KenHo said...
Chris, what planet are you from ?
Planet reality, Ken
I cruise a few forums for different things, and on every single one, people are obsessed with gear.
Don't tell me the yacht's you refer to don't have a locker full of sails.
I wouldn't tell you that, and nothing in my post implied that.
But the vast majority of those yachts are designed with clear restrictions on performance. They are normally designed to rules like IRC or the old IOR or one design restrictions, which normally specifically include many rules that RESTRICT performance.
An example is one of the most popular big yachts in the world ever, the Beneteau First 40.7. The designers specifically didn't go all-out for performance in order to make it cheaper, and the rules encouraged that. For example, your handicap rating drops if the boat is heavier, or has more accommodation, or smaller sails, or a cruising style deck.
The result is that the world's biggest races can be won by a cheap production pop-out that noobs can also use for charter and cruising. It's as if the PWA was won by a Go.
Of course, there are "grand prix" go-fast machines as well, but the rating rules ensure that they generally get no advantage over cheaper beginner-friendly boats. That's very different to the windsurfing world!
Similar factors work in dinghies or small boats. Skiffs are fantastic, but they are basically only popular where skiff clubs pay for people to sail them. Most people sail slow, simple boats like Lasers, and there's vastly more people sailing dinghies than windsurfers.
Thirty windsurfers at a Perth beach on a windy day is good, but 30 people is a tiny number compared to the number who would be found most days sailing slow and rule-restricted yachts in the same city.
Guys on guitar forums rant on about old vacuum cleaner leads for superior tone from their amps, or spend thousands just on cables or picks, not to mention endless tube and pick-up swaps etc. And that's after they have bought ten amps and 15 guitars.
Windsurfing is relatively gear light compared to many sports or activities.
Cycling is interesting though. You can certainly get carried away with gear, and there is a creature called a "weight-weenie", who measures the weight of the grease in bearings and spends hundreds on titanium bolts to save 5 gms, btu overwhelmingly, the power of the motor is recognised as king, and "HTFU" is the most common form of advice given.
They also have this amusing formula to describe the correct number of bikes you need. It's "n+1", "n" being the number of bikes currently owned.
I think it also applies to sailboards.
Cycling could indeed a perfect illustration of why restrictions have helped keep one sport huge, and made one sport tiny.
Almost every cyclist - from the Weight Weenies to you when you chose a roadie a couple of years back - uses a bicycle that is about 35% slower than it has to be. They do this because these much slower bikes are more convenient.
The alternative to the bikes you, I, the Weight Weenies and about 1.2 million people each year buy are recumbents. They are about 35% quicker, but almost no one buys them because they are inconvenient and they are banned from normal races.
It's a perfect example of what I am talking about - people still get rabidly excited about getting the new $15,000+ Cervelo despite the fact that a bearded guy can build a lay-down bike from spare parts in his garage that will be miles quicker.
It's not about absolute performance, it's about relative performance. And in bikes, the UCI rules ensure that relative performance is dramatically reduced, but convenience is dramatically increased.
Even Cadel's bikes are hugely restricted, in weight, dimensions, aerodynamics, and just about everything else. That means that you can go and do well in cycle racing at any level using gear that your kid's grandmother could ride. That's one hell of a difference from windsurfing, where the manufacturers promote gear that even experienced sailors find hard to use.
Secondly, there is nothing like the degree of specialisation in performance bikes that there is in windsurfing. Most guys at my club have one racing bike that does everything from crits, to road races, hill climbs and time trials. If they do track, it's one something so restricted that even Olympians aren't allowed gears or brakes.
Time trialling has the least user-friendly gear, but even that is vastly more user-friendly than 99% of windsurfers.
Sure, plenty of people rabbit on about their bikes on forums. But even at major Sydney clubs, an old fart like me can win B Grade (second-quickest of four adult grades) on old bikes that cost you $1100 for a pair AND which get used to ride to and from work. That's a loooong way from a lot of windsurfing.
NOTHING OF THIS IS KNOCKING THOSE WHO LOVE HAVING HIGH TECH GEAR. High tech specialised gear is fantastic - but it's not the ONLY way to enjoy the sport, and sadly that seems to be the message that windsurfing has been pushing for a long while.
Oh what a feeling!!!
..I updated to 2008 freeride gear and newer sails .I still can't keep up with the guys but at least I now have something that will move in 12kts + 
I've been sailboarding 20 years and get out regularly but relearning how to gybe has been a real dedicated effort.I still haven't got there..When you stack every gybe and have to waterstart it really drains your energy. You need to be pretty fit to stick at it..or a stubborn pig like I am..
