The Sport Of Windsurfing And Its Increasing Popularity

Windsurfing is very fast becoming one of the fastest growing water sports in the world. A water sport that combines the elements of sailing and surfing, it is a sport that demands precaution as well as extreme mastery over the skills that are the fundamental to the sport. Getting to the equipments used, the board used in the sport of windsurfing is usually two to four meters long and powered by the orthogonal effect of the wind on the sail. The rig used in the sport comprises of a mast, wishbone boom, and sail and the sail area ranges from less than 3.0 square meters to more than 12 square meters. The factors that decide the dimensions of the equipment are the conditions, the kind of windsurfing that is undertaken, and not to forget the skill of the sailor.

The sport of windsurfing straddles both the rule based environment of the sailing and the laid-back attitude of surf sports. Albeit considered to be a smaller version of the sail boat, the sport of windsurfing allows the practitioner a lot of adrenaline pumping experiences. A windsurfer can perform things like inverted loops, jumps, spinning maneuvers and not to forget the other freestyle loops that cannot be compared with any of the other sail boat sports. In fact the world's largest waves like the jaws on the island of the Maui, among many other large waves were first conquered by the windsurfers. If the extreme waves are kept aside then there are many expert windsurfers that have the capability of riding the same waves as the wave surfers do and are a lot accomplished without a rig on a conventional surfboard.

But just as it is with the other more complex and difficult tasks in he world, the sport of windsurfing has a long learning curve. There are many surfing locations and windsurfing locations in the world where lessons are given to the people who are interested in this extreme but wonderful sport. The beginners who are just learning the initial nitty-gritties of the sport must first of all develop their core stability and the balance, learn a few techniques, and fathom some basic understanding of the sailing theory before they can progress from board sailing to windsurfing.

There are many windsurfing locations and surfing locations where the enthusiasts can get their lessons from.

Through proper coaching and favorable conditions, it is just a matter of a few hours and the enthusiast can master the basic art of sailing, steering and turning. The more advanced maneuvers like carve gybing, jumping, water starting, planning, and other such advanced moves might require some extensive practice. Another thing that needs to be noted is that while performing the advanced moves the coach might find it difficult to be close to a student. But the solution is available in the form of the training DVDs that can be used to overcome the obstacle.

Windsurfing is one sport that can be enjoyed, once mastered at any age. The major reason being that the windsurfing crashes cause less injuries. Although carelessness in the advanced conditions can lead to serious injuries and even death due to the speeds as well as the altitudes involved. The average age of the windsurfer is around 45 years.