Windsurfer sailing in from a Yacht Delivery
Windsurfing is a huge water sport in the UK. It combines the two sports of sailing and surfing bringing them together to give a surf board the power to sail / surf where ever he wants. A wind surfing kit consists of four main components; a board, sail, mast and boom. There are various boards for various types of surfing. For example; you have ones with a large rocker (bend up at the front), these are used for wave conditions and jumping, then you have flatter boards that are designed for flatter water and speed. You also get different buoyancy levels. Some boards will sink as soon as you stand on them, but will then be exceptionally light and handle well when under way. Where as some boards are designed to take a much larger weight and can be used for learning or casual cruising. You must remember that what ever level of the sport you participate in, life insurance must be taken out along with public liability. Life insurance will cover your family if the worst was to happen, whilst public liability looks after those around you in case you damage or injure someone. Life Insurance polices although boring have to play a part in your sport. Especially where the lines are thin as they are with an extreme sport like windsurfing. We recommend you speak to Go Life Insurance Quotes for you life insurance, we felt their website gave great advice and when we called to speak to someone, we where happy to get through to a qualified independent broker who gave excellent advice. Windsurfing is closely linked to the sailing community. It has become a popular challenge to sail out on a large yacht and then try to sail mid ocean conditions back to the safety of land. Recently a guy was on in the middle of the Bay of Biscay, some 150 miles off shore with a yacht delivery company based in the U.K. he jumped ship with just his board, sail and a bottle of water. Some 8 hours later he surfed into La Rochelle on the West Coast of France, a little sun burnt but very satisfied of the completed challenge.
The mast is approximately 4 meters in length and can come in wither a one piece or two piece set up. The two piece is simply designed for ease of transport as it halves the length. The mast will have a certain level of flex in it depending on the sail you intend to use with it and the surfing you intend to use it for. It will secure to the board via a universal joint which will allow it to rotate and bend in all directions. The sail will be fitted over the mast with a sock like sleeve down the leeward side. Sails come in all different sizes from about 3 meters up to a huge 12 meter sail. A typical windsurfer would need three sails in their armoury. Common sizes would be a 4 meter, 5 meter and 6 meter, this range would suit most recreational conditions and would see you on the water a lot. The last main part of a windsurfers kit is the boom. This is basically the two sided handle that runs around the sail and gives outhaul tension to the sail. The out haul is the tension put on the sail pulling it away from the mast and creating the wing like affect. The Boom will have a clamp to attach it to the mast and a simply pulley system for the outhaul.
You will often see windsurfers starring at the sea, weighing up the conditions and trying to get a feel for the most appropriate sail and board. Once the decision is made, it all about getting out there to have some fun.
Big Wave Windsurfer
It was the invention of an American guy called Newman Darby that brought the sail board to the market. He designed his first board in the mid 1960′s but never patented the idea. It was designed with a square rig set up and was very limited in its use. However, from here the design has changed considerably. It was the advances of the sail and boards that allowed windsurfers to be the first sports people to tackle the big waves of Maui. The sail allowed surfers to get up to the significant speed needed to catch the huge waves. It wasn’t until the introduction of tow in surfers; which were basically towed onto waves using small sports boast or jet ski’s, that the big weave surfers came about. Typically today, you will see a mixture of surfers and windsurfers enjoying similar wave conditions.
The sport has been an Olympic sport for several yeas now, however it is seeing a growing competitor in the kite surfing world. Kite surfing is similar in the fact it uses a sail, board and wind to propel yourself. However, it’s ease and accessibility seems to be the driving force behind its success. A windsurfing kit is quiet large and would take a car to transport to venues where as a kite surfer can roll up his kite into a back pack and carry the boards under his arm. This has meant it seems to be the choice of most new comers to the world of water sport. We here at Windsurfers-co.com are excited by the introduction of kite surfing but feel that once a windsurfer, always a windsurfer.