I've got a 2 week work trip to Richmond VA coming up. I'll only have 2 days (16 -17 July) to do anything recreationally and I'd love go for a sail. I'll be in a hire car and will have no gear so an on site rental is the go. I've identified Ocean Air Sports and Hatteras Island Surf Shop as possibilities. Any suggestions or advice from those with experience in the area? I'm also stuck in Dallas for a day, but doubtful there are any windsurfing opportunities there?

Gday Stretchy,
Peter and Nina are GPSTC sailors who hail from that area. Give them a shout and see if they can advise or help out.
They visited WA and Lake George a couple of years back.
Hope this helps.
Larko.

Thanks Larko, will PM him

I was just there for 2 weeks this April and we rented full windsurfing kit.

We checked Ocean Air Sports they certainly have a very nice well run shop and great rental gear but they seemed to want you to sail at their site in Avon which I didn't like plus the staff annoyed me when I asked about wave sailing on the ocean side. It seems they mostly cater to beginners as anyone who windsurfs on the US east coast drives there with their own gear.

We rented from FOX water sports in Buxton which I highly recommend. They have new Simmer boards and Ezzy Sails and are a very easy going old school shop. Their rates are lower and get better the more days you want it. The shop is near the main sound side flat water spot called Canadian hole and also some great ocean side spots but you will need to take the gear there by car. On the Ocean side you need flexibility to move to the spot which is on for that day depending on wind angle. This might mean driving 30km from one end to the other.

Nice thing about Ocean Air is that you can sail from the shop. And, they let you swap out gear, you can easily change sail or board or both without having to drive back to the shop.

And, the sailing spot behind their shop is perfectly fine. It also has great access to the reef which is wave-ish when it blows SW or NE.

Thanks for the tips KB7 and US85, appreciated. Certainly sailing from the shop would help as I'll be in a hire car. Looking at the limited wind forecast for next weekend, it might be a moot point. Of course the wind is forecast to return Monday.

I got a sail in today. I ended up going to Ocean Air Sports and was very happy with their service. Wind was on the light side but I still had good sail

Glad you got out. The Avon Sound meter, which is right where you launched, showed 18-20 mph averages today for about 90 minutes. Hope you got some of that. We call that 18 knots here .

Yes I did, I timed it well for once!