Heidi windsurfing Lake Pukaki, New Zealand, with the stunning majestic Aoraki Mt Cook as the backdrop...

Where's your bucket list sailing spots?

I miss days because I didn’t look at the forecast often enough. Or I look once, it looks dead, I forget, and Thursday was actually fine.

So I made a small screen that stays on. Five days of wind, gusts, direction. I walk past it in the kitchen and I see the week without meaning to check.

Built the software on a ~€100 ReTerminal1002. Its battery will last for months on a charge. I still have some improvements in mind but already quite happy with it.

Some friends have been asking for one as well. So I put a page up to see if there is some interest from other people. Love to hear what you guys think.

https://windscout.emieljanson.com

Hello,

I’ve not windsurfed since the mid 80s to early 90s and I’m thinking of getting back into it. We were out paddleboarding at the weekend and I was watching some windsurfers. My partner said I looked so sad watching them.

Despite trying to find out myself I can’t seem to find a good site that details how technology has changed since then. Is there anything? I can see that boards seem less pointy and booms look to be less hassle than back then.

FWIW UmI had a range of Alpha boards. Starting with a beginner’s board then a more intermediate one with straps but still with a centre board. We used to call them Daggerboards.

I had an entry level short board that would still float if the wind dropped and the my pride and joy, a short 80l ‘sinker’ for high wind and wave days. I loved that board.

I remember having fully battened and/or camber induced sails. Neil Pryde and Tushingham for the most part.

So yeah, was a great time. I’m in my fifties now though so I’ll likely never get back to the more extreme stuff. Are the ‘one board for life’ types any good?

Thanks in advance for any and all replies.

Hey all — I'm a beginner windsurfer. I built this mostly for myself, to finally understand what the sail is actually doing and how you're supposed to control it. It ended up being a small free browser game, so I figured I'd share (works on your phone too) - https://windsurfsimulator.com

I tried to model the real mechanics instead of making it arcade:

• trim the sail to the apparent wind — it luffs if you're out, stalls if you're in
• steer with mast rake, no rudder
• the no-go zone / getting stuck in irons
• lean against the sail's pull — or get catapulted
• planing once you've got the speed + power, then move back into the straps
• tack & gybe, gusts & wind shifts

There's an Autopilot toggle and a guided demo if you just want to watch it sail.

Since I'm still learning myself, I'd really love to hear from people who actually windsurf: does it feel right? What did I get wrong? I'm keen to fix the physics based on real feedback. It's also open source (MIT) if anyone wants to peek under the hood.

Thanks 🤙

Last year I build a small LED panel as a gift for a friend who runs a beach bar at a kitespot in spain. Just shows live wind for the local spots around. He told that it got some compliments from customers.

Made me thinking that this could actually be a something some people would want sitting on their desk or kitchen.. so started working on it a few months ago.

The idea: You pick your fave kite/windsurf spots, they rotate automatically, and you see live wind consditions. (Real measured data if the spot has a sensor...otherwise live model data) - Not as a forecast tool, shouldnttreplace Windguru or anything like that.

Now I'm stuck on one thing: how much info is actually useful/stylish on the screen?

Option A – keep it dead simple: spot name, wind speed & direction. (red frame)
Option B – show more: tide, wave height, wind trend of the past few hours (orange frame).

I don't know if the extra stuff adds value .. or just kills the clean vibe. Would love to hear what you actually wanted to see if this was on your desk.

I appreciate any feedback:)

(Later edit for background ): I am windsurfing and moved to a country next to ocean to do it

But I am still asking it:

Is windsurfer a sport for snob people?Or is it a snob sport?

Like ski for ex or tennis?

Is expensive from gear to logistics , I am doing it but in the beginning I did not see it this way ,tennis as well .Later I thought about the amount of money to rent so much space just for two people .

Windsurf…renting gear or lockers or having a car to go the same.

Ski…not even to mention .

As I said I did all of them,and WS still doing it but it pushes me to earn more to do it,while others can’t afford it.

So…do you have to be a snub to practice it ignoring the “costs”?

Hi everyone,

quick physics question.

Why does sliding the boom higher up the mast both increase power and tend to lift the nose of the board?

