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A Blast from the past
By Laurie Nadel


The goal was stoke. The faster the speed, the greater the stoke. In order to get to stoke, you needed a masters' to calculate the ideal ratio of volume, width, and length of board to the specifications of cambered Mylar sail, carbon mast, and boom. Everything had to fit together perfectly or it didn't work. The new sails were unquestionably designed for high performance but they were so finely calibrated that rigging became an excruciating, solitary, and unforgiving ritual. Bring your own rigging tool, and hey, stay in your own space. This mindset raises questions similar to those asked more eloquently in the classic movie, "Inherit the Wind". In pondering the darker side of progress, the hero observes that when air travel becomes part of everyday life, we will be able to cover large distances quickly. But when we can fly like birds, the clouds will smell of gasoline, and the sky will lose its wonder. Our transitions in windsurfing have comparable implications. There is no question that, rigged with a Neil Pryde V5 5.9, a Fiberspar mast, and sailing a Xantos 310, I'm windsurfing twice as fast, in heavier wind, than any of the old gear could handle. But with each of us intent on taking it to the max, there is a self-absorbed intensity to how we windsurf these days, as if we're all in competition with ourselves, if not each other. Tethered to the cutting edge of techno-speed, we've traded harder-faster-higher for the simple fun of hanging out with friends, along with what feels like a part of our collective soul.

A lot of people has been missing out on one of the most mind and body expanding experiences available today.

Although one of the attractions is the media image of big wave-big wind action, the excitement of windsurfing can be felt any time you push off, suspended, as if by magic, between the sea and the sky. People like myself, who have little or no expertise in bump and jump conditions, are just as capable of an enduring passion for the sport, as are the legends and pros, so often photographed looping off those mast-high waves. Yet, because of the trend among sailboard manufacturers, towards developing and manufacturing high-performance gear for the technically advanced sailor, windsurfing has not attracted as many new people in the past decade as it did at the beginning.

That is kind of a shame. A lot of people have been missing out on one of the most mind and body expanding experiences available today. While there's a part of me that would like to keep that a secret, so that my private coves and beaches stay that way, another part of me feels sad, remembering how much fun it was to hang out on the water, together, without any of us taking it so seriously.

Along with the excitement of then, there was also a feeling that you were on the threshold of discovering something new...like the first time you fall in love.
So, as we begin a new century and a new chapter, we can continue to be wondering where this journey of wind and water will take us.
As then, like now...

Laurie Nadel is the author of "Sixth Sense" and several other books. A former writer/producer for CBS and ABC News, .she has been writing about windsurfing since the mid-80's. Her autobiographical book, 'Dancing with the Wind'; will be the first in a series of ten windsurfing chronicles.
(For a sneak preview of Part One, visit www.americanwindsurfer.com)