Past Perfect

Harty ponders if history lessons in our sport should be compulsory for all windsurfers?

History in the making. Speed record holder Fred Heywood in 1982 going slower than most recreational sailors today – but using a ‘wing’ mast, that was the inspiration for both rotational and camber induced rigs.

My old friend Mark Wood took his son to Vassiliki last summer for a windsurfing holiday. On day one he grabbed some kit from the Club Vass racks, threw it over his head and strolled to the shore. But before you could say ‘beachstart’, an eager young instructor intercepted him with some stern advice, “No no no sir – we don’t carry the equipment like that – let me show you.” What the poor youth didn’t know was that Woodsy was once on the Tiga international team; he was the first Brit to win a race on the PBA (now PWA) tour, beating Naish et al; won multiple national championships and the highly prestigious Production Board Worlds (and the even more prestigious Vass Class event). Being the humble chap that he is, he did not deliver a ‘have you any idea who I am?’ speech, made no mention of his portfolio of brilliance, but did what he was told and carried his kit in a more RYA approved manner. Admittedly Woodsy had gained pounds and lost hair since his halcyon days – but surely such an icon of the sport would, and should, be recognised and lauded eternally by the next generation? I told this story last week to 15 year old Finn (who knows Woodsy), a tasty freestyler who spends his summers in Vass – and joked that it was like him not knowing who Bjorn Dunkerbeck was. “Who?”, he said.

“If you don’t know history, you’re like a leaf that doesn’t know it’s part of a tree.” Michael Crichton