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.

Alex Mussolini Wins 1st Place At PWA World Cup

It can be difficult to break into the PWA (Professional Windsurfers Association) events that are held around the world and even more difficult to win them.  That's why why we are very proud to announce that Alex Mussolini has won top honors at the PWA World Cup that was held at Sylt, Germany.  He may be considered by many to be inexperienced in comparison to the large group of expert windsurfers but Alex showed just how skill can overcome experience during his attempts to brave the treacherous and stormy waters of Germany's North Sea.  The event drew dozens of the world's top windsurfing sailors and over 50,000 spectators were in attendance to see Alex win.  Please check out Tabou's website for a full article and interview with the skillful athlete.

Scottish Windsurfing Vacation (UMI Photo Slideshow)

It is easy to associate windsurfing with some very specific areas like Hawaii, the Caribbean, Australia, but few would people have Scotland be amonst their first choices for destinations. When looking for scenic vacation spots that also provide for some killer waves to windsurf on you'd be hard pressed to find a less conventional but just as amazing windsurfing vacation destination than Scotland.

One area in Scotland that asks you to not leave your board at home is on the northern shore of the country. The area is home to the Thurso surf break that provides the perfect amount of wave for any vacationing sailor. Please check out these gorgeous photographs of the Scottish north shore by UMI by clicking this link.

Japanese Windsurfing Association Chooses BIC

Windsurfing has become a international phenomenon that has taken root in countries across the world.  This article speaks of the recent change the Japanese University Boardsailing Federation (JUBF) has made to their usual regulations regarding board usage.  The Japan based windsurfing associations has negotiated a deal to exclusively use BIC Sports products for their 300+ group of sailors.

Bic is well known for its superior board design that is suggested for beginners but also trusted by veterans.  The JUBF is focused on influencing as many beginner watermen and sailors as possible and the Bic brand allows for an easy way to do so.  We at Discover Windsurfing were happy to see that their most trusted board was the Bic Techno which just so happens to be one of the top selling boards on our sister site Windsurfing Direct.

Miami Slalom Series Windsurfing Event

The IFCA will be holding an exciting windsurfing event that will be part of the Miami Slalom Series this weekend in Miami, Florida.  The event will be held on October 16-18 and looks to be the premier event this fall.  The races that will be held during the 3 day sports event will feature some of the top windsurfing pro athletes from around the globe including Michael Gebhart (Local Olympic medalist) and Gonzalo Costa-Hoevel (Argentinian Champion Sailor).

The event will have a special focus on Slalom courses but will also feature other races that will utilize other windsurfing expertise.  Whether you're looking to compete or just watch the festivities come on down to the beach ansd join in on the fun.  Please check out their site for further information on the Miami Slalom Series.

History of Windsurfing

The history of windsurfing takes just as much of a twisting path as any good windsurfer takes on a good wave.  One contested origin is in 1948 when Newman Darby first conceptualized a rigging that would allow for rutter-less watercraft.  Darby failed to apply for a patent at that time but is respected by many watermen as the father of windsurfing.  It wasn't until 1968 that his concept's true potential was realized by two innovative Californians.

The board these two men created was called a windsurfer and incorporated the experience Hoyle Schweitzer had as a surfer and Jim Drake's expertise as an engineer and avid sailor.  Together they were able get a patent for their windsurfer design and began manufacturing their invention soon after.  Unfortunately they failed to secure international royalty rights and the company was forced to close it's doors in the early 80's.

Regardless of its humble beginnings, windsurfing is a sport that has become synonymous with beginners out on vacation but also can be seen featured on the web's most intense watersports videos.  Professional windsurfers can be seen featured on ESPN or Sports Center on a regular basis showcasing their tremendous athleticism.  But the sport also has the ability to be enjoyed by just about anyone willing to go out onto the water.

Extreme Windsurfing (YouTube Video)

There's nothing like hitting a wave at the right angle and catching sick air. It takes a huge amount of skill and guts to do the tricks in the video below. These watermen make their extreme tricks look like child's play but don't mistake how easy it looks to the amount of skill that it takes to do half of the tricks contained in the video. Check out the video for a great video of our sport taken at some of the world's most beautiful scenery.



Extreme Windsurfing (2:03 Min YouTube Video)

Learn How To Windsurf (YouTube Video)

When you first look at the windsurfing board the assembly can seem a bit daunting.  Thankfully there's videos like this on the net that can help guide you through putting together your first sail, mast, and board.  Following the easy step by step instructions on the video will help you get out onto the waves in minutes after hitting the beach.

The video also focuses on the correct way to switch course while in the water and how subtle confident movements are important to directing your board where to go.  The video does not mince words with the beginner but sets to be as instructional as possible without being too bogged down in technical terms.  We are sure that after watching this video you will be ready to try some time out on some waves.



Learn How To Windsurf (9:56 Min YouTube Video)

Don't Get Worked - How To Windsurfing Article By Jason Voss

Check out this scan of a great article written by Jason Voss that  is featured on his website.  Jason has been teaching windsurfing for over 10 years and he uses his expertise to teach beginner windsurfers how to get out onto the water with as little hassle as possible.  It would be wrong of me the not mention the various services that Voss provides his students that can all be found in detail on his windsurfing site.

His article explains the importance of checking the status of the waves you're planning to ride at the beach.  Along with how vital it is to respect the rules of catching waves while other watermen are in the area.  As a beginner you should never forget to respect  your fellow boarders by realizing the size of your board and sial can create an obstruction to others if and when you're forced to bailout.

Check out the article for the rest of the tips and tricks Jason Voss gives  along with the many other great articles that can be found on his site.  Being prepared before you hit the beach is the best way to make sure you have a safe and enjoyable ride across the waves.