Rx for boredom: windsurfing.

You've seen it in television commercials and you may have seen it in the Olympics, but did you know that windsurfing, through a variety of events, offers healthy fun and competition for men and women of all ages? Windsurfers have developed activities for any combination of wind and water, including snow and ice. If your locale has water and wind, then you can add windsurfing to your program. In fact, there is a wheeled device resembling a skate board for use on paved parking areas and the like.

Windsurfing (also called boardsailing and sailboarding) programs can be offered in two categories: instruction or competition, but it is even money that once an instructional program has trained a few sailors, they will want to race. Legend says that the first windsurfer races took place as soon as the inventors had two boards.

While many people have seen videos of windsurfers doing jumps in the surf and literally surfing under sail power, the most common form of windsurfing by far occurs on relatively fiat water like bays and lakes. Riding the surf and jumping are advanced skills that are not necessary to enjoy the sport. Windsurfing can be any of several activities. For the beginner there is basic flat-water sailing in which the sailor learns how to balance on the board, steer, maneuver and sail safely. Once he or she has mastered basic fiat-water sailing, the sailor may wish to learn advanced tacks and jibes or to aspire to the competitive events.

You can teach windsurfing at a site in or near your community or at a remote location. If your community lacks a good sailing site, a windsurfing rental shop and/or qualified instructors, the fastest way to get a program started is to develop a learn-to-windsurf tour package to a location, suitable for beginners, that has a windsurfing school. Such sites can be located in the last few pages of Windsurfing Magazine and other magazines or by calling the U.S. Windsurfing Association. A package tour may seem expensive, but it may be the only way to introduce this activity if the natural resources or instructors are not available. Even if the natural resources are available, tours may be the best way to develop community interest in this activity. Within a few years some of your sailors will be sufficiently skilled to be sent to an instructor's school. Then you will have local instructors.

If there is a good local sailing site, then contracting for instruction for a few years is an option. The instructor or company could be local or some distance away. While a local instructor would be cheaper, it is possible to have an instructor travel to your community to give a one- or two-day clinic. A standard six-hour course is required before students can receive 'a certificate that is required to rent equipment.

If interest is high and an instructor is available, it may be worthwhile to purchase equipment and provide the activity locally. One advantage to this is that the equipment would be available for the beginners' practice sessions. A rental fee, either as part of the instruction package or assessed per hour, could help defray the costs for repair and replacement. Commercial rental fees begin at $15 per hour.

Windsurfing requires some equipment. While equipment for advanced sailors can cost $3,000, beginning equipment is much less expensive. Basic windsurfers for adults are long (11-12.5 feet) and wide (26-27 inches) without foot straps, body harnesses, sail cambers or other advanced accessories. A basic outfit from a mail-order supplier (board and rig [sail, mast, boom]) costs: Child under 10: $300; ten to 15 years $375; small women and men: $400; adult 8600. Sail size should be between 3 m2 and 5.5 m2: smaller people = smaller sails.

Additional necessities include: uphaul (rope to raise the saiD, 815; mast pad (protects the board when the sail is dropped), 815; Personal Flotation Device (PFD) life vest, 815-840. No matter what you read or what you hear, beginning students should always wear a PFD while on or in the water. As PFDs must be sized for each participant, to save money you can require each participant to provide his or her own U.S. Coast Guard-approved PFD. Beginners do not need "hot" (high-performance) equipment. It slows down the rate of learning because it is too responsive and very unstable. Also, it is, in general, not as durable.

For beginners the best sailing site is a small (ten to 20 acres) body of water with few wind obstructions (houses, trees) about the shore. The wind should be blowing from the water to the land, either directly or at a sharp angle, at the launch site. Avoid: large bodies of water on which the sailor may be blown beyond easy rescue; windy sites (more than nine mph); sites with heavy motor craft traffic; sites with moderate to strong tidal or river currents, sites where the wind blows from the land to the water; and sites with hazards such as poisonous snakes, alligators, sharks, dams or dangerous objects just under the surface upon which the sailor might fall. For beginners, if the water is not suitable for swimming then it is not suitable for windsurfing.

