Aesthetically it is like lungs and/or wings have been added. You fly all the time.

And I thought about asking the guys in surfing or coastalwatch. you know, because they sit in line ups, crowded, waiting, just sitting there, that could be nice if it weren't for the crowds, and all summer when the seabreezes come on creating onshore slop it is perfect for windsurfing, or kite-surfing, whatever.

Dunno where I'm going with this.

Windsurfing is not Surfing set free.
Windsurfing is not even surfing.
It's sailing.
Sometimes it's sailing (in waves).
It will never be surfing.
It doesn't even come close.
Surfing is the coolest thing you can do on this planet.

A damn fine waterman who had surfed his entire life and taken up wind/wave sailing in his twenty's, once told me over a few Sunday session jugs that surfing is Zen, a place of self paced reflection and growth. Wind/wave sailing was the same, just on drugs. Everything is amplified, more out of control and its more like you are along for the ride, even though you think you are in control. The conversation twenty years ago still sticks with me every time I am out in 20knts+ with descent swell is running.

KenHo said...
...and while you line up for a lift, that adds a civility to the process that is sorely lacking in surfing.
Surfing brings out the worst in people, I find, and hence, not always the coolest thing. Uncrowded surfing is OK, but when does that happen.
....

I gave up snow sports after getting thoroughly sick of the queues and expense and the image and attitude on the runs. It was great when I was a back country skier but that all became too much of an expedition to be sustainable.

I threw myself into winter surfing and that was great. Less people. Better surf. A shorter drive. Less expense.

There's always the hardcore dudes that dominate waves and drop in and hog everything. It's usually possible to get away from them.

I got into SUP surfing a couple of years ago and that is a revelation. I can paddle for 15 minutes to my own personal break and get more waves in an hour than I would have got in a month in the past.

SUP riders are mostly older and a bit concious of the criticism from other surf users. People tend to over-compensate and be overly nice to others in the lineup. I'm a bit sick of the whole "Aloha spirit" crap but I like the friendly vibe that SUPping generally has.

When it comes to adding wind I think windsurfing and kiteboarding have more to do with motocross than surfing. We get out there and blast around non-stop and bash waves splash around. In surfing time stands still when you are on a wave. With wind it all happens much faster.

I get a very bad impression of surfing in Qld, WA and NSW from reading these forums. In Vic, except for certain breaks, surfing is quite mellow and friendly. The surfing (and some windsurfing) posts from other States give an impression of aggression and unfriendliness (although I have not experienced the nastiness when I go interstate.)

"Windsurfing is Surfing set free. Discuss."

Not quite interesting enough to be an aphorism.

I like

"To be stupid and selfish and to have good health are the three requirements of happiness, though if stupidity is lacking then the other two are useless" (Flaubert)

or

"If a little dreaming is dangerous, the cure is for it is not to dream less, but to dream more, to dream all the time." (Proust)

Hey, feel free to rip apart my hypothesis/thread title. That's what it's for

KenHo said...


I don't see much aggression when I surf here on the GC, but even a mellow crowd is a crowd. There can be a lot of aggro though.

This is why I drifted away from it, well one reason. I remember being in the line-up at Kirra, a long time ago, and realising that I'd only managed to score a single so-so wave in an hour. Crowds = and they certainly don't look any better than 20 years ago.

I've got a surfing friend that moans when the summer seabreezes come in, turning the already pathetic surf to slop. But this can make for a cross-onshore playground for us. Been trying to get him into kitesurfing even, but he won't bite.

like the germans say

surfing was zen

windsurfing is now

flame away

Gestalt said...

i find balance is required.

Is there anyway you can pause this?

^ da vecta.

you could open it in a photo editting package.

i've spent hours staring at it and as far as i can tell no nip is visible.


now to the question at hand.

yes!

Surfing is more pure and free than dancing or kiteing.

Surfing you are just harnessing the pure power of the wave ,
If you head too far away from the main power source(where the wave is breaking) you lose all power and speed,
Where with dancing and kiteing,
its really cheating, your not completely useing the oceans power but the winds power so you can just play with the oceans power.

Surfing on its own is more "zen" so to speak, way more free(your not connectd to a huge sail and mast or a kite) .

Riding waves useing a pole dancer or kite is really the lazy,un-patient(is that a word)oh,,impatient,, surfer.
Most people that have surfed all their lives will understand that feeling of pure wave rideing.
As the saying goes "only a surfer knows the feeling"

hahahahaha!

Yeah, but I am a surfer, so I do know the feeling, so I can reasonably compare them.
Surfing is a cool feeling, but I think surfers blow a lot of gas about the "purity" or "zen" of it.
It's just fannying about at the end of the day. A joyous waste of time indeed, but of no constructive or higher purpose, any more than any of these activities.
Surfing is also a bit slow and dull a lot of the time. Lots of hanging about, and unless you are in head-high or better waves, the speed on the wave is often sluggish as well.
I waste a lot of time at the beach and I see a lot of doughy waves being ridden.
WIndsurfing, OTOH, has the potential for a decent speed-rush every time I go out, with MORE POWER !!

lotofwind said...

Surfing is more pure and free than dancing or kiteing.

Surfing you are just harnessing the pure power of the wave ,
If you head too far away from the main power source(where the wave is breaking) you lose all power and speed,
Where with dancing and kiteing,
its really cheating, your not completely useing the oceans power but the winds power so you can just play with the oceans power.

Surfing on its own is more "zen" so to speak, way more free(your not connectd to a huge sail and mast or a kite) .

Riding waves useing a pole dancer or kite is really the lazy,un-patient(is that a word)oh,,impatient,, surfer.
Most people that have surfed all their lives will understand that feeling of pure wave rideing.
As the saying goes "only a surfer knows the feeling"

and if you pause it after another 180 degrees, you see this

Only a surfer knows the feeling

No it's the other way round, only a windsurfer knows the feeling and surfing can never be windsurfing no matter what[}:)].

The term "windsurfing" was offered to Jim and Hoyle when they were testing prototypes in Baja. An excited hippy said something like "Wow man, that wind surfing is cool man".

Notably it had nothing to do with surfing and waves. It was just a slightly oversized mal with a centreboard propelled by a sail. To the hippy no doubt it struck him as surfing set free.

What a crock of sh!t the topic statement is - the G string is the pure form of undies - just doesn't catch the follow thru