By the way the names of the syncro swimming team for Beijing were:
Eloise Amberger
Coral Bentley
Sarah Bombell
Tamika Domrow
Myriam Glez
Erika Leal-Ramirez
Tarren Otte
Samantha Reid
Bethany Walsh
Any of these names ring a bell? Any of them doing uncle tobys ads?
just as a side note... the Neil Pryde was chosen with the RS:X setup after a lengthy process where the IOC invited different manufacturers to provide a full kit matching certain criteria.
If I remember correctly the two front runners where Neil Pryde and Starboard. I believe Starboard has a solution that was more geared towards ultra light wind. The Neil Pryde gear was a bit more oriented towards windsurfing in planing conditions.
In the end the Neil Pryde solution was selected and the RS:X class was born. I am not sure what the final reasoning for choosing Neil Pryde was.
Yes it is technical, expensive and hard to learn, yes there are a huge number of people that love it. Dont disagree with any of that, however, we are dealing with the younger generation now and they demand things right here right now.
I have my GF sailing now from time to time and she said to me she loves the feeling but bloody hates the rigging up and why dont we have something simple and easy as far as rigging goes. I actually tend to agree. Ok I know that now people will go but what about the old days when we had to tie our booms on etc, but this isnt the old days and we expect things to be simpler. I read the other week that high end maxi yachts will be using an inflatable luff in the next decade with no actual mast at all (really not sure how this works but someone in a white coat has worked it out).
We need young guys and girls coming into the sport, we need that increased market so that we get to keep our manufacturers in business and the sport growing. The real question is how do we do that?
The complexity of rigging and the gear is not what turns people off unless they are not the sort of people who are not interested in sailing or windsports. Compared to all other forms of sailing a windsurfer is a very simple craft. There are no mast stays, no rudders, few ropes of which most are quite short. No need to learn complex knots. If you have a collision it probably won't cost much. Capsizing is no big deal on a windsurfer.
Despite this in many places there are many more dingies and small yachts than windsurfers.
Personally I don't think trying to attract young people is the way for the sport to grow. Though its unfashionable I think attracting middle aged to older people would be more productive. There are many ex windsurfers who could be all returning windsurfers. Plus there are many people who want to have a sport or hobby as they phase out of working life that is a bit more interesting than golf. These people have money to spend.
Windsurfing works quite well as a mature age sport as its something you can keep doing well into your sixties and seventies.
I've noticed quite a lot of people this year returning to the sport, their children having grown and now having more time for relaxation. Interestingly many of those older boards sporting old rigs are still pretty quick.
As far as windsurfing (or kitesurfing) in the Olympics goes, who cares? When have you given it more than a second's thought in all the time it has been on?
I think most people are put off by the misconception that windsurfing is hard to do and only daredevil extreme athletes could do it. The boards must be heavy. The sails must be heavy. You must be so strong. The water must be so cold. Aren't you afraid of sharks?
BTW In 20 years I might have been asked about windsurfing maybe 5 times. In 10 years of kiting it would be getting close to 100 times. In the early days it would be more than 5 a day. Windsurfing sort of makes sense when you look at it. Kiteboarding just doesn't compute to a lot of people.
I like the discussion found in the many last notes.
I understand gregc better now, and we seem to agree with the "too difficult generation" thing.
I sure don't understand that growth won't come from younger people. Can I remind you that young people have 40 years left of sailing in them, where older people... Not to deter middle-aged people: great sport to get into at all levels.
Freestyle and glitzy stuff is not what will make people pick up windsurfing - it makes them look, but it turns them off ("I'll never be that good").
Olympics: never ever seen someone interested in the sport because of it.
