The Best Singlehander I've sailed this year

Originally posted by Old Timer This looks a fantastic rebirth of a classic.  What would the dinghy equivalent be?

A laser built in Epoxy sandwich with a carbon mast, tbh not too much removed from what Ovi are doing with their ILCA, only lighter.

At the end of the day the Windsurfer came about as the Laser was revolutionising entry to dinghy world, but whereas the Laser was improving on what was an existing activity, the Windsurfer was an entirely new sport which as we all know went off the scale in all sorts of directions.

Now the old guard of windsurfing are yearning for the old days of one board does it all, trying to put Pandora back in the box, which can never happen, but, for us old guys it's nice to be able to recount those days on something a bit similar and modern, is it going to rejuvenate the sport?

Not a chance, once more windsurfing has shot itself in the foot with Starboard and their seven grand foiling pathway to never never land, one of our promising kids has just been forced to give up.

Until Sailing is forced out of the Olympics, and the illuminati made to change their viewpoint, I'm sorry, none of us are going to recover at grass roots.

Sailing at our level is f**ked.

Edited by iGRF - 13 Oct 21 at 7:43pm

Originally posted by 423zero Sorry to be controversial, but, attempting to officialise a 'pastime' is like trying to herd sheep using cats, never gonna happen,vast majority of boarders are having a laugh.

Don't quite get where your coming from chum, I would guess there are probably as many recreational sailors (that dont race) as many as there are recreational sailboarders, it was always difficult to get them to race, in fact at Hythe we're one of a very few actual racing clubs, certainly the only none commercial.

So, given this is largely a racing forum, when I'm talking about windsurfing I tend to come from a racing perspective, frankly its the only arena in which the RYA can claim a pathetic hold on the sway of the sport/pastime/activity, which they have signally failed to deliver any governance worth the square root of doodly squat in the last twenty years since they disbanded the windsurfing committee.

So in that regard you could be regarded as accurate, however elsewhere in the world, where there are more enlightened governing bodies, Windsurfing competition is alive, well and growing, it's just here, we're moribund, in much the same way as dinghy sailing is moribund at grass roots level.

Originally posted by 423zero Perhaps my impression of wind surfing is what is causing the issue?

Probably, to most folk windsurfing is simply a high wind pastime not unlike surfing, kitesurfing.

But in the beginning it was a regatta sport like dinghy sailing, whereas kitesurfing, kite foiling wasn't and the hunt is on to try and persuade youngsters from sailing and competitive windsurfing to take up foiling in order to have some representation in order to give the jobsworths at the RYA some continued purpose. It's not occurring naturally.

There really hasn't naturally developed for instance regatta kitesurfing, because its not a naturally competitive racing sport other than in freestyle and to a limited degree kite speed sailingwhich was how 'Sailing' trapped kitesurfing within it's web of intrigue and corruption. Now we have an even more inaccessible activity of kite and windfoiling as a pathway to Olympic fame and fortune, doing nothing, nada, for the future attraction to our sport, clubs, organisations.

All that benefit are the upper echelon of World Sailing, RYA jobsworths and their continued tap into Government funding for medals, it's a different world, a world we should all break free of and if I were a younger man, would be agressively championing, but I aint, so I just despair and watch from the sidelines as my world disappears.

Edited by iGRF - 13 Oct 21 at 9:11pm