Windsurfing

Hi James,

Take a look at the sister magazine to this one:

http://www.boards.co.uk/main/index.asp

There are loads of windsurfing sites including ones from manufacturers, retailers and area/club sites depending on where you live.

Ian  (Yokshire Dales S.C.)

Windsurfing really is a get stuck in and learn by falling off type sport. You'll get better through coaching, but nothing beats learning where you can place your feet by putting them in the wrong place and falling off a lot!

When you were windsurfing before, what was your standard? How much do you weigh, what's your budget and what's your asperations (fast blasting, coastal sailing etc). I can easily point you in the right direction, but you'll also get some great feedback on the boards forum.

A bit of both really. The "hey, rad dude" brigade have moved on to kite-boarding. Meanwhile equipment manufacturers more or less abandoned beginners on limited budgets in favour of preaching to the converted, with huge quivvers of sails and boards for every occassion. It can't be presented as a cheap alternative to other forms of sailing any more.

It's not dead but it is certainly much smaller than it was 20 years ago.

Nobody disputes that windsurfing is easier to learn now and the equipment has improved. However around the time you were first going to school, early to mid 80s, there was a huge windsurfing boom and yes it certainly was at that time 'a cheap alternative to other forms of sailing', with vastly more people participating than do so today. There used to be massive races such as the Round Hayling with several hundred people taking part. All long gone, unfortunately. If you think I'm anti-windsurfing you couldn't be more wrong.