Why is dirt windsurfing not more popular?

[DelCarpenter]

"Dirt surfing," dirt windsurfing," "wind skating." "street sailing," "land sailing," & "parking lot sailing," plus a few others all refer to sailing with a windsurfing rig on a wheeled board on a land surface. YouTube & Vimeo have videos under most of those terms. "Carveboard Sailing" on YouTube is a good place to look.

Adding to the advantages Manuel mentioned: 1. Most windsurfers live much closer to sailable parking lots than to sailable water. 2. Most lots big enough for sailing are lighted at night so sessions at 9:00 pm or midnight are available. 3. It gives new life to old sails, masts & booms. 4. Fine training for jibing. 4. Add a lot of sailing sessions by spending $200 or less on a used mountain board or longboard skateboard.

Nearly all of my sailing on land with a windsurfing rig is parking lot sailing. I've been told to leave a large mall lot and one university lot. At the time the university didn't allow any skateboarding. The university now allows skateboarding for transportation & now the university police just wave as they go by me. I also often sail at a junior high school, two different large churches and one large office building. No one else has ever questioned me, except those who were curious about what it is.

Skateboarders might think I look like a dork in my elbow pads, knee pads, bulky clothing, and a motorcycle helmet. My wife thinks my safety gear makes me look smart. She also thinks I look smart when I always wear my life jacket. I agree with her; when she isn't worried I get more sailing sessions.

In 11-12 yrs of parking lot sailing I have not yet found a board specifically designed for sailing on parking lots. I've owned 12 different models & still have the 5 best. (Due to a downsizing move 3 of those in the picture are for sale, PM me if interested.) My Turf de Ville was the absolute worst until different trucks and wheels made it one of the best.

In the picture from the left: Freebord 112, Carveboard (with Dragon Paw tires), MBS Blade, Turf de Ville (with original tires), Roller Surfer (16" wheels), and a Norblan Speedsail (2 meters long, 12" tires).

I'm keeping my modified Turf de Ville and a Kahuna Creations Bombora.

[windward1]

WOW!

[isobars]

I really enjoyed my Rollersurfer on mowed or not-so-mowed lawns, packed sand, dirt, pavement, flats hills, etc. Its big wheels worked really well on a wide variety of surfaces and terrain. They stopped selling them in the U.S. because we're too litigious; insurance costs here were out of line with the rest of their market. (Similarly, I also used to pay $5 for a day of excellent snow skiing.) Considering my history of severe ankle sprains and fractures, for which many people including me pay dearly for the rest of their lives, I sold mine online. I hope he liked it and remains healthy.

[DelCarpenter]

My Roller Surfer experience wasn't as good as Isobar's. I either picked grass that was too long or the ground under the grass was too rough. I sold my Roller Surfer last fall, shipped it in a bike box to Santa Fe NM.

In the picture I posted you can see the original wide wheel on the black, Turf de Ville. The product was vastly over built. The extra heavy trucks & wheels were replaced with 10" wide skateboard trucks and with narrow scooter wheels 125mm in diameter. That transformed the board into one which is very light with minimal rolling resistance. After improving the Turf de Ville, the Freebord 112 on the left was no longer needed and was sold to a skateboarder.

In the picture the deck lengths range from 44.25" on the left to 78.74" on the right. I also have a 59" Kahuna Creations Bombora with a 14" wide deck. I'm trying 100 mm diameter scooter wheels with the Bombora.

Sometimes my local lakes aren't sailable because they are covered with ice or snow that is too soft, or the parks they are in are closed by flooding. Then I can get my wind fix on a local parking lot. Sometimes I'm not certain I have enough time for an on-water session but I could squeeze in some parking lot sailing. Then I'll choose to do the parking lot sailing rather than no sailing at all.

[manuel]

Great feedback you guys... a little inspiration, maybe someday we'll see some front and push loops thrown over dirt, I saw a speed loop done over snow in QC.

[DelCarpenter]

Manuel, the ramp shown doesn't give me any inspiration at all. It reminds me of all the broken bones Lindsey Vonn has suffered pushing the limits in downhill skiing. I'm reminded part of the cutting edge on a razor being sharpened gets lopped off.

I'm kind of lucky as someone who chose to be stuck in the midwest because my reaction times were never good enough for me to become a good wave sailor. My Carveboard was designed to be great at sliding around curves while going downhill on pavement. I'll never know. On a hard surface or a soft one I'm a decent cruiser enjoying the pleasures of sailing in control.

