TECHNIQUE CONFUSED. COM?

Even for those with their fingers on the button, choosing the right kit doesn’t seem to get any easier as board categories mutate and multiply and new definitions drop into the lexicon. Focussing on the ever-expanding freeride category, Peter Hart, with erudite comments from Windsurf magazine’s chief tester, Tris Best, sheds some much-needed light. By the way … it’s all good!.

- Peter Hart

Five years ago I wrote a guide to modern equipment. Entitled ‘WEL-COME BACK!’, it was specifically aimed at those who perhaps due to work, a breeding program or an unhappy dalliance with a lesser activity had abandoned windsurfing for a period, and who on their return had found it unrecognisable. Thereafter when I received queries regarding kit choice, I would confidently refer people to the article and (usually) got a grateful response. However, recently the typical enquiry has been more specific and vehement. These people haven’t left the sport. They research the interweb. They speak the lingo … but remain … confused. Where there was once consensus, now manufacturers peel off on a limb and offer various interpretations of the same concept. There are now categories within categories and compound labels.

Here are just a selection of comments/queries/grumbles.

“There are so many freeride board types out there now that my head is spinning whenever I think about buying something new.”

“Freemove, freerace, freecarve, progressive freeride and ‘stubbies’ – they all seem to fit somewhere within the general freeride category. How is a humble soul like me supposed to make a choice from that lot?!”

“Are short, wide free moves more for beginners, while short but narrow boards for better sailors?”

“The brands don’t seem to agree whether the ‘stubby’ shape is the way to go – help!”

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