^^^ Billy what is your windsurfing experience if you believe wavesailing cannot be undertaken in 15kn?

The grovel out / barely planing days are the best with glassy waves.

And BTW, yes I have seen it. And done it.

And enjoying the ride only starts at 20kn wind strength? Have you ridden a modern slalom board (about 120L) and about a 7m plus in 16-18kn ever?

We both have fun so who cares.

My only issue was you saying windsurfing is no good under 20kn, when in fact you have options for going fast in much less than that, and wavesailing can be really good in less than that.

I have no doubt that your massive kite is also fun in 10-15kn. Much like massive WS gear is too.

BulldogPup said...

Lotsawind & Carantoc ..... Rumble in the 'Breeze Thriller in the Genny

Whooooaaa easy there tiger, it was all just in jest.

Not saying I'm running from a fight. I'll take on anyone, anytime.

Well, except Tuesday morning because the lawn bowls pennant series is on then and I don't want to miss it, what with George and Mildred on such fine form.

And Wednesday afternoon, because Sawtell RSL does a great roast with a seniors discount, and I always seem to fall asleep afterwards.

Oh, on Fridays are usually no good because I have to have my clostomy bag changed out

And to be honest Sundays probably wouldn't be much good for me either, because I tend to take my windsurfing gear down to the beach, rig it up and then swim about with it in the impact zone for an hour or so.

So, other than Mondays, when myself and a few of the old timers get together for a cup of tea and cup cake mid-morning and reminisce about the good old days then ...

BRING IT ON

^^^^^^

LMAO goner !!

Gonewindsurfing247 said...



Windsurfing is not better than kitesurfing and kitesurfing is not better than windsurfing, they are just different.

I didn't realize that many still windsurfed

Lets face it, the kiter chick is hot but is the trend for kitesurfing moving away from boardies over everything to skirts over everything??

On the wind range wind front ...

- from n-10 knots with the right board and sail you can go board sailing. Uphauling, flare gybes or tacking, cruising along. Maintaining your position on the beach. It's not hard to do. It's mellow fun. A good rider can do some pretty impressive moves on waves if the direction is right.

- from 10 knots you can be planing with a 12-13m kite and a big twin tip or race board. Carving turns, cruising upwind, maybe the occasional jump. Requires a fair bit of skill to do it. Bobbing windsurfer is cruising more easily and making a little ground upwind.

- 15 knots up and you can be planing and jumping on your light wind kite and all the standard size gear can be used. Light wind windsurfer boy is getting over powered and trying to up haul in moderate chop or failing to water start. Standard size windsurfers are riding but slogging in the lulls and not doing too much. Gybes are mostly step gybes with a fall at the end.

- 20 knots and everybody is having fun. Kitesurfer can still be on light wind gear and go chase yachts on upwind runs. The good guys are carving their gybes. Everybody else is doing step gybes and falling in at the end.

- 25+ Yeehar for everybody. Kitesurfer should have changed to smaller gear a few knots ago. With a 10m kite kiter is doing 5-8-10m high jumps and about 20m long. Waves are being slashed. Windsurfers are doing the grim faced missile of death thing they do. Good guys are doing forwards or back loops. Everybody is doing gay little wiggles on the wave faces and pretending we're surfing.

- 30+ Kiters are on small gear and surfboards. Windsurfers are on small sails. Kiters are ripping the shore break, Windsurfers are being pounded by the shore break.

- 40+ Kiters still on small gear and surfboards. Serious care is being taken when launching and landing. Windsurfers with small enough sails and good skills are having an epic session.

- 50+ kiters are afraid. The experienced and/or the stupid are circulating but their hearts are not in it. Occasionally a pro or wannabe pro does huge jump with loops and smashes down in a sheet of spray. Most people come in to land at the first opportunity. Super keen windsurfers are surviviing and/or having a good time if their rigs are not blown away.

I think Robbie Naish and Laird Hamilton discussed it in the old R.I.P. video (or one of the others out at the time. I would have to go through the vids).

They talk about all these windsurfers riding around with grim faces and scowls. How it's supposed to be fun.

Get out at Ricketts on a 20-25 knot day and there's all these portly old wind surfers hurtling along with grim faces, fairly up market gear, and a take no prisoners attitude. They zoom straight through everybody. Don't yield an inch. Straight over all the waves. Carve the gybe. Plonk into the water.

We have a couple of world class racers who train near my spot and I have cruised around after the world cup fleet when they are out. Some RYC championship thing or whatever. I think Ms Colombia fancied me. I would wait at the marks for her to come by and she smiled at me.

It's kind of irrelevant. Normal people don't ride formula boards, same as normal people don't ride full on kite race boards. Similarly, normal people don't drive a tray truck with a trailer to carry their quiver of specialist boards, sails, booms and assorted stuff at several thousand dollars a pop.

It's reasonable to expect anybody keen to have two boards and three sails and a couple of booms at most. Most guys have a floaty, uphaulable thing and a slalom/wave allrounder.

In any sport, the exploits of world class professionals riding state of the art gear has no bearing on the performance of normal people. Experts can do stuff the rest of us can't do ... because their experts. The best judge of things is what the majority of the fleet is doing at your local beach on a day with decent conditions.

Skill, schmill. It's supposed to be fun. If they were skilled they would make their gybes ... but they never do. Isn't that an admission of defeat? Windsurfing is so hard to do that you can only ride along at full pelt, gritting your teeth, then crash?

I always thought smiling was a synchronized swimming thing but it seems that kiteboarders love to smile too.

Gorgo said...

I think Robbie Naish and Laird Hamilton discussed it in the old R.I.P. video (or one of the others out at the time. I would have to go through the vids).

They talk about all these windsurfers riding around with grim faces and scowls. How it's supposed to be fun.

Get out at Ricketts on a 20-25 knot day and there's all these portly old wind surfers hurtling along with grim faces, fairly up market gear, and a take no prisoners attitude. They zoom straight through everybody. Don't yield an inch. Straight over all the waves. Carve the gybe. Plonk into the water.

You mean like the Kiters that spend half their session swimming back to their board thats come off halfway through the jump? are they having fun?, or the kiters that get so wriled up about a noob in their way at their sweet freestyle spot that they have to come on seabreeze to vent about how "mowing the lawn" ain't cool?

Sorry Gorgo, there's people like that in both sports. I for one have fun just about every time I go out, sometimes to try and go fast other times just to cruise around doing bump and jump.

Just coz theyve got the grim face on doesn't mean they aint having fun either, maybe they've got the grim face because theyre trying hard to beat yesterdays speed, they might not be enjoying the moment directly, but the satisfaction they get from the going faster will bring the smile on later.

That windsurfer totally smoked the kiters[}:)], Im guessing they would have been on race boards being in the lighthouse to Leighton.

Seems to be a lot of bitter Windsurfers around. Think they all need a chill pill and maybe a lesson in kiting. I've done both and found kitesurfing way more enjoyable. Does anyone know any people who windsurf and kitesurf but prefer to windsurf?

Macroscien said...

Gorgo said...

Windsurfing is so hard to do ...

It is also " moron mentality" - if you are afloat and don't know yet everything you must be that dumb to ask for advice. As windsurfer you supposed to be already born Supreme.

thats funny, reading the forums here, it seems to me, the beginners cop waaay more abuse on the kite forum.