Windsurfing is the most dynamic sport you’ll ever know.
The feeling of capturing the wind, riding it across the water that splashes is a welcome relief from the melting sun is only part of a windsurfer’s daily thrills. Whether taking in the light smell of a lake or the rich smell of the ocean and its bay, there is no doubt that the surrounding majesty of the water is a primary incentive for windsurfing.
This is a truly young sport, born about 40 years ago in Southern California. It is the brainchild of an engineer and a businessman (a sailor and a surfer, respectively). It took about a decade for windsurfing to gain extraordinary popularity in Europe. The fever then spread back to its birthplace, and the sport hasn’t looked back since.
It’s still developing, with better equipment coming out each year. It’s truly cutting edge.
And did we mention that you can get up to 50 mph?
Pro windsurfers use the ocean like a skate ramp--spinning on a dime, riding tremendous curls, jumping 30 feet or more from the water’s surface. Sound like fun? Well, it’s a long way from here to there, but it’s also a very fun journey.
This is one of the things you won’t regret. There’s a certain feeling you’ll get from this sport; people define it in all sorts of ways--abandon, excitement, adventure. It boils down to feeling alive. Few activities can do it this well.
And for those who think it’s too complex, too athletic, too expensive, too…well, not them, I say this. You’re wrong. All of the above challenges can be surmounted.
If they’re challenges at all.
Unless you live somewhere extraordinarily dry, such as the deserts of the southwestern U.S.A., chances are you’re close to a body of water that can support windsurfing. And if you’re close, then the battle’s nearly won. Next, all you need to do is beg, borrow, or…well, procure, some windsurfing equipment.
You’ll be surprised how much used stuff there is out there. After that, it’s just you and the water. An instructor helps, of course, as does reading books on the subject. The first step, and the hardest, is believing that you can actually do it.
Once you’re out there, and you catch your first gust of wind while managing to stay upright at the same time, you’ll thank yourself. This is as good as it gets.
You’re riding the wind, and there’s nothing better.
Once you’ve gotten the hang of windsurfing fundamentals—steering, tacking, jibing, landing and launches.
You’ll probably begin setting your sights on the more extreme end of the sport.
Windsurfing has an incredibly large inventory of high-excitement moves and styles—enough to satisfy even the most jaded adrenaline junkie.
Safety
It is imperative to learn in conditions that you can handle when first beginning.
Trying to launch and stay up in 20 mph winds won’t be any fun, and it could be incredibly dangerous. The first safety rule of windsurfing: when just beginning, don’t go out when there are whitecaps on the water.
What are whitecaps? They are the foam-flecked tops of small waves, which appear all over the surface when winds are whipping them up.
Another thing to be extraordinarily careful of when you windsurf: your head.
This is the most vulnerable part of your body, and can take a heavy blow from the mast or board if you’re not careful. This is a concern mostly in heavier conditions, when waves and wind can separate you from your board and rig, and then reintroduce you in an extremely painful way.
This is why a helmet, completely unknown in the early days of the sport, has become a reasonably common sight.
Now, windsurfing is a very safe sport.
If you’re on a calm lake, learning in light (0-10 mph) winds, you probably won’t need a helmet.
But for those newbies who insist on pushing boundaries right away, trying moderate (10-20 mph) or even heavy (20+ mph) winds from almost the word go, a helmet is a must.
As we’ve said, the perception of windsurfing as a dangerous sport is unfair and untrue.
Today’s boards are big and very buoyant.
So it’s not so hard to stay on, and if you fall, all you have to do is grab on to your miniature raft.
Still, the fact that windsurfing’s often practiced on large bodies of water, and you are only equipped with a small craft, gives it an air of danger.
This is fine.
We wouldn’t have it any other way.
Source: http://www.ArticlePros.com/author.php?Carl Solf
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