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Future of Windsurfing
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pzwinakis



Joined: 03 Aug 2000
Posts: 42
Location: Santa Cruz

PostPosted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 11:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not to be a buzz kill, but if people knew how much windsurfing disrupts your life they would never start..
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noshuzbluz



Joined: 18 May 2000
Posts: 791

PostPosted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 12:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

pzwinakis wrote:
Not to be a buzz kill, but if people knew how much windsurfing disrupts your life they would never start..


You say "disrupts", I say enhances...... Wink

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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 12:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

spennie wrote:
Windsurfing isn't expensive, new windsurfing gear is expensive. Windsurfing is one of the least expensive sports I've indulged in, once you've got your gear.

Airfare. Condos. Thousands of dollars per year in gasoline. Dedicated vehicles. Career impacts. Dirt biking was cheaper, despite the 120-mile drive to the desert and buying a new race bike at least once a year, and skiing was dirt cheap before liability insurance costs destroyed it.

And overlooking gear costs is disingenuous, considering how many people think they need new kit whenever a salesman or peer says they do. Look how many people of ordinary means actually feel compelled to pay $50 dollars for shades or a watch, a hundred dollars for a recreational fin or a wetsuit, $400 for a mast, $600 for a boom or sail, and over a THOUSAND DOLLARS for a recreational board!

Hell, NASCAR and Indy racing are cheap, too, once you have your gear. All it costs at that point is an occasional 200-mile drive ... which is an ordinary afternoon trip to the river for me.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 12:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

pzwinakis wrote:
if people knew how much windsurfing disrupts your life they would never start..

Spot on!

Every time someone asks me what it takes to get into WSing, I tell them:
1. A grand for basic, heavily used, very limited beginner gear, then thousands for better used gear as they advance, then much more as they get hooked.
2. Lessons costing hundreds of dollars.
3. Totally free weekends and many free unscheduled weekday evenings.
4. Short, flexible working hours, with very little of this ridiculous 50-hour-work-week, 5-o'clock-quitting-time, Saturday-at-the-office, scheduling-vacation-days-in-advance slavery.
5. Willingness ... hell, eagerness ... to change location and career if necessary, piss off the boss and the spouse, drive 60-180 miles each way for a session, and/or all the above.
6. Significant reduction in, maybe even total elimination of, making commitments to others for any reasons not involving severe blood loss.
7. A second car, if married ... maybe even a third if neither of those will hold yer gear.
8. And, oh, yeah ... all the damn time ya spend online typing about it. Sad

Sound familiar? We've all seen many enthusiastic WSers quit WSing -- or change or quit their careers -- expressly because of those demands. How many other individual recreational sports involve most or all of those demands?
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gronquist



Joined: 12 May 2000
Posts: 70

PostPosted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 1:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good job competing in the races on wave gear, Stevebard! I completely agree with the concept of just showing up. Beginners will make new connections, everyone gets more stoke, and even if you compete you can sail all day and kill your arms in your heat when it finally comes. Either way it's a ton of fun. Supporting these events is huge for our presence and livelyhood.

I got my buddy to go to AWT two years ago; he was sort of turned off by competing but loved the vibe... Now he's 'double dipping' in both amateurs AND masters, and going to 4 events!! (mike cole)

I think attending the AWT at the different venues on the west coast has been one of the best things for our sport in a longggg time. Go for it!
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nw30



Joined: 21 Dec 2008
Posts: 6485
Location: The eye of the universe, Cen. Cal. coast

PostPosted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 8:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

isobars wrote:

Sound familiar? We've all seen many enthusiastic WSers quit WSing -- or change or quit their careers -- expressly because of those demands. How many other individual recreational sports involve most or all of those demands?

Well there is SUPing, that can kill many hours away from home, daily.
"You'd rather hold your paddle than me".
I'm sure there are others. Wink
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spennie



Joined: 13 Oct 1995
Posts: 975
Location: Thousand Oaks, CA

PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 11:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Hold your paddle"

Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

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windward1



Joined: 18 Jun 2000
Posts: 1400

PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 10:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Spennie...Spennie....Spennie...
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johnnycrash



Joined: 23 May 2000
Posts: 39

PostPosted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 6:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A BIG "Thank You" to Spennie & all the other Enduro organizers/volunteers. I've sailed every year with my small gear~100ltr board & 7.5 non-camber sail, (actually got a 4th in sportclass 2 yrs. ago), but really enjoyed meeting all the great local Cabrillo sailors, the tacos, the prizes I won (a 5.6 Sailworks & a 430 skinny, for a 3rd place in KDP (Kneel Down Paddle) one year with no wind), and all of the after parties at the Yacht Club. I will visit the US Championships, and I hope that you find the energy and support to make it happen in 2014.
Cheers
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prevett



Joined: 25 Jun 1997
Posts: 65

PostPosted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 6:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

With regards to the monetary costs of windsurfing, I have actually kept a spreadsheet of windsurfing-related expenditures, excluding vacations and excluding gas driving to and from sailing sites. This leaves mostly the equipment cost, wetsuits, and services (like IWindsurf).

Average cost per year: $1180
Average sailing days per year: 40

I tend to keep me gear for a while and try to buy gear on closeout deals or slightly used. I don't feel compelled to turnover my gear just because it's not the latest/greatest.

Also, a dedicated vehicle is not required. I use a small station wagon as my all around vehicle. However, my new short/wide boards (about 7.5 ft) actually fit inside my wife's sedan by just putting the front passenger seat back. I couldn't do that in the old days.

So, with regard to cost per session, I do feel that windsurfing can be relatively inexpensive.
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