Is Winsurfing is Dead and Buried One Shocking Fact That Will Blow Windsurfers Away

So do you think that windsurfing has had its day?

That is a perfectly understandable - In fact, for a short time, I fell for all the hype about windsurfing being ‘history’ just like you

But, I have a little known fact to give you… and it is this:

People are returning to simpler lifestyles. The ‘less is more’ ethic is back And get this, surfing and windsurfing in the USA grew by more than 17% last year according to the only detailed study of its kind, the “2009 Outdoor Recreation Participation Report”, released by the Outdoor Foundation.

Take a minute to think about this…Windsurfing is alive and kicking…

Better still the sport is on the rise. Did you know that the International Boating Federation has launched a drive to develop windsurfing even more? I guess not! I understand. They don’t make a good job of their role as key communicators

Anyway here are the facts…

a) Their new training manager is tasked to develop all the different facets of boating including sailing and windsurfing b) Priority #1 is to train the trainers who can go out into the world and train windsurf coaches to teach people how to go windsurfing safely. So this is great news for you and me because we’ll have plenty of fellow windsurfers to play with on the sparkling waters Warning: The fact that others have started this longterm windsurfing development project does not let you off the hook

Calling all Windsurfers:

You have a responsibility to promote the sport you love. Spread the word. Windsurfers leave nothing behind but an adrenalin rush. Windsurfing is growing. The big windsurfing brands have developed new more stable boards which are easier to learn on. Sails have been specially designed to be light, easy to uphaul and easy to handle. Consequently, there are more people of all ages becoming windsurfers and loving the freedom that windsurfing gives them.

windsurfing

Olympic Sailing

RS:X

OK.. So listen up … This progress may not last! If you are a windsurfer, you must do your bit for windsurfing, Find out more about Windsurf Training Programs Become a Top Windsurfingf Coach -> Reach-4-The-Top!

Wind Frustrates RSX Windsurfers At 2009 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship

