Understanding the wind on Île de Ré
Where the wind comes from, how to read our tools, and what our own readings are starting to tell us about our spots.
What our data shows, so far
The site recently started automatically recording the wind actually observed (not just forecast) for every detected session. These numbers are still young — they should become more interesting season after season.
237
sessions recorded
16
kn average real speed
18
kn average gust
Diamond Head - St Clement des Baleines
busiest spot
Data recorded since 30 August 2026.
Why is Île de Ré so windy?
The island is low, flat, and surrounded by water on almost its whole perimeter: nothing slows the wind down before it arrives, which makes it a particularly consistent spot for kite/wing sports. The dominant patterns come from the west to north-west sector (the wind ahead of a low-pressure system, often the strongest and most reliable) and the south-east to south sector (an onshore-from-land wind, generally more thermal-driven and irregular later in the day). In the afternoon, the temperature gap between the sun-warmed land and the cooler water can strengthen a thermal breeze that adds to the synoptic wind — one of the reasons the wind often picks up in the late afternoon in summer.
Direct model vs. blended model: what are we actually looking at?
Our weather table shows AROME, Météo-France's high-resolution (1.3km) model, for the first 2 days — it's the most accurate for our area, but its real reach stops after about 48h. Beyond that, we automatically switch to a blended model (Météo-France's ARPEGE, more general-purpose, coarser resolution) so there's no gap in the 3-5 day forecast. The table's columns change border colour to flag this switch — useful to know how far to trust the numbers.
Average wind, gusts, and direction: the site's vocabulary
The average wind (shown large) is the speed over the last 10 minutes; gusts are the momentary peaks, often 30 to 50% above the average depending on air stability — it's this gap that determines whether a session will be "manageable" or "explosive". The direction shows where the wind is coming from (standard meteorological convention): an arrow pointing to the bottom of the screen means a wind from the north, for example. Our gear thresholds (foil / surf / twintip, visible on the Weather page) are calibrated on the average wind, not the gusts.
Tide and wind: a combination to plan around
On our spots, the direction and height of the tide change the quality of the water (chop, current, distance to walk to reach the water) at least as much as the wind itself. The "tide coefficient" indicates the size of the tidal range (from 20, a small tide, to 120, a big spring tide): the higher it is, the stronger the associated currents will be. The Tides page and the weather table show both side by side so you can cross-check before heading out — see also the Spots page for tide preferences per spot.