any time of year, you need a Portland Harbour Kitesurfing Permit. The rule is the harbour authority's General Direction No 1 of 2023, dated 25 August 2023 and still listed as in force in October 2026. The permit shows that you hold third-party insurance, have declared your competence and have paid the harbour dues, and you display its tag while you ride. Permits are sold for a day, a week, a month, a season or a year, online or through local agents. Riders without one can be told to leave the water and can be prosecuted.

Competent here means you can self-rescue and pack the kite down in deep water. The authority says the harbour suits intermediate and advanced riders who have done a course. You may not teach yourself in the harbour: only schools approved by the authority may give lessons, and their students can get a permit once they finish the course.

The authority names three launch areas: most of Hamm Beach, including the stretch by the Hamm Beach roundabout known as Windy Corner; the Ferrybridge car park by the café; and the council car park on the Chesil side of the road, from which you carry your kit across a busy road.

In the prevailing south-westerly the wind blows offshore at Hamm Beach, so if your gear fails you drift away from the beach, not back to it. The authority also advises against kitesurfing in an easterly at high water, especially on spring tides: there is little beach left, and a kite can be carried inland towards the road.

Windsurfing and wing foiling: harbour dues and the summer zone

Windsurfers and wing foilers do not need the kite permit, but every craft on the harbour pays harbour dues before going afloat, from windsurfers and wings to paddleboards and kayaks. Dues are sold for the same periods as the kite permit, and a kite permit also covers windsurfing, winging and paddleboarding. The sailing academy at Osprey Quay sells day launch passes that include parking, a rigging area, showers and the dues. The Ferrybridge and Chesil car parks are the other main launches.

From about June to September, an exclusion zone closes a short stretch of water off the north end of Hamm Beach, in front of the Ferrybridge car park and café, to windsurfers, wing foilers and kitesurfers. It is in force when an orange windsock flies on the New Channel beacon and lines of red and yellow buoys mark its north and south sides (General Direction No 1 of 2024, dated 7 June 2024). The zone is there for swimmers, and riding into it is an offence.

The authority's windsurfing advice starts from the offshore south-westerly: beginners should take lessons, or at least be able to sail across the wind and come back to where they started. It asks foilers to remember that a board on the foil is fast and almost silent, so other water users may not hear it coming, and to keep plenty of room and stay out of mooring areas and access channels. That includes the moorings on the route to the marina and the academy. Helmets and impact vests are advised for windsurf foiling.

Weymouth Bay: the Overcombe Corner lane

Weymouth Bay is managed separately, by Dorset Council's Weymouth Harbour. Its general notice for 2026 (No 02 of 2026, dated 5 January 2026) keeps the zoning the bay has used for years. A line of white buoys about 400 metres off the beach, normally laid from April to September, marks an inshore area kept for swimmers and other beach users. Windsurfers and kitesurfers must ride seaward of those buoys and use the lane at Overcombe Corner to get between the beach and open water. Four yellow buoys mark the lane close inshore.

Beyond the white buoys, keep out of the swimming areas and the channels for jet skis and speedboats. Weymouth Harbour's permits are for powered sports such as jet skis and waterskiing; for kites and boards, the bay's rules are the zones and the lane.

There is parking beside the beach at Overcombe on the road towards Preston. In a westerly the wind is cross-offshore here and the water close in is flat. In July and August the beach is crowded, so expect to share the launch.

Ships, currents and other hazards

Portland is a working port. Large ships use the North and East entrances, and traffic signals at the entrances show when ships are moving; three flashing red lights close an entrance to all traffic. Keep clear of both entrances. The commercial docks in the north-east corner are a controlled area closed to small craft, and so is the small harbour at Bincleaves. The southern entrance has been blocked since 1914 by the wreck of the old battleship HMS Hood, scuttled there as a defence against submarines, and a cable spans the gap above it.

At Ferrybridge, the tide flows in and out of the Fleet lagoon through the New Channel under the bridge. The flow can be fast and keeps running for a while after high and low water, so take care near the channel. Fishing pots and nets are laid in the harbour, and military and underwater trials sometimes take place there; the authority publishes them as notices to mariners. Stay at least 100 metres away from seals.

The tidal range is small, about two metres on spring tides, but the water off Hamm Beach is shallow. At low tide expect a walk before there is enough depth for a fin or a foil, and on big low tides a few sandbanks show.

If you lose a kite or a board, report it to the harbour authority and to Solent Coastguard.

Water temperature, wetsuits and getting there

The sea is about 8 °C in February and 17 °C in August. In winter that calls for a 5/4 with boots, gloves and a hood; a 4/3 covers spring and autumn, and a 3/2 is enough on warm summer days.

Weymouth is about 225 km by road from central London, roughly three hours in light traffic. Direct trains from London Waterloo take about two hours and 50 minutes, and Ferrybridge is about 5 km from Weymouth station. Overcombe Corner and Ferrybridge are about 8 km apart by road, so moving between the bay and the harbour takes about a quarter of an hour.

Reading the live wind at Weymouth

Check the direction first, because it tells you where to go. South-west to west means the harbour; south round to east means the bay, or Hamm Beach in an easterly. North or north-west means gusty wind off the land on both sides.

Then compare the wind speed with the forecast for Weymouth. On a summer day the readings show whether the sea breeze has arrived: a light north-westerly in the morning that turns south-west after midday is the pattern sailing guides describe.

Last, look at the gap between average and gust. A small gap means a steady wind. A big one usually means the wind is coming over land, as a westerly does near Ferrybridge and a northerly does everywhere, or that a front is still passing.

The widget above shows the latest readings from the stations around the spot. If an easterly is blowing near high water and you plan to kite, check the tide table too.

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