Now that the season is (maybe) over in my area, I was looking over old pics my brother recently sent me and one of them is me when I was a teen windsurfing in France in 1980 or 1981 I think. How much has this sport evolved in 35+ years? Incredible! Almost not the same sport. At the same time, it was nice back then because it was simpler: One board, one or two sails, no harness, no fuss, just simple days. Makes me want to get a new windsurfer...
Happy holidays!

Board: Hifly 111

Moisson Lavacourt ?

I think the only reason we had just one board & two sails back then was because there wasn't really anything else to get!
And nothing's keeping you from going back to that now

Windsurfing hooked me in 1977 at 14 and I have yet to lose interest one bit. I love the feel of a board going through the water, as well as the feeling of it skipping across the surface on a plane. I won't ever be without a long floaty board (Superlight), nor a early planning freeride board, nor a few high wind / wave boards. I'm totally fine with owning and hauling around a bunch of gear. If there's any sort of wind, light or strong, I can go out. If there's no wind I'll paddle my WindSup board. Only thing that ruins the day is lightning or cold...

With a longboard you can sail when the kites are falling out of the sky, and when there's not enough to foil. Put on a big sail and get a good workout.
Here's to a healthy, warm & windy 2021

Drew

Started in 1984 at the age of 41 with 5 days of lessons the first year, another 5 days in 1985, bought a used Bic 250 in the spring of 1986; always stayed with longboards, added wide boards, my smallest that I've kept & sometimes sail is a 135 liter semi-wide board. Added a modified toboggan for hard packed snow sailing in Dec. 1994; added a longboard skateboard in 1995 for parking lot sailing. I sail with a "windsurfing rig" (sail, mast, boom) and some kind of board on ice, sow, parking lots, or water in Iowa with at least one session on something in each month from March 1994 to now, 322 months in a row. 89 sessions so far in 2020 with a goal & expectation of 92 sessions in 2020. My most recent was yesterday with a 4.2 on a longboard skateboard; there are 8 days left in the year to get 3 more. I have 2 sit-down tricycles, 6 boards that have 4 wheels, 4 that have skis or blades, & 7 windsurfers. One of the windsurfers is an 85 lier speed needle which I've never sailed and is free to whoever wants to come get it in Cedar Falls IA (it originally came from Sandy Point Progressive Sports in Daytona FL). I'm planning to adapt two wake boards for sailing hard packed snow. My sails range from 3.4 to 9.0. In the past I've had one as large as 12.0 & I actually wore out a 10.0 in the past. My favorite board now is a Kona One because I love longboard racing. Kona's system has a sail size determined by the weight range a rider fits into; that makes the Kona One Design class the fairest ever.

marc wrote:
Wow! That is amazing detective work my friend! How did you know?
Did you sail there?

I remember these days back in 1979-80, there were not that many people on the water at this launch. II recall a February session with completely inadequate wetsuits that let the water in from all sides and my brother and I were just so hooked that we couldn't care about getting cold or catching the flu. The nice thing to do when we were done and frozen, was to stop by a small restaurant nearby that used to serve crepes as they do it in Britany with all sorts of savory toppings and a bowl of cider. This was so good.

Andrew Scheidler wrote:
Cannot agree more. I like every facet of this sport and just fear there won't be enough years and physical ability to explore them all. In the next life!

Del Carpenter wrote:
So interesting to know everyone's approach and first steps into the sport. Stories often end up with the unconditional love of this activity regardless of gear and ability. This is pretty cool.
I think it was Rich on a Kona that's going 28mph. I saw him sailing his 8.5+Kona I think while I was on a 6.0 powered. It was impressive and very cool to see this board flying with its long nose at this kind of speed. I bet it had to be exhilarating! Makes me want to try that too!

A clarification for Greg from Sheb: No Kona 8.5; the size for that weight range is 8.2 which is green.
Each model of Kona One Design sails is for sailors who fit within a particular 10 kilogram weight range. The first Kona sail that came out was a yellow 7.4, the same size as the Mistral One Design sail. Then in order as I remember Kona added a red 5.8, a blue 6.6, a green 8.2, a red 9.0, & an orange 9.8. (Notice the sail size increases by .8 sq meters for each 10 K increase in the weight range...the 10K is about 22 lbs. When I started in 2006 the green 8.2 wasn't out yet so I started with a 7.4 & added the 8.2 which fit my weight when it came out. Geezers of my age became eligible for going down a sail size if they register that way for an event. Eventually I started doing that and sailed a 7.4 in my last event or two. After that Kona also came out with a blue 7.6 which sailors who fit the 7.4 range could choose. I eventually bought a blue 7.6, but I think that was late in 2019 & I haven't raced it. Earlier I also purchased a red 9.0. My current Kona sails are yellow 7.4, blue 7.6, two of the green 8.2 (one became a practice sail after I tore it partially on a rough object & "fixed" it with clear duct tape...then I bought a new 8.2 for racing) and a red 9.0 which I use just for practice in ligjht wind. I've raced Kona Calema Mid-Winters in FL, also in Clearwater FL, Mille Lac near Garrison MN, the Dam-Jam on Saylorville Lake near Des Moines, the Worthington MN Windsurfing Regatta & Unvarnished Music Festival, and at Wind Power Windsurfing at Fond du Lac WI in May and in September. I hope to get back to racing in 2021. I hope the attached photo from a Kona race in FL makes everyone to want to be in a Kona race.

Del Carpenter wrote:
Good to know, but I was just referring to Rich's Kona One Board fitted with an Ezzy 8.5 (Not a Kona Sail). Should have mentioned this detail I guess.