I was one of thousands of wannabees

[windward1]

Well, let's see....off the top of my head Windsurfing options include:

The original windsurfer re-branded
The Windsurfer LT
The KONA
Slalom Boards finned
Slalom Boards foiled
Formula Boards
Race Boards Long
The Serenity
Freeride Boards finned
Freeride Boards foiled
Wave Boards finned in at least five varieties
Sailing SUPs

You pays your money and you takes your choice.

No reason to be a wannabee. Find what works for you at your age and enjoy!

[PeconicPuffin]

[isobars]

[dvCali]

[DelCarpenter]

Isobars, I’m sorry I misjudged your first comment (# 2 in this thread).

I’m in my 37th season of windsurfing, will be 77 in a couple of months, and am still a wannabee in some ways, though I’m smarter about it now.

One thing glossed over in most of this thread is the issue of personal physical speed, AKA reaction time. Most people (I’m one) have or had only average reaction speed. Since about 2000 the width of serious beginner boards provides a split-second cushion of extra time for a rider to react & maybe fix whatever is causing a board to start tipping over. Often in the straight downwind leg of races I would have been faster on a beginner board that I could keep from being tipped over by following waves than I was on my 70 cm wide Kona.

Windsurfing now has much better beginner equipment. “Learn to windsurf in an afternoon” is a slogan with real results. I’m part of the surge in popularity of Pickleball. All of the geezers I play with have enough discretionary money to become windsurfers. Pickleball is gaining players because it isn’t elitist, doesn’t demand high athletic performance, & appeals to as many women as men. OK, compared to the average of those in their high 70s, my athletic performance could be described somewhat as “high.” But, out of a current US population estimated at 330 million there are millions of geezers with as much athletic ability as me and at least a million of those have enough money so we could add 25,000 or 50,000, or 100,000 geezer windsurfers if windsurfing as a whole worked together to do it

[LUCARO]

[wernerhickey]

I think there is some truth in the original posting. Out of the six or so friends that started windsurfing on wallies in the old days - I am the only one still going. A few dropped off in the early years as soon as things went low volume and super small(Hawaii inspired). They were perfectly happy to stay on what they had but the subtle pressure and sometimes overt comments are there all the time - it's not cool. The other day I overheard an instructor telling a new foiler that the high lift foil would be fine as a beginner but that they will soon progress to a race foil and would not be happy otherwise. The late 90s finished a lot of casual sailors off when it became all about superlight epoxy, pin nose, thick narrowish tails and very sharp rail slalom. I loved sailing these - but they were hard to sail - they only worked on the plane, they had to be pumped onto the fin, started virtually dead downwind and you needed to laydown gybe(at least big yank at the beginning of the gybe) to keep the fin in the water. It was either drink the cool aide or find something else to do because you would not turn up with anything else. I don't think sports are sustainable without a big base on the pyramid - unless we can make people feel great about sailing "easier" gear then we lose the base. It is available - no argument. Fun sail days, top sailors turning up to race etc - all good stuff. No blame - completely understandable, my undying gratitude to those who teach the sport and run social events.

[U2U2U2]

[isobars]

You just nailed one of the many pitfalls of being concerned about being "cool". The very concept of the word is right up there with the word "macho", which as we all know is Spanish for stupid. The addition of sinkers to the board selection menu merely expands our choices, rather than forcing us away from what floats our personal boats. MANY of our early quitters in the old days quit because they were making no progress -- couldn't even rig, let alone sail -- the full-on race gear one sailor insisted they must learn on.

An outspoken bud once asked me whether I knew how stupid the glasses I wore when sailing looked. He got the point when I gurned* a funny face and said, "Sure ... but they WORK." And Lord knows the grief I get here about my board choices, but who gives a crap; they excel at what I want a board to do.

*

[isobars]