Windsurfing: Not Just For Thrill-Seekers!

When most folks think of windsurfing, they envision hotdog 20-something athletic guys getting big air off the lip of a wave, or a helmeted adrenaline junkie skimming across a choppy bay at breakneck speed. But a little-known fact is, a good number of windsurfers today are just cruisers, happy to zig-zag back and forth on their local lake, enjoying the fresh air and occasional splash of water. This is actually how the sport started, on a quiet bay in southern California, when a couple of guys named Jim Drake and Hoyle Schweitzer decided to mount a sail on a big surfboard. But by the 1980s, windsurfing became the #1 new outdoor sport and the industry exploded. Neon colors were all the rage, and windsurfing took on a full-blown circus atmosphere. New hot destinations were discovered in places like the Columbia River Gorge and Hawaii, and the corporate money started rolling in, feeding the competitive side of the sport, which gave it its daredevil reputation. Several magazines enjoyed a loyal following, and the pages of those magazines were splattered with amazing photos showing the biggest air, the tallest waves, and the hottest new stars of the sport. The European market also exploded, where pro windsurfers were given rock star status. But the wave (no pun intended) came and went, and by the mid-1990s, windsurfing had peaked and was becoming just another alternative watersport. What happened was that the sport had actually alienated its own entry-level enthusiasts by projecting an image of nearly unobtainable expectations.

The Author With Jim Drake

Several years ago, just before his passing, I had the pleasure of speaking with Jim Drake about the state of the sport. He had also seen the reason for the decline in interest and was working with Starboard on some new “cruising-oriented” designs on their boards. He felt that the serene feeling he had achieved during those early years of the sport, just cruising along without a care in the world, had been nearly forgotten and the industry wasn’t doing enough to help revive it. So his new production design was actually called the Serenity. The Serenity model didn’t last long, but a whole class of new designs have come out over the past decade that make learning windsurfing today easier than ever in the history of the sport.

So How Do I Get Started?

One-on-one instruction is the absolute best choice whenever possible.

Get a lesson! Trust me, you will save yourself much grief and many tears if you pony up and buy a little time from a reputable instructor. They will have the best setup to make learning quick and painless, will build your confidence very quickly. If you live near, or will be traveling to, an area that offers lessons, go for it. If not, go online, seek out some folks who can help, if not personally, via online correspondence. There are tons of great videos online as well, and if you’re a self-learner, you can probably pull it off on your own, although I can guarantee you it will take longer than if you took a lesson directly from a pro. It is different for everyone, depending on your own level of previous experience and skills in similar sports. Always keep your personal safety in mind, try it in a safe, protected area, and wear a PFD (a requirement in many states).

Where Can I Get the Gear?

A land simulator is a great way to learn the basics before hitting the water.

If you live in a coastal region, chances are pretty good that you have some other windsurfers in your area, and even some shops that sell the gear. If you’re really lucky, you have some shops that sell used gear. Buying all new gear to get into the sport can be expensive, usually somewhere around the $2,000 range. But beware when shopping for used gear. Most of what you’ll find is for more advanced windsurfing, and you won’t be able to learn on it. So if at all possible, recruit someone with some knowledge of the sport to check out any deals you run across. Beginner boards are harder to come by, because windsurfers, even after they’ve advanced beyond a beginner board, will hang on to them in case a friend wants to try it, or they’ll keep a big, floaty board around for cruising on light-wind days. You can find used gear on eBay and Craigslist, but keep in mind that shipping something that large is going to be expensive, so try to focus on local listings. Because windsurfing gear is sort of a “mix & match” arrangement, I’ve broken down the individual components and what to look for:

Boards

High volume boards like the Mistral N-Trance and Fanatic Viper are excellent beginner boards that you will never outgrow.

For starting out, you need a big board with lots of flotation. Flotation is typically determined by volume in liters. A high-performance wave board may only be 80 liters in volume; what you need for learning is something in the 180-220 liter range. There are boards designed strictly for teaching that are above 220 liters, but you’ll quickly outgrow them, and they are HUGE and difficult to transport. Older high-volume boards will work, but today’s designs are more stable for a beginner; so look for a board that is at least 80cm wide. Anything much more than 10 years old is likely to be longer and skinnier, which is much more tippy when attempting to pull up (uphaul) the sail. Also, look for a board that has a retractable centerboard (also known as a daggerboard). A centerboard will make the board much more stable and will help you keep it upwind in light winds.