The overall goal is to produce a safe sailor who has mastered the fundamental skills and knowledge of sailing a windsurfer. Specifically, the successful sailor will be able to:

* Select a safe sailing site and safe sailing weather.

* Sail safely with a PFD, sunscreen and a wetsuit as necessary.

* Demonstrate a knowledge of the sailing right-of-way rules.

* Demonstrate a knowledge of the basic nomenclature of sailing and of windsurfing.

* Be able to properly rig, launch and derig a windsurfer.

* Be able to properly get underway by uphauling, tack, jibe, sail to starboard, sail to port, tack upwind to a marker; run downwind to a marker and execute a self-rescue.

Instruction is best accomplished in groups of five students or less per instructor. All beginning skills can and should be practiced on land before being attempted on water. Simulators are available for this purpose for about 8400. Initially, learning to windsurf can be physically demanding, so encourage frequent rest periods. Using sails much smaller than those used by skilled sailors of the same age, gender and weight will reduce the physical demands and hasten learning.

If your community has the water resources, there is a windsurfing competition that will work in your locale. Traditionally, windsurfing provides competitions classes for men and women. Often these classes are subdivided by age: junior to masters. Given enough sailors, they may be further subdivided by body weight. Here are the primary types of competitions.

Wavesailing

The original name for this sport, windsurfing, implies the essence of this activity: surfing under sail power. The power of the wind is used to accelerate the board out through the surf and along and (sometimes) down the faces of waves. Today wavesailing, windsurfing in the surf, is extremely popular in coastal areas. The best surf and the best wave sailors are found in Hawaii, particularly on the island of Maui. Maui's renowned surf and consistent winds provide the ideal combination for sailors who wish to develop into top-level competitors.

In addition to shredding the faces of waves, wave sailors have access to stunt turns at the bottom of the wave and aerial tricks off the lip of the wave that can launch them 25 feet into the air. Competition in wavesailing is fierce. These elimination contests are organized in a manner similar to surfing. Two to four sailors compete at one time. During a ten- minute heat they try to demonstrate as many spectacular stunts or perfected maneuvers as conditions allow. Judges weigh the difficulty and the quality of the execution of each maneuver. This is a great spectator event, as the sailors are just off the beach, directly in front of the judges and spectators.

In addition to having relatively moderate-to-large waves, a good competition site must have dependable wind at the time of the event. For most of the coastal U.SA., that means planning the event for the spring or fall. In the southern regions winter events are possible, as the water and air are not unreasonably cold.

Slalom Racing

Only a small percentage of the U.S. has surf. If your community is inland, then consider slalom racing. Basically, slalom racing is a speed event run in single elimination heats of eight contestants. Slalom courses are set so that the racer sails downwind on a series of reaches. The sailors must tack and jibe around several buoys on their way to the finish line. Wind permitting (12 knots is required), these races are fast and exciting to watch. As slalom boards lack centerboards, they can sail in less than two feet of water most anywhere. This allows the course to be set near shore to enhance spectators enjoyment.

Olympic Racing

Course racing is styled after yacht racing, but the course does not have to be triangular. However, most of the rules and tactics are the same. Course boards tend to be long, more than 12 feet, and very buoyant so that they can sail well in very light winds. If your site has low wind, but plenty of surface area, this is the event to offer.

One class of course racing is One Design racing. In One Design racing all contestants use identical craft. Yacht racing has a long history of One Design racing. A unique feature of One Design racing in windsurfing is that at the larger regattas the manufacturer provides, for a fee, the sailboards. This assures that all boards and sails are the same. Also, competitors can fly to an event without the hassle of toting a board.

To host a regional or national One Design event your community will have to have excellent sailing conditions and facilities, including accommodations. But local and area events are easy to acquire. After all, to get to the regionals, sailors have to win at local and area events. One Design racing is the only windsurfing that is in the Summer Olympic games. The International Yacht Racing Union (IYRU) selects the windsurfer make and model for each Olympiad. For the 1996 games it will be the Mistral (manufactured "One Design" (model name). Information can be obtained from the International Mistral Class Organization (IMCO).

