Top 10 Portuguese Windsurfing Beach Spots

Looking for the creme de la creme of South American windsurfing vacation spots, how about trying some of the crystal clear beaches of Portugal. This article may be a couple years old but it continues to highlight the top 10 beaches to be found through Portugal and lists exactly what the benefits of each is. The article has a perfect mix of sheltered mostly flat water bays or wave heavy beaches and everything in between. Take the time to check out this article and we're sure you won't regret taking a look at this top 10 list of some of the best windsurfing hotspots to be found in the world.

Graham Ezzy Goes South Video from UMI Pictures

The folks over at UMI Pictures always have a great selection of windsurfing photos that are taken from all across the world.  This month's set of photos also has a great video attached that was taken of the windsurfer Graham Ezzy and filmed at Punta San Carlos near the infamous desert tracks of the Baja races held in California.  Please check out the the video below or UMI Pictures home site for more photos from their other events and more information on their Graham Ezzy Goes South series.

Graham Ezzy goes down south from umi pictures on Vimeo.

Article on Multi-faceted Windsurfer/Skiier/Entrepreneur

You gotta love a heartwarming story especially when it highlights the history and career of one of skiings's olympic contenders that also happens to be a pretty good waterman with a love of windsurfing.  Fernan DeLeon is a man that has tried and almost mastered many extreme sports that many people find it difficult to try let alone practice on a regular basis.

Fernan began with just skiing but quickly took to windsurfing with just as much fervour as he has had for ever challenge he has faced in his life.  While not a fully expert windsurfer, Fernan does make an effort to spread his love of extreme sports, helping others, and overcoming just about anything he's faced with to anyone he comes across.  For a full account of his history as an aspiring entrepreneur, Olympic skier, and all around good guy please check out the full article here.

2010 International Clinic Information Finalized

The folks at Fanatic, in partnership with Windsurflabor, have set up the final plans for dates for their International Clinics to be held through out the Windsurfing sports season in 2010.  The clinics will feature classes that will focus on both beginners and intermediate windsurfers that will be held all throughout the world.  Whether it's the gorgeous beaches of the Canary Islands or the awe inspiring views off the coast of Morocco the events are looking to be held in the most scenic locales in the world. Please check out the following link for full information about the clinics how to book tickets for the event.

Choosing the Right Windsurf Board: Tips and Tricks

How do you choose the right windsurfing board to suit all your needs? Sometimes it's best to rely on professionals and their tried and true methods to help you narrow down the right board.  Whether it's racing boards, freeride boards, or slalom boards there's dozens of companies that make versions of each style from Bic to Fanatic to Starboard. You'll have literally hundreds of combination of types and brands to choose from.  So rather than force you to search the web on your own we've made it easy by have tons of information on Windsurfing Direct and also finding this handy article from eHow to look through.  The article makes it a point to outline all the dos and don'ts of finding the right windsurfing board.

Winter Windsurfing Becoming a Legitimate Sport

Winter windsurfing is a newer sport that is just catching on across the world that is being used by die hard windsurfers to enjoy our great sport year round. Even in the coldest of weathers these intrepid sailors have taken windsurfing off of the water and onto the ice cold frozen lakes of the world.  Just recently Winter Windsurfing Racing Rules has teamed up with ISAF Racing Rules of Sailing and Funboard Class Association to create a set of rules an regulations to legitimately take winter windsurfing/ice surfing onto the world stage. Please check out the following link for more information about this exciting news. legitimate

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Sam Sills Windsurfer of The Year

Here's some more windsurfing news straight out of the UK and it once agains featured a young windsurfer taking top honors usually reserved for experienced windsurfers a half dozen years his senior.  Sam Sills, a 17 year old college student, won Britain's top Windsurfing honors early this month beating out quite a few of the world's best windsurfers in the process.  Sam began windsurfing at the age of 9 and quickly showed promise and honed his skills winning events all across Europe.  The young sailor is looking into going professional soon but has put his schooling about all else for the time being.  Please click this link for the full windsurfing news article.

