hi!

just after some good websites with tutorials etc on how to windsurf. any recommendations? i've been teaching myself mainly off www.guycribb.com but it would be great if i had a few more resources.

bit of background. i'm from yamba, study engineering at UQ in bris. i've been windsurfing since... 28nov 2006 (in yamba), i'll always remember that first day, making a fool of myself at the beach... in way too much wind on some centuries old tiga longboard. fibreglass mast, which was falling appart and made your hands/arms itchy with glass fibres. okay, maybe it wasn't that long ago hehe.

anyway, taught myself how to sail that, with some old 4.6m gastra sail. much hilarity had for christmas beachgoers in yamba.

tripped up to brisbane 2 weeks after that, scored a brand new 2004 96L freesex for $1000 (bit of a big step down), bought a second hand 5.9m '03 RAFJet + boom (off this website actually), bought a new mast, and just a fortnight ago i got a harness and lines, so i've got all the gear :D

anyway, winds not that great here, but i go out most days its windy enough to move, and i taught myself how to go forwards and gybe on my shortboard. spent a few days just sinking lol. i progressed thou.

been out in 15+ knots about 3 times. 1st time... just hooned up and down the beach.... struggled with uphauling a LOT. was only just enough wind to plane, with my limited skills anyway. but the first time i got onto the plane i was HOOKED. 2nd time, learnt how too beach start.. (a friendly fellow windsurfer taught me) so basically.. sailed across the small bay.... stopped.. beaach started, came back... beach started again. great fun.

Last sunday. epic conditions, well maybe 20kts... but epic enough for me. And i finally had a harness and lines, so i taught myself how to get into harness, in footstraps as well, absolutely stoked. beachstart, frontfoot in straps.. backfoot in strap, hook in and planing. best feeling EVER. and also managed to get a hold of waterstarts, EVEN MORE STOKED. even got a tiny bit of air a few times hehe, it was choppy!

and yeah throw in a lot of days of just floating around doing not much, and maybe a few sketchy borderline windy days, and thats my windsurfing career so far. needless to say, i'm absolutely addicted.

anyway will be in bris soon, uni starts back up. i hear that redcliff and wellington point are the places to sail? lets play a fun game of educate the nub! i have a car with roofracks too, so if anyone wants to bum a lift on those windy days in exchange for some technique pointers that would be tops :)

ben.

Hi Swoosh,

Geez it sounds like you're a fast learner! Gybing, waterstarting and getting into the straps after one month... Respect

Anyway here are a couple more sites:

Tuition/tips:
www.roynbartholdi.com
www.windsurfing.org/train05.htm
www.codemaker.co.uk/ww/jibe3.htm

Windsurfing news/videos
www.continentseven.com/http://

2 months! and i dunno.. i claim the gybes.... as long as i'm on the other side of the board and the sails still up. then i'll claim it for sure!

i have sailed, waterskiied, wakeboarded, barefoot ski'ed, skiing (snow). and pick most of them up fairly quickly... persistance helps! when i first got my shortboard i was getting home from work at 5:30, and then sailing practically until sundown (7:45) every other day.

thanks for the links! keep em coming.!

hobie14t: thanks for the link, would defo be interested. where do i find out where the next meet is? i'm obviously not looking on the right place on the website.

Hi Ben,

Jason here who you were talking to on the beach on Saturday, too bad I had to go back to Brisbane on Sunday morning, here's a pic Michelle snapped on Saturday:

ww25.imagebeaver.com/view.php?mode=gallery&g=146373&photo=1

Jason

Cool,

We're heading back to Yamba tomorrow afternoon after work, coming back to Bris Sunday morning again. Will hopefully get some nice NE'ers on Friday and Saturday. I'll pack some instructional vids from Peter Hart you can have which I've found to be really good, if the wind's from the North East I'll be at whiting ;)

Greenpoint near Angourie is good in a southerly, the not so good part about it is you have to launch off the rocks onto the reef... I'd suggest having your waterstarts and gybes nailed 200% before attempting greenpoint, and watch the locals so you know where not to sail so you dont loose a fin ;-)

Other than that, Cholora Lake on the way into town near Crystal waters is about the only flatwater southerly spot I can think of... Only very short runs so lots of gybe/tack practise. I'm not sure if any of the waterways at Crystal waters are any good in a southerly, possibly some of the ones in the newer development would be OK for some decent runs.

took a quick snap with google earth, you can see there's a fairly limited amount of spots to sail in a southerly compared to the northerlies:

ww25.imagebeaver.com/view.php?mode=gallery&g=146390&photo=1

Definitely get yourself Jem Hall's new vid: Beginner to Winner. It's 240mins long and goes through everything from your first step onto the board to basic freestyle and jumping. It will make sure your technique is right. I've watched it and it's an excellent vid - a must for anyone who is just starting out!

http://www.boards.co.uk/main/article.asp?a=1899