windtechno said...
with the younger people the sport is dead and i think it will be exstinct in 5 to 10 years time. i have never seen a guy under 30 speed sail i dont think ever. I am 32 and most the time i sail with guys 40 and over. I think the sailboard companys have failed at getting young people into the sport. They need to produce boards at cheaper prices for people to learn on like they did with the plastic bomboras in the 90s or our sport will be over soon.
I get really get ticked off thinking about the amount of people missing out on such a great sport cause of the costs. They find it easier and cheaper to pick up a surf board for $200 bucks and join the rest of the herd instead of going a different way and trying windsurfing.
On the contrary I don't think I have seen the sport this healthy since the 80's. Everytime I have gone sailing lately I have noticed more and more people out than there used to be. Late 90's early norties it would not have been uncommon to literally be the only person out somedays. Now you have to fight for parking spots, you have to watch when you gybe and you HAVE to take beers with you for you and your new mates to drink afterwards. I think GPS sailing has been the main reason for all this and if you haven't seen young people under 30 speed sailing then you obviously aren't sailing in the right spots. I take great pleasure in taking my 12 and 8 yr old boys out sailing and I am quite confident that they will want to do the sport for many years to come.
windtechno it is not up to the manufacturers to encourage new people into the sport, it is up to US! I think your view that the sport will be extinct in 5-10 years in incredibly short sighted.
Herb I am actually looking forward to moving up an age bracket for some bizarre reason....maybe it's cause there are less people in that bracket so it gives me a better chance