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Windsurfing and the Olympics
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Mon Aug 26, 2013 4:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Given that even many windsurfers would rather watch oil-based paint dry on a cold day than watch typical windsurfing racing, do we really want most people's introduction to WSing to be Olympic windsurfing?

"Hey, Beevis; what're them things on the water?"

"I dunno, Butthead ... says on the screen crawler they're windsurfers, and they're racing."

"They're just putzin' across the water right now. When does the race start?"

"The crawler says the race is about over, and that some dood is ahead."

"Uh, ahead of what? Hell, I can RUN faster than that, and my jet ski is three times faster. What's the big deal?"

"It doesn't say. What's on MTV?"

In real life watching the usual displacement-mode racing is worse than that unless you are already an avid WS racerhed, in which case you're in the choir already. MANY WSers wouldn't even look up from their book titled "How to Tighten Your Fin Screw" if, 50 feet in front of their lawn chair, [name the two fastest sailors in the world] were neck and neck at the finish line at 8 kts. It's just not as interesting to spectators as, say, curling or knitting, until the wind picks up and the carnage starts, at which point Beevis and Butthead say something like, "Heh-heh! Lookit that. Now ... click! ... what's Snooki doing?"

But, "Oh", you say ... "how about more energetic athletes ...how will they respond to displacement hull racing?"

Probably: "Crap; I heard WSing was fun and exciting. Guess I was wrong. What's on ESPN?"

What got me stoked on the sport was seeing ordinary local people having a ball at the local lake (Deer Creek, UT), playing like a litter of puppies, doing stuff I thought even I could do right in front of me ... something accessible. Next day I was trying to plane on the new WSer I bought two miles away.
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konajoe



Joined: 28 Feb 2010
Posts: 517

PostPosted: Mon Aug 26, 2013 5:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I recently talked with a guy who had been to Windsurfer Worlds in Australia in his younger years. 400 male competitors. They weighed everyone, and broke them into 4 classes of 100.

That gear is crap by today's longboard standards. But it was very accessible. Sail it anywhere, anytime (except the few top windy places). Just the complete opposite of a formula board with a big sail.
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mat-ty



Joined: 07 Jul 2007
Posts: 7850

PostPosted: Mon Aug 26, 2013 9:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What olympic windsurfing needs is 6'4" blonde beauties like womans beach vollyball. Then it will be on 24/7.
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Sailboarder



Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Posts: 656

PostPosted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 6:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mat-ty wrote:
What olympic windsurfing needs is 6'4" blonde beauties like womans beach vollyball. Then it will be on 24/7.


There's plenty of beautifull women in windsurfing. But if they want to compete with beach volleyball, they will have to ban the seat harnesses! Embarassed
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Darbonne



Joined: 27 Jan 2012
Posts: 252
Location: Farmerville, Louisiana

PostPosted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 7:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sailboarder wrote:
mat-ty wrote:
What olympic windsurfing needs is 6'4" blonde beauties like womans beach vollyball. Then it will be on 24/7.


There's plenty of beautifull women in windsurfing. But if they want to compete with beach volleyball, they will have to ban the seat harnesses! Embarassed


I think a simple redesign of the seat harness would be better. If you know what I mean.
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mat-ty



Joined: 07 Jul 2007
Posts: 7850

PostPosted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 9:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maybe we can get Miley Cyrus to design it. And no wet suit tops, only neoprene pasties are allowed. The tassels would make excellent tell tales.
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dhmark



Joined: 04 Sep 2007
Posts: 376

PostPosted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 10:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Did anybody actually watch the London Olympic windsurfing? They were planing, going fast, didn't look any different than any other racing I have ever seen (actually kind of boring), but it all racing looks the same. (even the America's cup, where they are going 20-40 knots seems kind of boring). dhmark
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Darbonne