Sails

The problem with windsurfing is that you can’t have just one do-it-all sail. So if you’re just starting out and you can only afford one sail, at least consider what conditions you’ll be using it in the most. If you live inland and you’ll mostly be sailing on a local lake where winds don’t get crazy like on the coast, you’ll want to consider something bigger than average. Sails are measured in square meters of area. Traditionally, a good all-around sail was in the 5.5-6.0 square meter range. Smaller people will want to opt for smaller sails. Windsurfing instructors will typically teach students on very small sails (3.0-4.0), but once you get comfortable with uphauling, sailing, and turning, you’ll want a sail that provides a little more power. When shopping used gear, buying sails can be tricky for someone new to the sport. All the newer sails use a material called monofilm. That’s the clear material that has no stretch whatsoever to it. If the sail has a lot of colored panels and one small window in the middle made of clear material that stretches, it’s a very old sail, and should be relegated to the windsurfing museum. If it’s a more modern sail, make sure the monofilm isn’t too cloudy or has lots of tears in it. An occasional tear is ok, but will need to be taped with sail repair tape immediately, if not already. Once you get a little experience under your belt, you’ll want to add more sails, some bigger, some smaller, depending on the conditions where you sail. The good news is, used sails aren’t real expensive.

Booms

Once you’ve found a sail, you’ll need a boom for it. A good aluminum boom will suffice, and even new ones from top manufacturers only run around $200. The key thing to look for in a used one is how scraped up the foam grips are. Don’t worry too much about a few scrapes, because you’re probably going to be adding a few yourself. Booms are adjustable, so you can use the same one for several sails, within a range. A sail will have printed on it what length boom is recommended, and most booms today are also marked on their shafts, so matching a boom to a sail is fairly easy.

Masts

Thankfully, masts have become much more standardized over the years since the early days of the sport. They are divided by two different styles: Standard Diameter Mast (SDM) and Reduced Diameter Mast (RDM). SDM has been around forever, although sometime in the late 1980s, epoxy fiberglass material was replaced with carbon fiber. This was a huge improvement, since carbon fiber is stronger, lighter, and withstands UV rays much better than fiberglass did. Most epoxy masts were just one-piece also, which made transport more difficult. For a brief period, two-piece epoxy masts were made. So avoid epoxy at all cost when shopping used! RDM came along later, and has become popular within a niche of windsurfers, particularly wavesailers. They are simply skinnier, and for most beginners, you won’t see any performance difference. If you want to use an RDM mast with a standard boom, you’ll need an adapter shim. Used masts often cost as much as used sails, but a good one will last you many years. Masts come in a few different lengths, with the most common ones being 430cm and 460cm. These two sizes cover most commonly-used sails. To know what size you need for your sail, look for printing at the bottom of the sail where “luff length” is listed. Your mast will be slightly shorter than the luff length, so you’ll need to make up the difference with a mast extension. This is an aluminum tube with some plastic attachments and pulleys on it. It fits inside the bottom of the mast, and a downhaul line goes through the pulleys and pulls the sail tight at the bottom.

The only other piece you need to complete your windsurfing gear is a mast foot. This is a piece made up of several integrated components that serves to simply attach your sail rig to your board. It includes that magical universal joint that makes the whole thing work. Older universal joints were made of a neoprene rubber compound and shaped like an hourglass. Newer ones, often called a “tendon joint,” look a little different, and are a bit more reliable and last longer. If buying a used one, either will work, but make sure there are no stress cracks or signs of fatigue on the joint.

Avoid the Deal of the Century!

When looking at used gear, you’ll inevitably, at some point, run across one of those “everything you need to get into windsurfing, just $200!” deals. Be very wary of these deals; most of the time they include a board (or two) that look very nice, but they are way to short to even attempt to try to learn. And most likely, the gear will all be from the 1980s.

Skills For Life

Windsurfing is a very rewarding sport, and for some, even a lifestyle. It is a skill you’ll retain for the rest of your life, which is worth every penny spent on lessons and gear. And as outlined above, getting into the sport doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. So what are you waiting for?!!

Cruising the Pamlico Sound, Hatteras

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