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Windsurfing is a unique water sport that combines the elements of 2 other established water sports: sailing – which takes advantage of the wind, and surfing – which uses the waves. The board used in windsurfing ranges in length between 2 and 4 meters. The sail on the other hand, can be as small as 3 square meters or as big as 12 square meters. The size of the board and the sail to be used is usually determined by several factors: the skill of the windsurfer or the “sailor”, the kind of windsurfing tournament being staged, and the conditions of the wind and the waves on the beach. The sail used in windsurfing is comprised of 3 parts: the wishbone boom, the mast, and the sail itself. These components are connected to the surfing board through the use of a universal joint that is free to rotate in any direction. One of the sports champions, the legendary Robby Naish, once called windsurfing as the “ginger haired cousin of surfing”.
The sport of windsurfing has struggled for the most part in making a name for itself and in presenting its own image to the general public. Outside of those who are already very much into the sport, windsurfing is pretty much a vague sport to most people. In fact, even to the sports avid participants themselves, it may still be sometimes referred to by different names such as boardsailing or even sailboarding. This leads to the use of the terms “boardheads” and “sailors” to describe those that participate in the sport. The accepted name of the sport however is windsurfing, thus players of the sport are apt to be called windsurfers.
The sport of windsurfing is usually played for recreational purposes under non-competitive conditions. However, many organized tournaments are held all over the world and even across different skill levels. The most common competition formats these tournaments hold are freestyle windsurfing, course racing, speed sailing, wave sailing and slalom. All of these events are exciting to watch especially for those who have at least a minimal understanding of what is involved in the sport. Windsurfers always come up with new and incredible moves that almost seem impossible to do yet they are able to perform them with great creativity and athleticism.
Windsurfing presents a considerably longer and much more difficult learning experience than other kinds of water sports or even other sports in general. It requires the beginner to learn many different pieces which are all moving in different directions all at the same time. The average new player in windsurfing usually begins learning the sport with a 4 meter board and a small sail floating on a shallow body of water with winds barely getting up to 5 knots. Indeed, this is a far cry from the windsurfing images displayed on the pages of sports magazines and even on the web which show windsurfers with much smaller boards and much bigger sails riding on huge waves with strong winds powering them through. This steep learning curve is probably the biggest barrier the sport has to overcome in order for it to grow.
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