SA
924 posts
hey everyone,
what do you all think is the best age for windsurfing? when do you enjoy it the most?
Is it better when you are young and light like i am or better when you are older, heavier and stronger?
I've heard of people aging from 6 or 7 like i was when i started, to guys even 70 and older, still enjoying their windsurfing a great deal.
I'm just interested to find out when i should be looking forward to having the best sail of my life. My gues is about 20 to 25 because your still relatively young and you dont have your parents holding you back.
WA
12885 posts
well I didn't start till I was 40, so can't say about the earlier years.
When I first started the enjoyment came from achieving new things. Later was the sheer exhilaration of flying over the water, and slashing waves.
Started surfing when I was 16 thou and probably peaked mid 20s. Think you're probably right max enjoyment could come when you're the best at it. So make the most of your 20s!!!!
Saying that, it's by no means a rapid drop off, rather a very slow decline, as you say us oldies are still having heaps of fun!
WA
136 posts
Although I'm having great fun each time I go out these days, I feel my peak will be in later years, once I've got my license, more experience and started earning some real cash for myself.
20s sounds right to me!
VIC
1509 posts
When do you enjoy it the most? I'll let you know at the end of my life, hopefully in about 40 years' time. I think I'm enjoying my sailing as much now (at 42- if I remember correctly) as I did when I first took it up nearly 20 years ago. Sometimes even more so. because it's a bigger hoot and a more necessary pressure release in a busier life with time being more precious. Despite paying school fees and a truckload on renovating the house, at my stage of life I've got fewer money worries so there's less guilt about spending on gear. Plus I tell my wife that she can spend the same amount on lingerie if she wants (win-win). I'm the same weight that I was when I first started sailing, and have less cranial wind resistance, so technically I might just be sailing faster than ever. I'm not too old to be a decrepit (sorry Decrepit) but old enough to have a lot of great experiences on the water. And blasting up a ramp for some massive air makes me feel like a kid, so I don't ever feel old, nor sail like some old fart, when it's blowing at 25kts plus! In fact, when I was out last Sunday in a magnificent 25kt southerly, I saw a guy (best on beach) pull off a loop. Impressive. And a little while later I saw him come in and go out for a body surf with what was obviously his son who looked about 12 years old. So the dad was probably about my age, and he's impressing the spectators with forwards. And I'm thinking "How cool is that!" Age is so irrelevant!
So to summarize, I think I'm still having the best sails of my life, because I can still do it, I haven't stopped learning new stuff, and it is more important to me mentally than ever. Plenty of good years left, grasshopper.
WA
966 posts
Easy answer: Any age. The younger you start the easier the Freestyle moves will be but the enjoyment factor is constant I think. I still get the same buzz today as when I started. The only difference is that with time, what gives you the buzz changes. At first it is uphauling without hurting your back, later it becomes gybing consistantly, wave riding etc.
I think that as you progress the addiction becomes more prevalent in your personality. Although the enjoyment factor remains the same, the risk factor decreases I believe. There is a direct corralation between the size of your mortgage and the risks you take. As a teenager you don't have a mortgage so you will take greater risks but the enjoyment factor is the same.
When I lived in Sydney there was an old gentleman by the name of Otto who was about 92 who windsurfed on Narabeen Lake and was in the Guiness Book of World Records as the oldest windsurfer in the world. I am pretty sure he would also say any time.
WA
78 posts
as they say.....beauty is in the eye of the beholder.............. i am 60 yrs old goin on 32,...I get the same buzzz from windsurfing that I got from surfing when i was 15 yrs old!!!and when you are out there pushing it as hard as you can, and you think to yourself s..t am i good or what.YOU will ceratainly go arse over tit ,and that is what makes it so good.We think we are different ,but we are basically, just humans doing what we love to do.Many people wont understand,and I feel sad for them becos, they will never understand what it is all about
NSW
290 posts
MikeyS said
"So to summarize, I think I'm still having the best sails of my life, because I can still do it, I haven't stopped learning new stuff, and it is more important to me mentally than ever. Plenty of good years left, grasshopper."
you made me laugh with that grasshopper line...but ironically it shows our age...i dought the young guys would even know to what you refer...but still it made me laugh.
but if only I could snatch the pebble from your hand it would be time for me to leave.
unfortunately I started in my late 30's....wish I had the opportunity to have been introduced to it as a boy...currently at 47 health issues have slowed it down a lot... but sailboarding and my songwriting/performing are the two things that make me fight my health probs...sailboarding not only helps physically improve ones health but also mentally it makes you feel you can do anything...and I think that is one of its major benefits is the high or some might say spiritual aspect of this sport...no drug could create the high sailboarding creates...and thats at what ever level of sailing you are at.
now after all that bullshyte I just spoke someone will now hand me that pebble to make me leave.
VIC
1509 posts
Yeah, Rustbucket. A little reference for the old blokes. These young'uns have much to learn. (Then again, us oldies have much to remember).
WA
201 posts
Younger is better (15 -25 I reckon)- fitter, slimmer, knees are not sore and worn, arms are stronger, lungs are able to recover from being held under a wave in cold surf, not worried about the skin that gets burnt off by the doc on each visit.
Still good fun. But just gets a bit harder (or softer maybe) with age.
No regrets.
