Minilandyachts

25/08/2026

If you’re looking for a cheap yacht, you might be in luck … as I’ve just been made aware of 2 Potty minilandyachts that are for sale in mid Wales, near Llandrindod Wells. They’re the non-adjustable 4” longer version - the same length etc as the current ones, but made of galvanised steel - and have been carefully stored so, despite being 22 years old, they’re (allegedly) in good condition. £650 each, ish.
These would be perfect starter yachts … the fact that they’re old is irrelevant if they’ve been stored nicely.
John is the man selling them - on behalf of a friend - and I can put you in touch if you’re interested.
Please note : In the unlikely event that you ever need parts for your Potty - regardless of age - I have wheels, masts etc in stock, and also the new 4 sq m sails, either on their own or as a complete rig. Also complete new yachts, at £1350 …

20/08/2026

The business of there being more wind over at Pembrey than at Newgale or Pendine has persisted. Normally there’s more wind at Newgale, but that’s simply not been the case for most of this summer … and certainly not for the last 3 days. The wind has been Westerly, a good 30-50% stronger over at Pembrey, so that’s where I’ve been, enjoying 3 afternoons of high quality hooning with the 3.6 sail, in glorious warm sunshine, 20+ degrees … 200 miles in 8.7 hours … proper champagne sailing !

02/08/2026

A few days ago the BBC weather forecast showed an area of high pressure parked over the southwest of the UK, centred roughly directly over the SW tip of Wales - no isobars, no arrows showing any wind- so no prospect whatsoever of any sailing. Windguru agreed … but with one exception, in that he showed a stiff westerly kicking in mid afternoon over at Pembrey - a couple of hours after low water - and fading away in the early evening … just for Pembrey, for 2 days, but not at Pendine, and not Newgale. I thought this might be a mistake, as surely the whole area should be getting the same - ie glorious sunshine and no significant wind - but, as you may know, I have complete faith in the ‘guru … so I went, had a ball (120 miles sailed in 6 hours) and am now slightly mystified …
First things first - the guru doesn’t do a forecast for Pembrey. The nearest forecast is for Llangennith, on the Gower, the other side of the Loughor estuary, opposite the southern end of the beach, barely 5 miles away as the crow flies so near enough, or there’s one for Pendine, some 7 miles west of the north end of the beach. Having gone there both days, the beach was exactly what you’d expect when there’s no wind at all over the outgoing tide - ie a rippled mess, but with a thin, narrow strip near the high water line that you could pinch upwind on, then Hoon back downwind … and the northern couple of miles were too rippled for words, again entirely consistent with a prolonged period of no wind over the outgoing tide. It was also fascinating how the wind - which was lovely near the entrance, towards the southern end of the beach - dropped right off as you approached the northern end … you could feel the wind getting lighter, so you’d turn back and gently accelerate back up to full speed again. I found it absolutely fascinating. I ventured out to eye up the northern banks - a regrettable decision as there weren’t any, and the ripples were worse - but I was determined to get to the northern end … and failed, beaten by the combination of a dying breeze and vicious ripples, so I returned to the easier sailing and racked up the miles.
That was Friday 31st July, and I went back the following day - the forecast was identical - and did it all again, this time in the company of 2 kite buggiers. One had a tiny buggy with big fat tyres on it and an enormous kite … I tried chasing him but he just cruised away … no swooping of the kite, just effortless power, and his tyres didn’t kick up any sand at all … I was impressed by his kite control. As the wind picked up he was obviously wildly overpowered, and cruised along with the kite directly above him, whereas I was fully sheeted in and flying along. He packed up and left. His mate persevered, then switched to a wobble board - with the same kite - and, late in the day, tried the buggy again. He headed north - with the kite in the Up position - so I followed, thinking I’ll surely catch him … but he just eased away. I could feel the wind dropping, so I turned back … and he continued north. Conditions had felt gusty to me - particularly at that northern end - as I’d tried - and failed, yet again - to reach the river when the wind was up - so I felt duty bound to keep an eye on him. I sailed briskly back to the slipway - 3 miles, ish - then back north again - no sign of him. I repeated the run - still no sign of him. Hmmm … nothing for it but to venture out onto the ripples and go looking for him … but the ripples shake the power out of the sail, so … I was suddenly barely moving and at risk of getting stuck … but at least I could see his kite swooping about in the sky in the distance, somewhere up by the river, so he was clearly okay … stuck, but okay. I struggled back to the smooth sand (of which there was a little more than the day before), dashed back to the entrance and repeated the northward trek … no sign of his kite, but the wind was actively dropping and I didn’t make it as far north before turning … but I did glimpse what might have been him, walking back. On the next run I could see his kite, swooping around as he searched for wind, but I made it even less far up the beach. Then - a couple of runs later - on what proved to be my last run, I could see that he might have made some modest progress, with much swooping of the kite … but I had to head back.
When conditions go like this - ie iffy, on the lighter side of marginal - having been perfectly sailable, it’s a sure sign you’re about to become a victim of a local phenomenon called the 6 o’clock shut-off. I’ve been caught by it too many times - though not recently - and I recognised the symptoms straight away. It was time for me to head back - while I still could - and leave him to enjoy his walk. It was a lovely day for it … he might not have seen it that way, but it was … and there was nothing I could do to help. There’s no rescue service out on the beach. If he’d come unstuck while the wind was up, I could have towed him back - I’ve towed a Class 3 with my Miniyacht before - but when the wind vanishes, there’s simply nothing to be done, other than enjoy the walk.
Windguru - the free version - precision forecasting, at its best !

