rtz
Posts: 1106
Registered: 10-12-2010
Location: Edmond, OK
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Any windsurfers or ex windsurfers?
What's your story? What did you like and not like about it? Why did you quit doing it if you did?
I've met people recently that have been doing it for the last 20 - 30+ years. That's staying power.
Sting 1.7, 2.4 - Flow 2, 3, 4, 5 - Reactor 2.2, 2.8, 3.5, 4.4, 5.5 - Yakuza 2.2, 2.7 - JOJO 9
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Wind_dog
Posts: 233
Registered: 3-15-2016
Location: Oregon
Member Is Offline
Mood: Itchin' for the beach
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I grew up in sailboats, monohulls and cats in Southern Calif.
Taught myself windsurfing on lagoons in most Northern Calif in 1980s.
Took a job near Portland Or so I could feed myself and windsurf in the Gorge. World Class spot! Extreme conditions. Sigh.
Got caught fishing off the company pier and started a family in the 90s.
Gave up windsurfing cuz I was spending all non-work time with my kids.
Still have a full quiver of gear but my dry suit no longer fits. It shrank??
Kids are grown and gone and I just retired last year
and discovered Power kites and buggies as a challenging
wind powered outlet.
No regrets.
If I was near warm water, I would be in it with windsurfers and kites.
Now that I am North of the 45th parallel, I limit my time in the water.
Always on the steep part of the learning curve.
Gin Shaman2 6m, 12m
Flysurfer Peak1 6m, Peak2 9m,Peak4, 3m
Misc. other kites, never getting out of their bags.
Riding a Libre Fullrace with an AQR on the beach
Riding a Blokart inland when gust factor > 4
And a couple Manta Singles for friends to ride.
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Randy
Posts: 1886
Registered: 5-20-2014
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In 1996 the Olympics came to Atlanta, and inspired me to start windsurfing. Not because it was an event in the Games, but rather because we wanted to
get out of town to avoid the traffic and crowds. So we went to Hilton Head and I happened to see two guys windusrfing in the ocean. It looked so
cool, I decided to take lessons, and have been windsurfing ever since. We have 2 local lakes in the Atlanta area and about a dozen launches that can
be used. I sailed every month of the year in temps dropping into the 40's (and even lower sometimes) to the 90's in the summer in all kinds of winds
and every size board and sail. At one point I had about 10 boards and probably more sails I worked out of my house and could get away on weekdays at
times so I sailed a lot. One year I sailed over 100 days, and almost always sailed 50 or more. For a number of years I also did a fair amount of
landsailing putting a windsurf sail on an ATB at a small park near my house.
When I retired in 2014 I got interested in kites, with a side eye to kitesurfing but I decided that I'd try kiting with my ATB first. I also figured
that the best time for that was in the cold weather months when the few parking lots I had available were not crowded. Avoiding the cold water and
winds in the winter got me away from windsurfing during those months. Around the same time I got into making kites, mainly NPW's and that was a nice
fit with landboarding. However, my locations were limited due to wind direction (best launch was right on the lake where I've sailed from, but only
for easterly winds.)
Last November I decided to get a buggy and have been riding it using the kites I've made. I've actually gotten to buggy more in the past few months
than I was able to landboard in 3 years so its been a great choice.
One might wonder with all my time on the water, why I've never taken up kitesurfing. I would like to but in our area there is really on one location
(an hour from my house) where there is space to launch a kite with long lines and that spot is typically a crowded once the weather gets decent.
There are a small number of guys locally who do kitesurf including some of my friends, but its a rough spot to use and most have had some mishaps
(like getting dragged over the rocks) or close calls. So I've held back on it. I still might take up kitesurfing someday.......
I still consider myself a windsurfer, but now I'm more of a fair weather friend to the sport. I only have a few boards now, mainly for light winds in
the warm weather months. Right now I prefer kite sports to windsurfing, but sometimes windsurfing is a better suited to the conditions. My motto is
to take what the wind gives me.
