Gone with the wind

[mortontoemike]

There is an article in the New York Times about windsurfing (with some really beautiful pictures)

http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/ ... -the-wind/

A quote from the article: "As my friend Peter put it, when I asked him recently about his windsurfing: “I only went twice last summer. The sport is dying. Kite-boarding is killing it.”

"Do not go softly into that good night
Rage, rage against the dying of the light"
- Dylan Thomas.

[KUS]

true perhaps, I just think kiteboarding presented another alternative that took more than half away from the numbers interested in watersports of this type and is much easier to learn.
Snowboarding vs skiing same thing....except I can think of more reasons to still ski over snowboarding or doing both. WSing IS dying #1 reason: because all the new people want instant gratification and are so stressed for time because of our life's pace. Also we all have less room....so larger or more gear is automatically viewed as a problem.
As for stress, we are just digging ourselves bigger holes with our technology, and ever increasing options for the little bit of rec time we have left (or leave ourselves is more like it, add up my hours behind the computer it is staggering...) is part of that.... google THAT

[winddoctor]

I guess that means there will just be more parking for the rest of us living large through wndsurfing!

[nanmoo]

Kus makes a valid point, when snowboarding first hit the mainstream scene it seemed like just about everyone switched over, and for awhile there, depending on the mountain there were probably 75% snowboarders. Then skiing pulled its head out of it's ass, took a clue from snowboarding as to why so many people had switched, developed twin tips, starting sponsoring skiers who were shredding the park instead of exploding their knees on moguls (still don't understand that one, never found freestyle racing to be anything but punishment), and adopted an overall more modern, fresh, approach. 10 years later, and skiing is back on par with snowboarding, and the two have maybe even started to get along.

I see windsurfing the same way, it's a smaller market though, so it will happen slower. But you see it happening, sail design and graphics is starting to get more radical, boards actually have graphics and videos like WMII and the new Oxbow flick "walls of perception" have that high production value and edge that puts them right up there with all the other "action sports".

All of these high-dollar sports seem to pulse this way, mountain biking is another good example, once it hit the mainstream stage it exploded and it seemed everyone and their dog went out and bought a bike following the trend attempting to emulate "cool" and "extreme", but then people quickly realized that the ground hurts and their bikes started to collect cobwebs. 5 years later and the sport is significantly smaller, but the people who stuck with it are the ones who really enjoyed it.

[rvanderbyl]

Kus wrote

"Also we all have less room....so larger or more gear is automatically viewed as a problem."

Funny! Large gear doesn't stop people from kayaking, fishing, dirt biking, quading, snowmobiling.......
That whole large gear issue is a bit tiresome. We do what we do because we love it! End of story

[downwind dave]

i see your skiing analogy but you need to go a bit farther - windsurfers are really the telemarkers of the water.
tough to learn, forgotten by the masses, dedicated to modernized yet antique gear, only they 'know the feeling'..

[nanmoo]

i see your skiing analogy but you need to go a bit farther - windsurfers are really the telemarkers of the water.
tough to learn, forgotten by the masses, dedicated to modernized yet antique gear, only they 'know the feeling'..

Makes you wonder - is there some big innovation in windsurf equipment that is just waiting to happen?

[downwind dave]

i think the innovation was lose the mast and add strings.


Not saying for the better of course, obviously it created a whole other sport. But you can see the new blood out there automatically goes to kiteboarding, the demographics are pretty obvious. Maybe some of those guys will feel like trying something new and give windsurfing a whirl. But now that those options are out there, windsurfing will never be ‘the way it was’.. I also think that in our internet/information age, you can pursue a niche sport, from learning to staying stoked to sourcing out gear. Not easy, but it wont completely die out. Definitely a tough industry to make a go in.

[nanmoo]

i think the innovation was lose the mast and add strings.

I'm thinking that innovation had nothing to do with Windsurf equipment and more to do with existing knowledge of kites, paragliding, and wake boarding.

[KUS]

Kus wrote

"Also we all have less room....so larger or more gear is automatically viewed as a problem."

Funny! Large gear doesn't stop people from kayaking, fishing, dirt biking, quading, snowmobiling.......
That whole large gear issue is a bit tiresome. We do what we do because we love it! End of story

OMG I totally disagree....how many kayaks are collecting dust after people use them once, thousands of dollars....and the sport is stagnant yes people love kayaking or did once....., but they hate storing or hauling the rig to the beaches...."sold the van, now it sits around"...everyone's a fisherman, dead snowmobiles and boats in the yard, for every 1000 owners there is MAYBE one active guy out there on the water

Also makes me think of the divorce rates spiralling cuz "he had all his crap sitting around or.... fixed the outboard while getting drunk but not the kitchen tap" another casualty cuz of large gear collecting

[rvanderbyl]

You may be partially right Kus. I stilll see quite a few people coming to our beach with Kayaks on the roof....not many snowmobiles though.
Point is.....who gives a crap! You still gotta drag stuff around to sit or stand on to ride in some manner. I prefer to own a van or truck for many reasons and there are those who would like to drive a car. Go for it! I just don't want to hear some whiny ex windsurfer come down to the beach and go on and on about how easy it is to do this compared to that while they're standing there untangling string and looking for a lost board

[G-Daddy]

Damn. I'm a telemarker too... Everything I do is going obsolete. Only solution is to go pick some berries and mushrooms.....

[KUS]

Damn. I'm a telemarker too... Everything I do is going obsolete. Only solution is to go pick some berries and mushrooms.....

yep, tele, xcountry, touring, downhill....I make my kids do all of it....and they board as well. All good, life skill stuff telemarking is not going out of style in my books and I do love mushrooms and berries

in the article: "While nearly 10 percent of the population in 2004 said it jet-skied, less than 2 percent windsurfed" there is something really sick about this stat can't you just see balloon mom n dad spewing exhaust with a slurpie in one hand on the lake And we wonder why our physical fitness numbers are crashing....

[more force 4]

telemarkers, Geez I hate those guys, always interrupting dinner and ignoring the 'do not call' lists

[JL]

That's funny