Early Windsurfing footage at Malibu Yacht Club

It's a rare sight to see footage that dates back to a time where windsurfing was just getting off the ground and had a following of a few dozen wind sailors rather than the thousands we have present day.  The following video is from the early days of this fantastic sport and features both windsurfing footage and an interview with Hoyle Schweitzer and Allen Parducci.  Please check out the YouTube video below.

RS:X Olympic Class Pushes Durability of Windsuring Boards

Pushing windsurfing innovation is a task that can be quite daunting especially with the large amount of new technology being utilized and created on a regular basis.  Whether it's new sail rigs, better sails, new board shapes and/or materials our sport is constantly being worked upon by folks in labs and out in the field.  One such company is the RS:X Class Association which is working to improve upon their boardsailing design that is already being utilized by the Olympic committee in their Summer Olympic events.

Not only is the company focused on creating faster and better performing boards but they're also looking to create boards that are more durable which will work to help both expert extreme sports windsurfing enthusiasts but novice riders as well.  We'd all rather buy one board that'll last us for years rather than constantly having to repair or purchase new wind surfing sports equipment on a regular basis.  Thankfully they also have our wallet's in mind because they're looking for ways to improve the boards without increasing the price of these boards.  Please click the link for further information.

HOOKED Windsurfing Video by Stefan Csaky

It can take a durable person to enjoy all that windsurfing can provide when it comes to workouts and leisure rides. But it takes an even hardier person to travel hours just to enjoy our great wind surfing sport.  One such person is Stefan Csaky who created HOOKED which is a windsurfing video that is currently featured on Vimeo.  Stefan is a local windsurfer from Vienna, Austria that created this fantastic windsurfing video that features scenic skies and a mixture of beach scenes and industrial areas making for 11 minutes of pure windsurfing beaty.  Please check out the full video here or click below.

Young UK Windsurfer Given Community Outreach Award

I try to find windsurfing events and/or happenings that span across the world rather than just limit myself to the United States or  areas like Australia that already get tons of windsurfing sports news coverage.  This is why I take all of you to the small town of Falmouth and Penryn Parish in the United Kingdom where a young windsurfer was recently honored for all the work she has done for her community and the young would be windsurfers located within it.

Marianne Bryan was awarded the Royal Yachting Association’s Community Award for Youth for all the work she's done around the area.  Marianne worked with young children and novice windsurfers with South West Windsurfing and Roseland Waveriders windsurfing club at Percuil. Marianne started windsurfing at the ripe young age of 15 and picked up the sport's intricacies quite quickly and showed a knack for teaching others how to windsurf on their own.  We're always glad to see stories like this and hope to see many more youngsters taking up the mantle of teaching the next generation how to hope up on a board and take the waves by storm.

How to Find The Right Wet Suit

A key piece of equipment that many would-be windsurfers and water sports novices is a wetsuit.  It's easy to find information on the best windsurfing board, rigging, and sail but how do you go about choosing the right wetsuit for your wind surfing sports needs.  Thankfully we're here to search the webs for the tops experts with the best information on this and any other subject that would help bring new sailors into our great water sport.

Key features that the article focuses on is the fabric you're looking to have, the thickness of that fabric, the seams, and whether or not you will need insulation as part of the wetsuit.   There's also plenty of styles that wetsuits come in from long sleeved to short sleeved to sleeveless wet vests.  Rather than go into detail please click this link for a full article from this windsurfing blogger.

Over 140 Windsurfers Set to Take on Singapore Event

Looking for a great spot to windsurfing early next year? How about trying Singapore and watch the 140 professional windsurfers from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, and half a dozen other areas in the pacific.  The event will be held Jan 8th-10th in 2010 and will have the sailors look to compete in a variety of events that run from slalom courses to heats geared towards specific types of boards.

To encourage windsurfing as a sport throughout Singapore the event looks to also include youth workshops and races geared towards specific age groups. The usual weather in scenic Singapore looks to provide a fun and exciting atmosphere for the windsurfing sports event.  Please click the link for further details on the event and the organizations hosting it.