27/07/2026

Every now and then the Military lay on some on-beach entertainment, eg landing large aircraft on the beach, like this one - not my pic, this is from a while ago.
Today there were 2 German A400M planes, initially circling round, touching wheels on the beach, then going round again, then each doing 3 proper landings, turn rounds, and take-offs, while the other plane circled round over the Gower and Worm’s Head, patiently waiting it’s turn.
There must have been 50 folk watching - including the chap who took this pic and the video in the link - and they were Really close to the action. The beach was nice and dry, so I was able to sail beside the plane, both as it landed and took off, a good 100 yards away from it, on the seaward side. Someone will have got some fab shots of plane and yacht - or they will have been cursing that bloody yacht photobombing their shots (for which I can only apologise, as I see I’m not in this clip !) - as I managed to be right beside it on one landing, and we managed a synchronised drag start on one take-off.
I’ve never been that close to the action before … the time flew by !
After they’d finished I was amazed to see they’d been landing on a softish strip above the high water line, which was so cut up I could barely sail through it.

23/07/2026

This washed up on Cefn Sidan Sands on Saturday 4th July … the orange floats caught my eye but, on closer inspection, it was this … and it was heavy … too heavy and unwieldy to sail away with, so I left it there and came back later with the dog to take a pic … but it was gone. We were staying on the Pembrey Country Park’s caravan site - the Park includes the beach - and, the following day, there it was, by the bins. I thought no more about it as we had a heatwave to enjoy. Wind the clock forward and we’re back in the Park with our caravan, and it’s still there, still by the bins. Clearly the binmen didn’t want it, or didn’t know which recycling bin it should be in, so this time I took a bit more interest in it. The main body of it - the central black bit - is clearly labelled a VR2AR Acoustic Release Receiver, by innovasea.com, with an American phone number, and the long thin white thing is clearly labelled phonehome.org.uk. If you go on phonehome.org the first thing you see is Have you found one of these ? and there’s a pic of it … it’s something to do with tracking dolphins … and innovasea make stuff that tracks fish generally, so … it’s clearly a member of the Tracker family. Deb’s daughter is into Marine Conservation - remember the tuna butchering incident on Newgale - and anything involving dolphins is right up her street, so I had a word with the Rangers and they were delighted to offload it. The Park is run by the Carmarthenshire County Council, and they’d reported it’s arrival to Maritime House (or somesuch) in accordance with their Guidance and Procedures, and their man said that invariably nothing ever happens after they’ve reported things arriving on the beach. They’ve still got that large yellow “cube” buoy, for example, and were pleased to see the back of this thing. Now all we’ve got to do is take it home.
Meanwhile, the beach is … exactly as you’d expect after a couple of weeks of heatwave, high pressure and namby pamby light breezes blowing off the land, ie rippled, except for a strip near the high water line. The ripples are of varying severity, but … it hasn’t stopped me sailing - this latest sailathon (rattlathon) has lasted 8 days- and Yes, I am beginning to dream of lovely smooth beaches and decent winds from off the sea.