Joined: 27 Jan 2012
Posts: 252
Location: Farmerville, Louisiana

PostPosted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 11:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

dhmark wrote:
Did anybody actually watch the London Olympic windsurfing? They were planing, going fast, didn't look any different than any other racing I have ever seen (actually kind of boring), but it all racing looks the same. (even the America's cup, where they are going 20-40 knots seems kind of boring). dhmark


That is why I think a freestyle or wave event would be interesting. One of the posters on this thread mentioned that there are only so many medals available in the sailing events. If that is the case how did snowboarding get all their events in. They have downhill racing, some sort of freestyle jumping event and the half pipe. Did skiing give up three medals. Guess I'll get busy on Google and try to find out.
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DanWeiss



Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Posts: 2296
Location: Connecticut, USA

PostPosted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 12:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Obviously, there are many views on this broad topic. Let me share mine.

Olympic windsurfing may or may not directly impact a non-sailor to take a lesson or even try to uphaul. That person is, of course, the least connected to Olympic Sailing and, thereby, Olympic Windsurfing. To her, Olympic Windsurfing is fringe.

Yet, tens if not hundreds of thousands of people in North America already are affiliated with Olympic Sailing merely by way of membership in a yacht club or sailing center via US Sailing et sl and their respective relationships with ISAF. For some of them, Olympic Sailing is a strong interest. For more, organized sailing programs of instruction and racing capture attention. The most infused of these are kids participating in a legitimate Junior Sailing Program. I can say from personal knowledge that the push to seed these JSPs with fleets of Techno 293s is predicated on Olympic Windsurfing existing at the top of the development pyramid. Saying that the Techno 293 can be a stepping stone to the PWA falls on deaf ears, but pointing upward to the RS:X and that sort of international and Olympic experience attracts interest and dollars.

Fleets are selected in part on how strongly linked each may be to the next step up the ladder, at least for the racing clubs. Olympic Windsurfing remains important in this respect.

Certain aspects of windsurfing like FW, though not part of the Olympics, still connect to the Olympics and its sailors may be inspired by cross-over athletes. Steve Bodner, for example, sailed IMCO and tried to make the Olympics. From there, he became a fixture in the Cal Cup FW scene. Steve actively engages other windsurfers to try racing and to expand their view of our sport. Steve may speak for himself, but it's my understanding that the Olympics played a huge part in building his enthusiasm and commitment to the sport. Same for so many others who've worked so hard to bring new people into our sport, including Tinho Dornellas, Karen Marriott, Nevin Sayre, Mike Gebhardt, Joachim Larsson, Dominique Vallee, the Imperato brothers . . . the list goes on and on.

Mike's own first exposure and his dedication to non-racing performance is embraced. Yet, racing may be nothing less than windsurfing in a group. Drag racing, tossing forwards and Spocks included. (Embarassing typo corrected.) Not all requires Olympic aspiration but its nice to know what Olympic status has already produced.

_________________
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www.USWindsurfing.org


Last edited by DanWeiss on Tue Aug 27, 2013 11:06 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Brian_S



Joined: 11 Jun 2005
Posts: 249
Location: SE Michigan

PostPosted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 3:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DanWeiss wrote:

Certain aspects of windsurfing like FW, though not part of the Olympics, still connect to the Olympics and its sailors may be inspired by cross-over athletes. Steve Bodner, for example, sailed IMCO and tried to make the Olympics. From there, he became a fixture in the Cal Cup FW scene. Steve actively engages other windsurfers to try racing and to expand their view of our sport. Steve may speak for himself, but it's my understanding that the Olympics played a huge part in building his enthusiasm and commitment to the sport. Same for so many others


To Dan's point, Steve apparently was inspired by competing in the Olympics, according to his own words: [url] http://miwindsurfing.com/profiles/blogs/meet-steve-bodner-usa-4[/url]
Same with Mark Boersma, a fixture on the Maui Summer Race Series:
http://miwindsurfing.com/profiles/blogs/meet-mark-boersma-usa-17

Brian
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