NPW Test Pilot -US99
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southpadreburt
Posts: 157
Registered: 12-1-2011
Location: South Padre Island
Member Is Offline
Mood: Retired from Work, Working overtime with the Wind
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I have been windsurfing for 18 years and have moved to a barrier island so I could sail most days. My wife and I plan each day according to the wind
and weather. If winds are above 18mph and south or north it is a windsurf day. The thrill and challenge of windsurfing seems to never diminish. Takes
a lot of time on the water to develop skills with no end point to the learning. Great physical activity with days of relaxing cruising or adrenaline
thrills. If you like water, speed and challenge give windsurfing a try. When winds are east or too mild to windsurf the kite buggies are the next
activity for the day. We also kiteboard as the kite skills and thrills are the same as the buggy. Windsurfing takes more physical effort and
kiteboarding/buggy have the beauty of the kite. It is nice that these wind sports can be done all year! Love that wind.
Prism Micron
Rev B Series Standard,Vented,Full Vented
Rev PowerBlast 2-4
Rush 3 Pro
Ozone Access 4, 6, 8,10
Ozone Summit 8, 10
Ozone Frenzy 13m Ultralite
Cabrinha 7, 9, 13 Xbow
Cabrinha 11 Switchblade
2 PL BigFoot Buggies
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zero gee
Posts: 433
Registered: 10-12-2008
Location: Winnipeg and beyond...
Member Is Offline
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Hi I'm back. Been awhile.
One of our locals will be 72 this year. He started windsurfing in the early 80s. One of our pioneers. He still windsurfs occasionally but has been
kiting since early 2000s.
I windsurdr for 10 years prior to getting into kiting. Many trips to the Gorge (Hood River, OR) for windsurfing. I watched the original Kiteski guys
there and immediately saw the potential and thought is was so cool.
I decided it was time to get into it after returning home from the Gorge in 1999. It started out as a better light wind option since I needed to
update my light wind gear anyways.
I windsurfed in higher winds for the first 4 years of kiting but as my kite skills improved I found myself able to kite in those same winds. I
finally, gave up windsurfing because I was getting my
a$$ handed to me in those conditions. Different set of skills, different sets of muscles, and not enough days, I was getting worked. I was also
taking way longer to load and unload the windsurfing gear. The gear got too big for me.
I still love watching windsurfing. Never in my imagination did I see the things guys are doing these days. Phenomenal!
I love kitesurfing though. So many ways to ride. The gear is so small and maneuverable with no mechanical connection between the rig and the board. So
much freedom. Endless wave riding. Minimal gear, bye bye rigamaroll. Currently riding 9m and 6m Core Section wave kites and a 2016 North 5'2 WHIP.
Sweetest combo ever!
2016 CORE Section wave 6m and 9m
CORE Sensor2 controlbar
2016 5'2" North WHIP surfboard
Zeeko Spitfire XLW foil and 5'0 custom foilboard
Electric Outback MountainBoard
Any old $100 snowboard
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Zipzit
Posts: 4
Registered: 4-4-2017
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Member Is Offline
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I'm a new guy (first posting here). I used to be a totally addicted windsurfer. I mean addicted. If the wind was out, I was gone no matter what. It
was really bad. Outerbanks, Lake Erie, the Gorge were my vacation spots. Nothing like Lake Erie when small craft advisories are in effect, and the
swells are big enough to hide a school bus in.
Ever been on a really tall roller coaster? Click, click, click on the move up the highest hill, then over the top, and WHOA.. the straight down Zoom,
Zing, Yowza... Well windsurfing is kind of like that straight downhill move, except it doesn't stop, and you can steer. Yeah, I had it bad. The
only thing I could do was totally quit. Done. Out.
So last week I headed on down to Ivanpah Dry Lake near Primm, Nevada, during the Ivanpah Buggy eXpo (IBX) 2017 . Got a good look-see at the kite
buggies and land sailors. The wind beckons.
Hmm.. So now, I'm thinking about picking up a small four line kite and learn how to fly it. I also just stumbled across three wheels and a couple of
hubs off really small trailer, just enough to start a buggy project. I used to be an automotive design engineer, and I've got decent TIG skills, and
a nice A/C D/C inverter TIG welder in the garage. Stay tuned.
--Zip.
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