For 40 years, Rye Watersports has been helping people discover the simple joy of being out on the water. Set on a peaceful lake just outside Rye, what began as a small local venture has grown into a much-loved destination for adventure, learning and fresh air. Over the decades, countless families, school groups and visitors have taken to the water here for the first time.
Maggie Meadowcroft founded Rye Watersports in 1986. She established the centre during the height of windsurfing’s popularity, starting as a small school on a lake near Camber Sands in East Sussex.
Rye News interviews Maggie to find out how it started and flourished.
Take us back to the beginning — what inspired the creation of Rye Watersports 40 years ago?
At that time windsurfing was a new, thrilling watersport and I felt passionate about it from the first moment I stepped on a board. From this beginning I knew I wanted to take things further than just getting out on the water myself. Once I became a competent windsurfer I went on an Royal Yachting Association instructor course, found a lake where I could set up my windsurfing school and the rest is history.
How has the way people enjoy water sports changed over the past four decades and are you seeing a different clientele?
People who came to learn to windsurf back then were keen to learn this new sport, both young and old; they came from every walk of life, and still do today, but now we offer a variety of water sports enabling even more people to get out and enjoy themselves.
What are some of your most memorable moments or stories from the last four decades on the water?
My four children were seven, eight, ten and twelve years old when I set up what was then Rye Windsurfing School. My abiding memory is of them skimming across the water with brightly coloured sails, fearless and free.
Have there been any particularly challenging times for the business, and how have you navigated them?
In the late 90s windsurfing took a dip in popularity and I realised I had to expand the business, so I bought a small fleet of boats and became a Royal Yachting Association (RYA) sailing school, renaming our centre Rye Watersports. Over the years we developed further with kitesurfing, paddleboarding, kayaking and now the latest craze, winging (wing foiling or wind surfing). Last year we set up a small Aquapark which is giving tremendous fun and pleasure to all who come and use it.
Rye Watersports has introduced many people to life on the water — what does it mean to you to be part of so many people’s first experiences of sailing, paddleboarding or kayaking?
Introducing people to the freedom and exciting challenge of learning a water sport has been a real joy for me. It can transform someone’s life and that person goes home enriched by their experience, energised both mentally and physically.
How important is Rye Watersports to the wider Rye and Rye Harbour community?
Rye is a coastal community and having a water sports centre offering a variety of activities gives locals the opportunity to engage with their immediate environment. Many will go on to sail on the sea out of Rye Harbour, having learnt their skills on our safe inland lake which is essential before progressing to the challenges of sea sailing.
What has been the biggest change in water sports equipment or technology since you started?
Windsurfing equipment evolved rapidly throughout the late 80s and 90s; clamp on booms replaced tie-on ones and sail makers switched to using monofil, making sails lighter and easier to use. The shape of windsurfing boards changed, as did their construction from polyethylene to epoxy sandwich creating faster, more manoeuvrable windsurfers.
Looking ahead, what are your hopes for Rye Watersports over the next 40 years?
The water sports industry will continue to evolve as we move forward in to the next 40 years at Rye Watersports and we will evolve with it. My daughter Rosie, ably assisted by her sister Beth, now runs the centre, bringing new ideas and endless enthusiasm to our family business. With several of my grandchildren qualifying as RYA instructors I see a future where we will be giving our wonderful coastal community of Rye, water sports lessons for many years to come.
Image Credits: Rye Watersports .