Sometimes I've just got to wonder... I mean that is so obvious... do they ever..

... never mind.

Just got one over here at the school. They are not the flawless solution you might first think. They can cause the whole board to capsize like a laser which when you have a little kid on the board can be a real pain. The other day one of our students managed to tip over a 205lt JP with it on and ended up in the drink for 5min trying to get the board upright again. But in really wide boards in lighter winds they are pretty cool. Kid on it the other day didn't even have to hold onto the sail the board just tracks upwind with the sail out of the water slightly sheeted in. Real set and forget sailing. They also work really well on the front of a tandem windsurfer and with a young kid.

JayBee said...

Choco - I agree totally.

I know at least a dozen people who tried windsurfng and found it too strenuous. The amount of uphauling beginers do becomes a huge hurdle to continuing. They complain of the sail being so heavy to pull up...

Great idea, thumbs up,

JB

I don't like it- if you can't master the correct technique to properly uphaul so it is not strenuous then what chance do you have of sailing in 15+ knots, waterstarting, tacking, gybing etc.

Putting a good small sail onto a modern widestyle learner board is about as easy as it should get. Last time I grabbed a modern learner setup I was amazed (ok so i've been sailing for a while) but uphauling was simple, I was on the verge of planing- and could pull off light wind 360's, duck gybes etc and i'm not good at that fancy crap. It made me wonder why I bothered struggling to get planing and wobble round with a 7.8m slalom setup it is that easy and fun.

There is a limit to how easy you can make things before it hinders the next step, you want a fixed mast buy a boat. If hundreds of thousands of pasty white, thin, under-exercised europeans can trek to the beach and uphaul their wally's once a year then surely the arm-chair generation can master something that is ALOT easier with modern equipment.

Cost and image and yucky brown water hurts windsurfing, not how hard it is

Edit* aimed at kids though, that is a whole different situation- then great product

this is getting too easy make them earn their muscles they'll need it anywayswhat's next a self tacking board

Yeah, and let's ditch training wheels on bikes and floaties for learning to swim while we're at it.
What's wrong with giving people a taste of the sport prior to acquiring the skills? Just as you do with the above 2 examples.

Note: I think Starboard have taken on the distribution of this product as it is such an innovative one, but it's not actually their's as such!

I think it is silly. Almost anyone can uphaul with a straight back and using ther legs. When beginners listen and do it correctly I've never seen one who could not uphaul ....... obviously with an appropriately sized sail.
I've taught from 8 y/o to 65 y/o, males and females.

A great idea for kids and adults.
Even with correct uphauling technique if you fall in a lot you are going to get tired from climbing back on the board and uphauling. You get fatigued and your fine muscle control goes and balance goes out the window and from there it is a frustrating downward spiral. Most people decide it's too hard and give up.
Can't you guys remember what it was like?
We on this forum are the intrepid few who saw enough in it to keep going for whatever reason. For me it was that I wasn't going to be shown up by a group of teenagers, and then once you get planing, well...
I am all for any advances that make learning windsurfing more user friendly.
It is the only way our sport is ever going to challenge kiting for popularity.

Is this iDo thing just a mast base or is it more?

Pansies.

When I learned my mast filled completely with water as there was/is no "things" in the mast to stop water flowing in. Eventually, after 6 months, I stuffed some foam in there.

Not sure how much a single piece, aluminium 430 filled with water weighs, but a lot. Combined with no harness and learning to plane I was possibly the strongest I've ever been/ever will be. At the end of some sessions I couldn't get the board back onto the roof of the car my arms were so full of jelly, mind you that weighed about 25kg 30kg 40kg. When I got home I'd literally collapse onto the couch and fall asleep for an hour or two.

If I had to learn again I'd maybe go straight to water starting. You learn a lot of sail control at the same time. Takes longer but a much steeper learning curve.

To be honest if I didnt find windsurfing difficult from the outset I probably would have gone "meh too easy, been there done that now".

Considering all the people i've taught to windsurf the ones that picked it up the quickest where the least interested- and it was the girls that picked it up the quickest, both my wife and another chick were up and sailing round within about 10min time on water looking for that next step of how do i turn around which they both mastered at a rate which left my cursing their co-ordinated souls. This was on old gear too, not the new wide easy stuff.

How many sailors do you see (even in schools) that don't use proper uphaul technique, sail balance is the fundamental concept of this sport.

I'm all for making windsurfing easy, new gear has done that but sometimes things can be taken too where they start to hinder the next step.

Is windsurfing in decline? Sure numbers are down from the peaks in the 80s. However whenever its blowing in Sydney there are plenty of people out windsurfing and there are plenty of newbies trying it out.

Any innovation, technique or equipment that makes the acquisition of a new skill easier and therefore probably more enjoyable should not be dismissed out of hand. Sure its not that difficult to learn how to windsurf on a modern big wide board and little sail. However if this IDO encourages a few more people to try windsurfing then that can't be too bad.

Is learning to windsurf on appropriate gear in appropriate conditions too difficult for people interested in learning to windsurf? Probably not most of the time. There are probably a few reasons why windsurfing is not as big as it could be. Clearly the cost and amount of gear needed is a problem. Also the lack of co-operation of the weather is also an impediment. This can be countered by using gear that works in lighter winds. Last year I borrowed an old Tiga raceboard for a bit of a sail with a 7m sail in light winds. It was great fun as the board cut through the water with great ease. I also enjoy taking my wife's RRD Easy Rider out with her small sail to muck around on when the wind is light.

Windsurfing will never be as popular as it once was but it will not die out either. Gadgets that make the initial steps of windsurfing easier can't do much harm.