Windsurfing: Yea, It's as cool as it sounds

[Stagger_Lee]

Putting soda in your Grey Goose - shame!

[Ray Zee]

i gave it up and still have all the equipment. the thing to learn is the water start if you are going to have any fun. once the wind picks up some you arent going to be able to stand on the board and haul the sail up.

the best place i ever sailed was in aruba. that was when they still had the fishermans shacks and all, there. it gets a steady breeze and you can sail back and forth all day. and if you get blown out in the ocean a ways someone from the rental place comes out and gets you.

the columbia gorge is next but the winds are too high for what i like. over about 15 knots it gets hairy flying around out there.

its a real pain setting up and taking down all the equipment.

[The Hag]

I went windsurfing once, I sucked, I'm scared of water too, and I couldn't do it, the wind took me off really far out and really deep, I freaked out, I fell off, then the sail fell on top of my head and I freaked out even more. I was quite close to tears. A guy had to come and get me in a speed boat.

Thats my windsurfing story, not much of an inspiration to try it out I'm afraid. I don't go in the water anymore, unless I can walk on the bottom [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[Dadswell]

I haven't tried it in about 4 years or so, but the last time I tried it I sucked hard. I would just get the sail up and then I would either get pulled over by the wind and land on the sail, or fall backwards from leaning back too much.

I spent about 2hrs on it one day and still couldn't get the sail up.

[Nicholasp27]

i did this for a few hours while in Jamaica last fall and loved it

btw, if u have the right technique, u can sail for hours without getting tired, so non-athletic people can most certainly do it if they have balance and do it right


i just recently bought a mistral superlight with 3 sails and 2 booms (racing and regatta) off of craigslist in Atlanta for $125 from someone who hasn't done it in a few years since having kids, etc

i'm gonna head out to Lanier as soon as I can

[Freakin]

I found it incredibly difficult, but still pretty fun.

I obviously had terrible technique and was trying to balance myself on the board and pull the sail instead of using my weight to do it.

Pretty cool though. My back was VERY tired the next day from pulling hte sail up for 3 hours straight.

[waarior]

Million,

You did a good job describing the basics. Hopefully this thread inspires a few people to give it a try.

I'll return to this thread later when I have some time.

I've been an instructor for 5 years and would be happy to answer any questions anyone has.

The sport is one of the most rewarding but challenging at the same time (and I say it as a former D1 athlete).





Windsurfing in the Gorge

['Chair]

Million,

this will be given serious consideration if you are going to be out of town while I'm out there (7/16 - 7/27). Do I need to sign up early? Great write up.

[Sweir]

I've been windsurfing on and off for a few years now and would highly recommend it to anyone that has OK balance and determination (its pretty easy to give up too soon).

[milliondollaz]

[ QUOTE ]
Million,

this will be given serious consideration if you are going to be out of town while I'm out there (7/16 - 7/27). Do I need to sign up early? Great write up.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll be there on Tuesday, but I'm flying to Milwaukee on Wed. for Country Thunder with the old crew. If you don't have anything planned, it'll be a great thing to do on the weekend. I would call this place now though, since as the summer goes on, this kind of stuff gets more popular; the phone number is 650.965.7474 and this is the web site.