Archive for March, 2011

Find the best windsurfing locations on the planet! There is now an extensive website where you can record & view every possible detail about sailing sessions, venues and equipment used.

On My Windsurf Sessions there are so many bits of windsurfing information that you can look at, some of which is pretty geeky but also very useful. For example, you could look at the chart giving the most windy spot of the year, if you are trying to decide where to go on your next windsurfing holiday.

Windsurfers can upload their recorded speeds & keep an eye on who is topping the speed charts!

Basically there is a whole wealth of windsurfing information on the website, its a great place to get some interesting statistics on windsurfing locations, where like minded windsurfers can share information and create a bit of friendly competition!

• #100factsaboutme #1 – I am gonna get fit this summer by getting out there on the water! Join in at: http://tiny.cc/WaterFit #
• Windsurfing video action from Pro Rider Robby Swift in Chile: http://tiny.cc/WindsurfChile #

For the coming season the Poole Windsurfing school will have brand new 2011 windsurfing equipment from Goya, RRD, Amex & Billabong. Lucky students will be using all this new windsurfing equipment on their windsurfing lessons and people hiring windsurfing boards & sails will get to test out all the latest kit!

All types of windsurfing lessons will be running throughout the season from beginner and intermediate windsurfing lessons through to advanced courses and private windsurf tuition. Also, Poole Windsurfing offers a great windsurf hire program where you can pay by the hour or take advantage of a discounted 10 hour hire card that you use during the summer season.

The new 2011 equipment will include an expanded range of beginners windsurfing boards from both RRD & Goya, increasing the range of sizes covered by our fleet. The advanced windsurfing sail range is also being increased to cover more sizes. Our top of the range ‘Guru’ & the new ‘Nexus’ windsurfing sails will give intermediate to advanced windsurfers an even greater choice of sail size & type.

RDM (Reduced Diameter Masts) will once again be used exclusively throughout our windsurf school. We pride ourselves on using the best windsurfing equipment available & these RDM’s are normally only reserved for the instructors at most windsurfing schools! At Poole Windsurfing we use RDM’s for everything from advanced sails right through to using them on our beginners windsurfing lessons!

“They may be more expensive but we really feel the benefit to the students is worth it!” – Terril Winters, Senior Windsurfing Instructor – Poole Windsurfing

Check out our Windsurfing Equipment Page to see more from the Poole Windsurfing School setup. This page showcases our windsurfing equipment and will be updated with pictures of all the 2011 windsurfing kit just as soon as it has been unwrapped ready for the coming seasons windsurfing students.

• Check Out these great video clips from Goya Team Riders… http://fb.me/xTNwTd15 #
• Windsurfing 4 Cancer Research – Check out their website site for how you can help & details of the up coming events http://fb.me/XrluPesB #

Plans for a massive marina set 200 metres offshore from Hamworthy Park have been revealed by Poole Harbour Commissioners. Proposals for the £25 million boat haven with 950 berths include a new home for neighbouring Poole Yacht Club.

Part of the Port Master Plan, the curved breakwater would include some land reclamation, pontoons, a berth for a cruise ship, workshops and a small marine business park, possibly an education centre and the potential to create several hundred new jobs.

Hamworthy Marina Development Plans

There has been a lot of protest against the planned £25 million marina development in Poole Harbour, Hamworthy Park. Due to the potential detrimental affect it will have on watersports activities in the area, local windsurfers have set about making a petition against the planned development.

As one of the organisers of this petition says…
“Us folks in and around Hamworthy Park are setting up an online petition that is against a proposal by Poole Harbour Commissioners to build a huge new marina across the front of Hamworthy Park here in Poole. This is where me, my friends and many others windsurf and kitesurf. If this marina is built it will all end. With the prevailing wind direction we are restricted in the direction that we can go so we have no options. We are after as much support as we can”

One upset regular user of the area had this to say…
“The Port Extension & Marina proposal would ‘extinguish’ the greater part of our delight in the area and we would most certainly transfer our holiday venue if this ill-conceived development were to go ahead. I suspect this is for the benefit of a few who have little regard for the well-being and pleasure of the majority. I therefore urge all concerned to really think again about the wisdom of this massive commercial venture in a unique, traditional tourist area.”

You can read a lot more information about the planned marina development at the following website:
News on the planned marina development at Hamworthy Park

There is also a Facebook page giving all the latest news & developments:
Facebook Page for news on the Hamworthy Marina Development Plans

If you are concerned about the impact this marina development would have on what is a great windsurfing location then do your bit and sign the petition.

Lets hope the windsurfing at Hamworthy Park continues for years to come.

• http://fb.me/viUvg9MH #

Insider tips for choosing the best windsurfing holidays and getting a great windsurfing experience:

1. Decide whether to go ‘all inclusive’ with your windsurf holidays – as with any kind of holiday you will need to choose whether to have everything included: flight, accommodation, windsurf equipment rental and windsurfing lessons.