18/07/2026

Thursday was Day 9 of this latest heatwave here in Pembrokeshire, which has featured negligible winds, all from the east, so I went to Newgale with the lightest northerly forecast, expecting an unsailable beach covered in holes and ripples … and it wasn’t ! It wasn’t perfection either, but I gave it 8 / 10 for condition and had a lovely bimble round with the 5.6 sail. The wind was actually blowing off the land, in the 0 - 20+ mph range, so there were times when I was parked, and others where I was seriously overpowered … to such an extent that I actually pulled the axles out wider to give me more stability. I couldn’t get over the condition of the beach - no wind over the outgoing tide either. Spring tides too, if that’s relevant.
Then yesterday I went back there again, in identical conditions … the beach had deteriorated to 6.5 / 10 conditionwise, more ripples, severe in places, with added bankiness out nearer the sea, but I was able to do the beach end to end … suddenly, late on. I’d avoided the northern end because it was busy, but suddenly the crowds thinned and access became possible. The southern stream has vanished - drought - the northern stream is shallow, and I’d not been through it for years … there’s steep cliffs and it’s simply not possible to get to the northern end in anything other than a stiff SW, but this was a light NNE so it should have been out of the question … but the wind in my sail made it feel doable, so I did it. Fantastic … and the mystery of what causes the condition of the beach to vary so much continues …

01/07/2026

June was certainly a superb month for the sandsailing. It had it all … two 50/50 days, 4 sessions with the storm sail, I did the Double either side of my birthday, and we even had a heatwave so I was able to sail in 31 degrees. The quality of the sailing was absolutely outstanding, except for the 3 post-heatwave days. The 31 degrees were on Thursday 25th June, arguably the last day of the heatwave and possibly the only day with a potentially sailable breeze … there had been a lack of wind during the heatwave, and this was a SE, ie blowing off the land at Newgale, so there was every chance that the beach would be in a shocking state ie completely rippled, covered in holes and generally unsailable - a beach needs wind blowing off the sea over the outgoing tide to give a decent sailing surface, as a sweeping generalisation - but at first sight the beach looked good, so I gave it a go … and, whilst it was a delight to be out sailing in the 31 degrees, the beach was indeed in a far from perfect condition, lightly rippled and lightly holed, but the wind was strong enough to rattle and bounce my way through it all. The following day I tried Cefn Sidan over in the Pembrey Country Park as a decent SW was forecast with the incoming tide, there having been no wind over the outgoing tide … and that meant the beach was rippled … but - and this is why Cefn Sidan fully deserves the title of Best Beach in Europe, in my humble opinion - of course it was perfectly sailable above the high water line as the tides had been neapy recently. As the day wore on and the beach dried, you could venture out onto the ripples, but the ripples were so harsh that they shook all the power out of the sail, so the wise sandsailor stayed on the smooth sand above the high water line. The next day I tried Pendine, in a stronger southerly breeze … went on at the Ginst (east end), and the beach was also in a terrible state, completely rippled and holed, but at least there was enough wind to make teeth-clenched progress westward, where - mercifully - the condition of the beach improved, in that there was a strip of sailable flat sand around the high water line, so I had a couple of hours sailing there before bouncing my way back to the Ginst and heading home.
So … I wish I knew more about what happens under the sea and how it affects the condition of the sailing surface after the tide has gone out - so many questions arise - but … suffice to say the heatwave certainly made a mess of my local beaches.
The good news is that - now that the winds have reverted to SW - they have since recovered. Pembrey was greatly improved on Sunday - much appreciated by the blokarters and kite buggies that were attending the CLSC weekend - and Newgale was perfection on Monday.
So … that’s a total of 961 miles sailed in 47 hours in 22 sessions in June. Whilst that’s a lot of sailing, no records have been broken … 22 matches the highest number of sessions I’ve managed in a month, and 961 is my 3rd highest monthly mileage figure … and it was a whole lot of fun, which is what really matters !