For the second time at the 2009 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship RS:X competitors were left frustrated as all racing was cancelled with the breeze failing to materialize in Buzios today. After 30 knot gusts forced the Race Committee to call off all of Sunday’s scheduled RS:X races, today it was a total absence of the wind which was the problem. After beautiful weather during the lay day, today started grey, wet and still and whilst the rain soon stopped, the skies never cleared and the breeze never got going. Around midday the forecasters were predicting some improvement in the conditions so the RS:X Class fleets were sent out, but the wind never got much above 3 knots and the Race Committee called it a day around 16:00. Everyone in Buzios will be keeping their fingers tightly crossed that tomorrow’s forecast of brighter skies and northerly winds of 12-14 knots materializes. RS:X Brazilian windsurfer Jorge Renato AMARAL is a Buzios local and has been sailing here for years. Still, he’s been as surprised as anyone as to the weather conditions this week, “It’s not normal. Really windy, then light winds, then no wind today. Normally when it’s really windy on one day, then the wind drops a bit, but not really windy, no wind.” Asked about dealing with a frustrating day like today he says you can’t let the conditions become a distraction. “You’ve just got to take the rest and try and concentrate on the coming Youth Windsurfing races,” he says. “It’s important to keep your mind focussed on the other RS:X races. You can’t let days like today upset you and mess up your approach to the other RS:X Class races.” One Change Amongst The Leaders Even without any racing there has been one change at the top of the leaderboard after the British team of Philip SPARKS and Ben GRATTON were disqualified from race four of the Boy’s 420 event. The Chilean team protested the Brits for not giving room at the mark and the Jury ruled the favour of the former, resulting in a DSQ score of 32 points for SPARKS and GRATTON, who consequently drop from first to seventh. This promotes the French team of Gabriel SKOCZEK and Thibaut SOLER into first place overall, Italy’s Davide VIGNONE and Matteo RAMIAN into second and the Chileans Benjamin GREZ and Carlos VERGARA up into third. In spite of the lack of racing, it’s still set to be a memorable day for near 300 competitors gathered here from 59 nations. At tonight’s post-‘race’ debriefing, ISAF Coach Santiago LANGE (ARG) will be joined by none other than Torben GRAEL (BRA), five-time Olympic medallist and winning skipper of the recent edition of the Volvo Ocean Race (amongst countless other sailing achievements). The two South American sailing greats will be reviewing some of their highlights from the recent Volvo Ocean Race plus answering questions on their experiences across the VOR, Olympic Games, America’s Cups and more. The debrief will be preceded by a short presentation on the 2010 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship which will take place Istanbul, Turkey. Looking Ahead With just two days of competition remaining, the overall standings are still very evenly balanced, especially with the discard due to kick in after the completion of race five of the series. Amongst the many sailors looking forward to excluding a bad score is Mayumi ROLLER of the US Virgin Islands, who started her series with two 25s on the opening day but bounced back strongly with a race win and a seventh on Monday. She was particularly frustrated with today’s cancellations. “I really wanted to race because I really like light winds,” she explained. ROLLER is one of 23 competitors here in Buzios thanks to funding from ISAF’s Athlete Participation Programme (APP), following in the footsteps of her brother who took part at the 2007 Youth Worlds in Canada. The APP provides sailors with funding support to help them with travel and entry costs to attend the championship, as well as providing coaching at the event with the ISAF Coach, who this year is Santi LANGE. “It’s a really good programme,” she says. “I was also on it last year in Denmark. Santi is a really great guy, He’s really knowledgeable about everything and he’s really easy to talk to. It’s been a great experience. And the good thing with the different conditions is I’ve really learnt a lot so far.” ROLLER says the competition to date has really given her a lot of confidence. “Now that I know I’m really capable of finishing in the top 10 I really hope I can finish in the top 10 and hopefully the top five. I don’t know if it’s possible to medal, but that would be amazing. Before I came here I knew this was my last time [at the Youth Words] and I really had to give it my all and sail my best.” Thailand’s Top One of the surprise performers of the championship so far has been Thailand’s Keerati BUALONG, who lies in second place overall in the highly-competitive 53-boat Boy’s Laser Radial fleet. BUALONG, still only 17 and aptly nicknamed ‘Top’, is competing at the Youth Worlds for the first time, although he’s an experienced campaigner in the Asian sailing scene having won numerous medals at Optimist, Byte and Laser 4.7 events. In 2007 he won the Byte World Championship title and came in sixth at last year’s Laser 4.7 Worlds in Croatia. “I’m just trying to sail well and do the best I can. If I do the best I can do then maybe I can win a medal,” he says. This is the fourth edition of the Youth Worlds at which Thailand has competed (the first was in 1997) and the nation has yet to win a medal. However, Thai Team Leader Veerasit PUANGNAK and coach Gareth OWEN are not at all surprised by the success of their star pupil. “We’ve got an ambitious programme to develop sailing in Thailand,” says OWEN. “We’ve got a very good group of youngsters who are developing and now we’re trying to expose them to world-class competition. We’ve brought Top here as our top sailor to this regatta and he’s our benchmark to see how we’re doing in our whole programme.” Top and the rest of the young sailing stars here in Buzios now have two days of competition remaining. A total of four scheduled races remain over the course of which the 2009 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Champions will be decided. Tomorrow, three races are scheduled for all events, with the first started moved forward to 11:30 local time (14:30). One race is scheduled for the final race of the championship on Friday.

windsurfing

RS:X 9.5 sail

Windsurfers

Rory Ramsden is the COO of the International RS:X Class Association and has been involved in Olympic Sailing for more than 20 years. He is responsibility for the development of the class website at http://www.rsxclass.com and thye event website at http://www.rsxclass.com/events

