Beach and Coast Life

Figures revealed by Keep Britain Tidy for the 2009 Blue Flag Beach Awards show a total of 184 awards given - 71 Blue Flag beach awards, and 113 Quality Coast Awards (QCAs). Blue Flag beaches are down 11 on 2008 figures, but QCAs are up 31 for the same year.

In Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole both retained their Blue Flag status, each maintaining their 4 Blue Flag beaches - making the Borough Councils rank forth for the highest number of Blue Flag beaches nationally…

Blue Flag beaches are down 11 on 2008 figures, but QCAs are up 31 for the same year.

In Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole both retained their Blue Flag beaches status, maintaining 4 Blue Flag beaches each - making the Borough Councils rank forth (tied) for the highest number of Blue Flag beaches nationally…

In September Andy Ward, from Parkstone, will attempt to kite surf across from Alderney to Poole, this trip across the the English Channel is 70 nautical miles and across busy shipping lanes.
 
To be successful in his cross channel attempt in September Andy is not only relying on the correct wind speed and force, but also the reliability [...]

On 10 -11th July 2009 The British Beach Polo Championships returns to Sandbanks, Poole for the second year. It is set to be an extremely thrilling and popular event as the England Beach Polo Team will be playing against the USA on both days.
 
Beach Polo is a variation of Arena Polo which over recent years [...]

In September Andy Ward, of Parkstone, will attempt to enter the record books as he kite surfs across the English Channel, 70 nautical miles across the busy shipping lane from Alderney in the Channel Islands to Poole in Dorset.
 
Father of three, Andy, has been kite surfing for three years, and is hoping to raise funds [...]

The Watersports Academy under 16 windsurfing club in association with Animal clothing had its registration day last weekend for the 2009 season, with a record number of children signing up.
 
The All Stars are a club associated to the RYA to get young budding windsurfers out on the water. It concentrates on two area’s racing and [...]

Riki Flutey, England rugby team’s centre, recently visited The Watersports Academy in Sandbanks. Riki and his family were taking a short break in the area and he couldn’t resist an opportunity to learn a new water sport. 
Riki, already a keen surfer, was excited to try out kitesurfing after watching locals flamboyantly sailing in Poole Bay. [...]

When ASR Limited packed up and went home last November, they promised to return in April to continue with the project. True to their word Andrew Moores, who is heading up the work and project supervisor Rex Pollock has returned, ahead of their colleagues to assess the current weather and to prepare the site for [...]

After its inaugural event last year the Bournemouth Air Show is back in August - with the hope of being even bigger and better as organisers at the recent official launch admitted that they are aiming for one million visitors this year.
 
Set against the marvellous backdrop of the English Channel and Bournemouth’s award winning beaches [...]

Portland marina is a privately-owned marina sporting an 860 m long breakwater, designed to provide shelter for the network of pontoons housing the moorings for up to 600 berths.

Rather than use imported stone, as would normally be required to meet the marine civil engineering standards and durability specification for this type of breakwater, the Raymond Brown Group decided that minor alterations to the design and initial specification would enable local limestone materials to be used instead…

Understandably, after all the delays and issues surrounding the construction of Dorset’s first artifical surf reef many thought it would never actually be completed, especially when late last year the New Zealand-based constructors ASR Ltd packed up and went home.
 
However, there is now renewed hope and speculation after a recent visit by Company director Andy [...]