Fanatic's New Addicted To Ride 5 DVD

Promos for the new Fanatic Addicted To Ride DVD series have just been released on Fanatic's website.  This new windsurfing DVD seems to be set to feature some of the world's top windsurfers showing off their sailing skills.  The video alone features some of the world's most gorgeous locations including Maui, El Yaque, and South Africa.  Please check out this link for a full promotional video for ATR 5.

John Papaspirou wins the Greek National Slalom Championship

The Greek National Slalom Championship was held in early November and saw around 40 of the area's top windsurfing veterans vying for the top honor.  The winds averaged close to 40 knots most days and worked to make the slalom courses a bit more difficult for the competitors in the event.  Thankfully John Papaspirou utilized his windsurfing expertise to beat out the rest of the group to cinch his Greek National Slalom title.  Please check out the full article that features a lot of John's own words on how the different heats shaped up here.

Inventive Couple Enjoy "Ice Sailing"

We're always hard-pressed to find new locations to enjoy windsurfing at, but traveling the world to find primo locales to enjoy our various wind surfing sports  for a badass endless summer would only lead to a travel budget that would exceed tens of thousands of dollars.   if we truly wanted to ride escape the cold and truly experience an endless Summer.  Instead the folks in the video below choose to brave the cold without sacrificing their love of windsurfing.  Utilizing the sail from a windsurfing board a simple rig that adds a skateboard type wheel to modify the kite to serve their icesailing needs.

Champion Windsurfer and Rapper Open Community Center

There's something very satisfying about giving back to your community or simply just giving back however you can through donation or volunteer work locally.  Whether it's being a Big Brother or Big Sister, helping with Habitat for Humanity, or just donating old items to the Salvation Army you're playing your own part in making things better.  It's no surprise that internationally known hip hop artist Pono and world champion windsurfer Zosia Kalpacka have joined forces to give back to their hometown of Warsaw, Poland.

Together, the duo have vowed to try their best to help the children of their city by creating a program for children that will work to combat aggression through keeping children busy with activities that are geared towards their own needs or wants.  The program is fully funded by the Zosia and Pono's own money and both are looking forward to incorporating more in the near future, including a possible music studio.  For you rap and/or hip hop fans, here's the link for one of Pono's music videos on YouTube and an article about the program.

Water Sports for Nintendo Wii To Feature Windsurfing

The Nintendo Wii has taken America by storm since it's release a few short years ago.  Nintendo has steadily made games that try to mimic many of the gestures users would use in the real world and with the release of the Balance Board (originally released with Wii Fit) they're able to better immerse the user in the experience.  The latest game to utilize Nintendo's system is Water Sports which has taken out the steep task of recreating wakeboarding, windsurfing, and other watersports.

The videogame uses the combination of the Wii remote and their weight sensing Balance Board peripheral to better recreate the sensation of using your legs and shifting body weight to steer your board during the beach events.  Sure it's no comparison to grabbing a board and going out on the water yourself but it is an activity that can enjoyed by the whole family.  Thankfully we wont have to wait to long to catch these virtual waves because the game is set to release this Fall.

Windsurfing Between Life and Death - Perito Moreno Glacier

We've all had those times when we've taken on a little too big of a wave than we can handle but the windsurfer in this video not only bites off a little more than he can chew, he also catches a wave that looks like it's about to bite back.  Watch him take on this epic wave caused by a falling chunk of Perito Negro Glacier located in the Los Glaciares National Park in the south west of Santa Cruz province, Argentina.  The folks at New World Spirits captured absolutely gorgeous footage taken at the foot of the glacier that takes a turn for the extreme when the windsurfer is caught in the waves caused by a falling chunk of ice.

Windsurfing - "The Gorge" Windsurf

Some of the most extreme and treacherous waters known to windsurfers is located at the Columbia River Gorge.  Check out this vid for some sick jumps that has these sailors jumping 20 or so feet in the air with sustained air time that can last quite a few seconds.  While not for the most timid of windsurfers the waters at the Columbia River Gorge is a place that every surfer should experience at one time or another.