ISAF Youth Worlds Am I missing something here

I’m confused… Well, nothing new there then, I hear you say… but no, bear with me on this. The Youth Worlds had suitable winds to race on two of the first three days. Then it was time according to the official schedule to have a lay day… to restore tired bodies, regenerate the game plan and focus the mind on the last few days. Has no-one realised that it’s traditional at all RS:X Youth Championships [and Olympic class windsurfing regattas generally] to have good racing conditions when one decides to have a layday. The ISAF Volvo Youth World Championships is no exception. Along came the layday and the weather was wonderful… for racing. But NO… Everyone relaxed and had some down-time again. I mean they already spent one day ashore due to the 30 knot winds and the event was behind schedule. 60 nations have sent teams to this event which is the pinnacle of youth sailing and youth windsurfing. Second only to the Olympic sailing regatta… and of the first 4 days, only 2 were spent racing. Now when racing resumed on the fifth day (Wednesday), they didn’t race again. So instead of having raced on four of the five days, or even three of the five days, they are now down to only two of the five days. Can someone make sense of this for me? Shouldn’t laydays be held in reserve for use if the regatta is behind schedule? Well, one immediate answer is that racing at youth sailing/windsurfing level is about more than just competition. It is a chance to meet your peer group from different nations around the world. To get to know how they think, have fun together and go home with a broader out look than you arrived with. Very praiseworthy ideals… I’m sure, but nations signed their teams up to race. Mano a Mano for the gold medal and as a team for the coveted Volvo Trophy. Many have trained for months, even years. Parents and sponsors have invested heavily, cash and personal time. Ideals must be lived up to. Pinnacle events have a reputation to live up to. The sailors came first and foremost to race. To do their very best and test themselves against the world’s best. Experienced race managers are on hand to take difficult decisions… such as forego the pleasures of a layday. The Volvo brand stands for excellence, longevity and robustness. In the face of whatever nature throws at you, you are above all safe in a Volvo… and you are driving a winning brand. This championship has a lot to live up to. Maybe this time, the wrong call was made. Race website: http://www.isafyouthworlds.com/editions/2009/index.php

windsurfing

Windsurfing

Windsurfing

Rory Ramsden is the COO of the International RS:X Class Association and has been involved in Olympic Sailing for more than 20 years. He is responsibility for the development of the class website at http://www.rsxclass.com and thye event website at http://www.rsxclass.com/events

windsurfing,Windsurfers and the 2012 Olympic Sailing Regatta

Windsurfing is a worldwide sport that suits the modern lifestyle

Windsurfers are the fastest monohull sailing craft in the world today. Windsurfers may also be more numerous worldwide than all other sailboats put together. The number of people taking up windsurfing is growing once again, thanks to developments in windsurfing equipment design that have made windsurfing much easier to learn.

Most windsurfing hulls are under three meters in length and weigh less than 15kgs. They are therefore easy to carry and store. To go windsurfing, you do not have to be a member of a sailing club. Any sandy public beach is a potential launch site. Windsurfing therefore meets the requirements of most modern lifestyles by delivering the sensations of speed, independence and freedom at a reasonable cost

Young people of all ages
Windsurfers are great athletes, navigators, and sailors. Physically, the best windsurfing sailors are tall, lean and extremely fit. Yet, it is common to see a 50kgs (110lbs) woman complete a race in the same time as a 73kgs (160lbs) man, thereby proving that technique, balance and sensitivity to the windsurfer are equally important.

An Olympic sailing event since 1984
Windsurfing was first selected by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) as an event for men in the 1984 Olympic Regatta in Los Angeles. ISAF then added the Women’s event for windsurfers to the 1992 Olympic Regatta Barcelona.  Windsurfing for both men and women has been represented in every Olympic Regatta since.

The equipment used is always ‘One Design’ and made by one brand. Variations are strictly controlled. The aim is to ensure that the sailor with the most talent and ability wins over the one with the most money to pay for the most ‘high tech’ equipment. That said, the the RS:X board and rig (selected for use in 2008 and 2012 Olympic Regattas) made by Neil Pryde Windsurfing is the most ‘high tech’ craft in the Olympic Regatta.

The One Design ethos has encouraged more than 60 nations from 6 continents to participate in the windsurfing events in Olympic Sailing Regattas. Olympic Medals have been won by athletes from 5 continents. Athletes from as far afield as Fiji, Argentina, China, USA and Poland amongst many others have stood on the podiums of Olympic Windsurfing World Championships.

The Race Course
Races are run on the same “trapezoid” and “Windward-Leeward” courses as all other sailing classes, which incorporate upwind, reaching and downwind legs. A typical day of competition consists of 2-3 races, each lasting around 45 minutes. The Olympic Regatta will consist of 11 races over 9 days (including two rest days).

For more information on Olympic Sailing and the windsurfing events visit Olympic Windsurfing and RS:X Youth World Championshipplease visit our website.

windsurfing: RS:X Class

windsurfing: Windsurfing