In favor of all-inclusive windsurfing holidays, they are usually a good deal in terms of price. You can relax and let others take care of your arrangements.

At the other end of the scale are the self-made windsurf holidays. You can tailor the experience exactly how you want it (not that it always goes to plan!). In terms of windsurfing equipment, by bringing your own, you can be in control of exactly what kit you will be using on your windsurf holidays but the cost of transportation (we are talking a few £100) can over shadow this freedom.

A good compromise would be to book some equipment for windsurf hire or windsurfing lessons at your chosen holiday destination but sort out your own travel & accommodation. This way you get the hassle free feel of having all the windsurfing equipment provided for you yet maintain an element of flexibility by being in charge of your own itinerary.

2. Make sure the windsurfing equipment you will use is top rate – If you are taking your own equipment on your windsurfing holidays then there is no excuse for poor quality kit & only yourself to blame if is not up to a good standard.

If you are renting your equipment whilst on your windsurf holidays then make sure you specifically ask how old the equipment at the windsurf centre is! Have a look at the Poole Windsurfing School equipment page for an example of 1st class windsurfing equipment.

3. Check the forecast sites for good windsurfing conditions – With a weather dependant sports holiday such as windsurfing you really need to do your homework & look at a few of the top windsurfing weather forecast sites to get a good overall impression of the locations you are considering.

A good source listing the top wind forecast websites (which can be applied to most windsurfing destinations) can be found in this article about the Top Wind & Weather Forecast Websites.

4. Decide what you want to learn on your windsurfing holiday – Do you want just rent equipment and do your own thing or take windsurfing lessons to propel your skills to the next level?

It’s a good idea to pre-book at least some of your windsurfing lessons before you arrive, so that you start your windsurf holidays with a purpose! By picking out a good windsurfing school, talking with them about what level you are at & pre-booking some windsurfing lessons you will have a good action plan laid out before you even arrive to start your windsurfing holidays.

5. Make sure you have adequate windsurfing insurance – Last but not least, make sure you are adequately insured for all your windsurfing holidays. When you are out there in the elements, things may not always go to plan! You need to protect your windsurfing equipment against damage or theft and yourself against 3rd party claims arising out of incidents out on the water.

It is simple to get windsurfing insurance cover when you know what you are looking for. Check out this article, Finding The Right Personal Windsurfing Insurance for a good summary of what you need to be covered for and a summary of the major players in the world of windsurfing insurance.

• The Butterfly Effect World Tour http://fb.me/S5RJiBH4 #
• The Seavets 2011 Events programme… http://www.seavets.co.uk/ #
• Follow the American Windsurfing Tour here…
  http://americanwindsurfingtour.com/ http://fb.me/B49NcUTh #
• WIND LEGENDS: THE HISTORY OF WINDSURFING http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBxbdRpN3rQ #
• Laird Hamilton – Heaven or Hell? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaKXyehicWw&NR=1&feature=fvwp #

With the revival of windsurfing over the last few years, lets take a look back to where it all began.

In 1968, Jim Drake, an aeronautical engineer and Hoyle Schweitzer, a surfer, filed the very first windsurfing patent, which was granted by the USPTO in 1970. Later, Drake accepts in retrospect that although he can be credited with invention, he was “probably no better than third,” behind Englishman Peter Chilvers and mid-west based Newman Darby, who both had similar inventions.

Drake & Hoyle manufactured the first windsurf boards in their garage, out of foam and hand crafted parts in teak. The first international shipment of a container of boards went to Sweden and early customers also included Lufthansa pilots who had read about the board, picking one up on their return journey from Los Angeles International Airport & including them as hand luggage! (try getting away with that nowadays!!).

To keep the quality of the product and to handle marketing, in 1968 Hoyle and Diana Schweitzer founded the company Windsurfing International in Southern California to manufacture, promote and license a windsurfer design. The company registered the term “windsurfer” as a trademark at the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 1973, launching the craft as a one-design class.

Having gained licensing from Schweitzer In 1979, Tabur Marine (now BIC Sports) lawyers found prior art, in a local English newspaper which had published a story with a picture about Peter Chilvers, who as a young boy on Hayling Island on the south coast of England, assembled his first board combined with a sail, in 1958. This Board used a universal joint,one of key parts of the Windsurfing International patent. They also found stories published about the 1964 invention of the Darby Sailboard by Newman Darby in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

After fighting and losing patent court cases in the UK & Canada, Schweitzer had to reapply for a patent under severely limited terms, and finally it expired in 1987. Shortly thereafter, having lost its license royalty income, Windsurfing International ceased operations.

Windsurfing equipment has been progressing in development throughout the 80′s, 90′s and now within the last 10 years the advancements in windsurfing technology & growing understanding of how to maximise what can be done on a windsurf board has really pushed the sport forward into the world of extreme sports!

Waves that were thought un-ridable are now ridable, a whole new discipline of high speed, planing windsurfing freestyle has been created & learning the sport is much, much more accessible to all.

Happy Windsurfing!