Speed Sailing 

While speed has always been an objective in windsurfing, it only has been in the last few years that speed sailing has come into its own in the United States. Speed sailing requires relatively flat water (very small waves) and strong winds, constant in direction. As few places offer these conditions, a system of movable artificial wave barriers (reefs) has been developed to reduce the wave action.

In the U.S., speed sailors compete on a 100-meter race course (a 500-meter course is used in Europe). They sail on very small boards (8.5 feet) with relatively small sails. Speed sailing is sailing against the dock. There is only one racer on the course at any time. The current U.S. 100-meter speed record for a windsurfer is 50.2 mph for men and 43.9 mph for women. These speeds allow windsurfers to claim the title as the fastest sail powered craft.

An event like the Jantzen (swimsuit) Speed Series offers races around the country, while the North (sails) University of Speed offers speed sailing lessons and speed trials at a variety of locations. In these events, a course is set up at different localities around the country. Participants are provided with one or more trials through the course.

Locally, speed events can be run in rivers, canals and elongated bodies of water if the prevailing winds cross the water at an angle to its long axis. The hard core speed sailors are looking for winds in excess of 35 knots, but local events can do well in 15 to 25 knot winds. Freestyle

The beauty of windsurfing is that, depending on skill and equipment, it can be enjoyed on near windless days as well as in Force seven winds (30 knots). But who has fun when the wind is blowing at five knots? Answer: Freestylers. In freestyle, tricks are performed while the board is moving. You've seen the head dip on television (leaning backward to touch the head to the water) but there are many others, like sailing backwards, 360-degree turns and pirouettes.

Freestyle competition does not require a large body of water or high windspeeds. Therefore it is a good mid-summer event that can be held in calmer waters (no big waves or surf) anywhere in the country. Another plus is that the equipment used is entry-level (beginner) in design. Put another way, the instructional equipment can be used in this type of competition.

Freestyle competition is similar to diving and ice skating. There are compulsory tricks and a free-exercise program of two minutes. In the compulsory tricks each contestant selects three tricks from a list. In the free-exercise program, the contestant may use tricks that are not on the compulsory list. Judges rate each trick on degree of difficulty, execution and choreography.

Getting Started in Windsurfing

First, become a member of the United States Windsurfing Association (USWA). The USWA is the sanctioning body for many of the competitive events held in the U.S. Your membership gets you a newsletter that contains an events calendar, important information about the sport including legal issues, a unique sail number (required for racing) and other benefits. This includes a joint membership in U.S. Sailing (formerly the U.S. Yacht Racing Union), which sanctions sailing events in the U.S. and determines who represents the U.S. in the Olympics.

Second, subscribe to a publication like Windsurfing Magazine. It carries racing tips, event calendars and advertisements, equipment evaluations, race results, where to get lessons, and much more.

Third, if no one on your staff knows how to windsurf, send a staff member to take lessons from a certified windsurfing school. Six hours of lessons, usually given in two three-hour sessions, is all that is necessary to learn the basic skills and safety of the sport. Better yet, send yourself. As schools are often associated with a retailer, the lessons may come with a discount program on equipment purchases.

By the way, avoid taking beginning lessons from a friend unless that friend is a skilled teacher as well as a skilled windsurfer. To take lessons from a friend is to risk learning the skills improperly and on inappropriate equipment, being pushed too fast, and even risking your life in conditions unsafe for beginners but fun for advanced sailors.

Fourth, check your USWA News to find the area representative or contact USWA to find the closest affiliated club. Join that club and you'll not only meet some exciting people, but also sailors who will help you put on your events.

Fifth, now that you are familiar with this healthy and exciting sport, organize events for your community. Contact local windsurfer retailers and local or regional clubs, even yacht clubs, to get experienced sailors to help organize and run events. If you follow normal event-planning practices you will have a successful regatta and stimulate interest in your area.