13/06/2026

It’s certainly been a windy June so far … it’s only the 13th and I’ve already been sailing 12 times ( 577 miles clocked in 26 hours ) and none of those times have been with a sail bigger than 4 sq m … but they have included yet another noteworthy First. My birthday was on the 11th and I usually try to sail my age in miles - if the chance arises - but sadly the forecast was always for rain on the 11th so the chance didn’t arise, but instead I seized the opportunity to do the “double” on the day before. The Double involves sailing the early morning tide, then returning later in the day to sail the evening tide, which I did on Newgale … it’s been a while since I last did that, and I’ve never done it twice in one year … but I did it again on the 12th … caught the morning tide at Newgale, then took the caravan to Pembrey and sailed the evening tide there - it was a glorious evening, gorgeous light, pleasing westerly breeze etc - and I ended up coming off the beach at 10 past 9 pm. Given that we’re still a fair way off the longest day - long enough for the tides to be right again too - there’s every chance I might be able to manage it again. I’m also hearing a lot about El Niño … nothing specific, but … suffice to say it bodes well for a mild and windy autumn !

09/06/2026

Today’s excitement included watching this arrive on the beach …

06/06/2026

Thursday 4th June’s sail was simply fantastic - up there with the best- so good I’ve simply got to tell you all about it.
The ‘guru (windguru.cz, the only forecast worth bothering with) said 23 mph Westerly winds, with gusts around 34 …
Cefn Sidan sands faces SW, so … fast tacks upwind on a rapidly drying beach followed by downwind Hooning were foreseeable … I couldn’t wait, so I got there early … hoisted the 3.6 sail and set off.
The beach was surprisingly wet … it was only 2 hours before low tide, so perhaps there had been rain recently, and the sky looked as though there might be more to come. We Brits are obsessed with our weather, and that interest further enhances the enjoyment of sailing on sand, particularly on the larger beaches - I was on Newgale the day before, scorching around with the storm sail, when a shower came through, and there was no way of escaping it … at a mere 2 miles long the beach was too small - anyway, I tacked my way north, felt the first drops of rain, turned, and shot south again - 42 mph, lovely - then tried again, and made it further up the beach before reaching the rain … and eventually made it up to the river - 5 miles from the slipway - on the 3rd or 4th attempt. The wind was strong, I was nicely powered up - possibly too powered up - and the thought occurred that perhaps the storm sail would be the better sail for the conditions … the rain had cleared, the beach was drying rapidly and seemingly in exquisite condition … the golden rule of Hooning is Never hoon into the unknown - always check out the terrain first before hitting it at full speed - but the beach was like a billiard table, dead flat and free of holes - so I focussed on having fun … heading inland at the northern end of the beach seemed to be the quickest point, with the top speed peaking at 44 mph. Eventually it was time to change sails - it was clearly going to be a long day, and the storm sail would be less strenuous - so, with 28 miles in the bag, up went the storm sail, 2.8 sq m, possibly 3, but with really stiff battens in it. My opening move was to head south, and clocked 52 mph for starters … which meant a 50/50 day (50 miles sailed, 50 mph top speed) was on the cards … and with that the sun came out and the day became an absolute joy. The next couple of hours were simply delightful … the storm sail was a joy to use, so easy after the 3.6 - less sudden sheeting out, less flapping on the tack turns, less of a fight generally - and this was Hooning at it’s best … flying along, throwing in exuberant impulse gybes, savouring exquisite slides that seemed to go on for ever … I did do another 2 full length-of-the-beach speed runs, but was unable to improve on the 52 mph of the first run, and it wasn’t long before the 50/50 day was in the bag … but the day was too good to simply stop and walk away without good reason, so … the hooning continued … then 3 hours were up, and that’s enough in those sort of conditions, so … I eyed up the Garmin and concluded that a 52/52 day with the storm sail would do the conditions justice, so headed north towards the Control Tower, turned just short thereof, scorched south and stopped at the slipway with 52 miles on the clock. What a day ! Pure exhilaration, for 3.2 hours, 80 miles total … Hefnly Cefn Sidan at it’s absolute best.
That was Thursday … which was followed by 52 miles on Friday on Pendine, then another 50/50 day on Cefn Sidan again on Saturday - even windier, 28 mph W, gusts of 41, commendably extreme conditions, stupendous acceleration, 55.4 mph tops, 57 miles sailed in 2.6 hours.

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