[manuel]

So the one common thing that I'm taking out of this thread seems to be related to injury.

Here are some ideas regarding the mountain board itself:
1. It's low to the ground. Easy to hop on and off.
2. It's longer than a skateboard so it's stable forward and back (center of gravity is easily kept between the trucks).
3. It has wheels more spread apart so it's more stable side to side.
4. It has (or may have I guess) shocks that absorb energy (smoothes out terrain).
5. It has large wheels which can go easily over bumps and ground imperfections.

And thoughts related to dirt windsurfing in general:
1. We are tired, we can sit down and relax anywhere!
2. Gusts don't matter, there's no harness, we simply open the sail and let it flag while continuing to roll
3. max speed can be as low as zero, we just sheet in exactly however much we are comfortable with to achieve the desired speed.
4. Asphalt should only be for very light wind only, or rolling along, dirt or short grass (I did it on thicker grass but then needed a downhill when upwind and strong forearms when uphill!!!!)
5. Slowing down isn't easy, one should be prepared to sheet out or head abruptly upwind and run/walk off. So speed control is important but fortunately easy!
6. The minimum fitness required is to be able to step on and off the board.

I'm not sure I have vids of me sailing in heavy heavy winds where I get flattened out but the risk of injury I believe is much lower than windsurfing even! We can wear a helmet (advised), gloves (awesome in the cold), and pads of all sorts. I just wore a long sleeve shirt, jeans and a helmet for the most part.

I mean people at the park were really interested, the news was too (when was the last time you saw windsurfing "on tv"?). It can get kids into the sport for much less money than windsurfing.

EDIT: In regards to the ramp, we could have an area filled with foam cubes. For sure most windsurfing jumps cannot be landed outside of water!!!!

I think it's so so cool though!!!!

[DelCarpenter]

Trying to add to Manuel's tips: When stepping off or jumping off at any speed, always go front foot first or both together. (Doing the splits is a big risk for any rider getting off back foot first.)

I would love to try sailing on hard packed sand along a coast, or on dirt at Ivanpah, a dry lake in SE California, or in the Black Rock desert in NW Nevada near Gerlach, or on Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

I'm a cautious guy, but sometimes I'm sailing in my favorite parking lots with the basic wind at 25 mph, and quite often with winds of 15-20 mph, though most often the basic wind is between 8 and 15 mph. My smallest sail is a 3.4 Rushwind. Sometimes if the wind is gusting too high when I want to do a jibe I just backwind the sail, hop off and step the board around. Once, when I realized too late I couldn't make a turn, I hit a curb straight on, expecting I would tumble over the curb onto the grass, but the inflatable, large diameter mountain board tires went up over the curb and I stopped without falling. I don't remember which board, the tires were between 6.5" and 8.0" in diameter.

My only serious injury so far was a bad foot and ankle sprain. I haven't even had any significant road rash. But, I'm also not trying to push the envelope or trying to go faster than someone else.

[ctuna]

http://www.turfdog.co.uk/

the trouble is finding a spot where you can do it and not get run
off .

http://www.turfdog.co.uk/technique.php

[inf2003]

So I tried all kinds of boards. I only wanted to use the board to go slow and make lots of turns to get sail practice. I wanted to simulate wave-surfing. Skateboard types were the best on pavement but they did not turn well enough with regular rubber grommet trucks. I found a truck by a company called original that are spring loaded and very turny. They are 210 mm wide and very stable. The trucks come with different stiffness springs to make the board tighter and looser. A 3 ft long board will turn in a very small radius of about 4 or 5 feet diameter. They very much give the feel of surfing. Small wheels hit rocks and skid. The solution was to use 90mm skateboard wheels. They go over cracks and pebbles much easier. it feels like a surfboard . I laminated a custom board in my vaccum bag. I made the boards drop as low as possible to keep you close to the ground. They work amazing for surfing and sail practice on pavement. I always turned a lot and did not get up a lot of speed. The boards are also great for downhill skateboarding because they turn so tight you just keep carving across the hill as to not pick up speed. I made two. Due to life situations I don't use them anymore. I would sell if someone wanted them. I have about $150 in materials into each one. The fancy picture is from the original web site. The others are one of the boards.