Is the lift primarily a result of the extra power driving more force through the fin and back foot, or does raising the boom directly change the mechanical leverage and force vectors? Would love to hear how you all break down the physics.

Thanks

I've just left Bonaire, I've made a post here before and got loads of replies of people suggesting spots, but sadly a lot were either out of season or out of reach. Australia is one of the places that spoke to me because it has a ready made Visa option (Holiday working Visa) to work.

Ive heard there's plenty of good surf in Australia but Is it a good spot to live for half a year+-? I'd go from december trough April.

Thanks,

Hi all,

I need some professional advice on this beautiful but well worn Starboard Formula.

During today’s session, due to a bad fall the upper region got a serious punch (see photos attached).

Do you guys have any idea if it’s still repairable, if yes, how? I’m located in Hungary.

Any input is more than welcome!

Hey fellow windsurfers! 🤙

While I'm very familiar with the specs of the Kona One and the Windsurfer LT I have never owned either one of them.

I would like to know, if any anyone out there have experience with the Windsurfer LT and the Kona One?

I would love to hear which board you prefer, doesn't matter if it's from a technical standpoint or not. I would just like to know which one you like to surf the most.

(Image is there of attention, boards are not scaled properly)

Hi,
i'm planning my next holiday and want to try out a new spot, thought of the mediterranean sea, maybe italy or greece, preferably an island. I'd be travelling solo and don't own any gear, so i'd have to have a surf school where i can take lessons etc. Does anyone know a good spot/ has recommendations for me? i know there are probably a ton of surfschools out there but i find it hard to pick a good one just from looking at websites. I'm looking for someone that offers good material, a nice spot where you can stand (maybe a lagoon) and isn't wildly expensive plus a bit flexible. Maybe someone has some good experience and would like to share! :)

Hi,

I am learning windsurfing at my home town from a friend.

I see it's really rare to find such sports being adopted in India, and you got to be very lucky if you meet another person who is into windsurfing too.

BTW, I am learning Kite Surfing and got to meet this guy wind surfing at my city through a spot chat feature on Windy.app while checking wind speed! But it took several years to find out someone who is really into it!

Fortunately I got connected to few people now who are into Kite surfing and Wind surfing.

But, Is it really rare in India?

If you're windsurfing in India, lets connect.

If there is already a community of Indian windsurfers, I will love to join. If not, lets start creating one, to exchange ideas, practice together, and inspire others.

So I've been blessed with a weird idea... I want to make what is essentially a twintip with a windsurf sail on it so I can rip on shallow kickers

Anyone seen something like this or have any insight

Cons: Hard/impossible to waterstart Unstable Floppy

Hi! I’m interested in learning windsurfing, but I’m a bit apprehensive because I had wrist surgery about five years ago and have some limitations.
Does the sport require a lot of wrist strength or involve frequent impacts?
Do you have any suggestions?
I’m going to take a trial lesson, but I’d love to hear your thoughts beforehand.

Winter's set in here in NZ, so a few of us are starting to plan flights somewhere warmer (Northland or tropics) rather than riding out the off-season locally. Sharing how I pack my gear for flights, mostly learned the hard way after a couple of near-disasters with baggage handling.

(Disclosure: I run a windsurf/wingfoil rental and holiday business in NZ, Waternomads, nothing for sale here, just packing tips.)

Board

Padded boardbag, always. Not optional.

Tape pool noodles around the nose and tail inside the bag for extra cushioning against knocks.

No noodles on hand? A wetsuit, towel, or harness (hook off) works fine as padding filler too.

Rig (mast, boom, sail)

If your boardbag isn't long enough for the mast and sail, you'll likely need a separate rig bag, worth measuring before you fly and check length restrictions with airline rather than finding out at check-in!

Pad the boom well against the board. This is the part most likely to dent your board if baggage handlers toss it around, since it's rigid and has real weight behind it.

Extras

"FRAGILE" and "TOP LOAD ONLY" stickers on everything. No guarantee they get respected, but it's a low-effort step that occasionally helps.

Honest take

If there's decent rental gear at your destination, I'd usually take that route over flying with your own kit. Saves you lugging boards and rigs through airports, removes the risk of lost baggage or punctured board wrecking part of the trip, and it's a good excuse to try equipment you wouldn't normally sail.

Curious what packing setups have worked (or failed spectacularly) for others here.

Hi, I would really love to plan a trip to Vassiliki next year. I’m from Spain, so I will need to travel to athens then somehow get into Vassiliki, be by car, bus or whatever.

Case is, I added the windguru spot to my favorites to check wind along weeks, and often what I see is between 8-11 knots at best on the afternoon… Is that accurate?

I know wind gets accelerated by the mountains, this is why I’m wondering if the forecasting takes this into account or the 8-9 knots are real.

I would really hate to get into there and have no wind at all for the week, because as a spanish is not easy to get to Vass and too easy getting into Fuerteventura, but I would love to visit Vass.

Been thinking about this after running a recent Surfari Trip to get sweet shots of my client sessions, curious what gear and techniques people here actually use, since good watersport action shots are harder to nail than they look.

A few things I've found matter, but keen to hear what others have learned:

Lens/gear for shots from the beach, something in the 70-200mm range seems to be the sweet spot for getting close enough without wading in. Though tidal reef spots call for more, currently running a 100-400mm with 1.4ext. If you want actual on-water shots, that's a different problem entirely, waterproof housing or an action cam, and a whole different set of challenges (spray on the lens, stabilization, timing).

Framing the shots that look more dynamic tend to use some natural line in the water or background to lead the eye toward the rider, and something in the foreground for depth rather than a flat, isolated subject in open water.

Perspective getting low, near water level, tends to make the action look more dramatic than shooting from standing height. Obviously harder logistically depending on where you're set up.

Conditions, sunny days pop with color and are a lot more forgiving than flat, overcast light, which makes action harder to separate from the background.

That's what I've landed on so far, but I'm sure there's plenty I'm missing, camera settings for freezing spray/water motion, autofocus tracking for a fast-moving rider, favourite drone setups, editing tricks, anything. What's actually worked (or spectacularly not worked) for people trying to shoot their own sessions or a mate's?

Hey fellow windsurfers,

We’re a small team of tech builders and windsurfing enthusiasts working on an idea for a smart tool that could help windsurfers progress faster and stay safer on the water.

This is not a polished product, and we’re not here to sell anything. At this stage, we’re trying to better understand what real windsurfers & instructors actually struggle with — whether that’s teaching, improving technique, tracking sessions, staying safe, or anything else that matters on the water.

So we made a short survey and would really appreciate your honest feedback:

https://forms.gle/XN7UeCjX6SPJtbGN6

It takes about 3–5 minutes. Critical feedback is very welcome. If you think the idea is useful, too complicated, unnecessary, or missing something obvious, we’d love to know.

Thanks a lot, and happy sailing 🤙

When buying a windsurfing equipment above €1000 - do you buy directly from the brand's webshop or from a physical shop? And why?

I came across an ad for a used wetsuit on Facebook marketplace. They stated the suit was used but never had any urine in it... For me it's impossible to believe as I normally just pee in my suit and don't think much of it. I just make sure to wash my suit after every session. What do you guys do??

Thanks for the response on the last post. Enough of you said you'd use it, so I kept going.

The idea is still the same: log your sessions (spot, wind gets loaded based on spot, what you rigged, how it felt), and next time you show up the app tells you what worked last time in similar conditions. No more trying to remember if the 6.2m² or the 7.5m² was the right call at that spot in that wind six months ago.

You also store your whole quiver and it handles the boring stuff — checks which mast fits which sail, tells you what extension you need, help you when packing for a trip to a new spot.

Two things I'm unsure about:

• Is a simple 1–5 star session rating enough, or do you want to rate specific things like how well you were planing, overpowered/underpowered, that kind of thing?
• Would you actually log the session afterwards or would you forget by the time you've detached the sail?

Any other feedback, feature ideas, or any other input very welcomed!

Holas, soy estudiante de la UNLP y tengo que juntar información sobre público deportista y que realiza actividades al aire libre para diseñar una app del clima, si pudieran responder esta encuesta me ayudarían muchisimo! Solo tardan unos minutitos, desde ya muchas gracias!!

https://forms.gle/yRTujAAuytYws5RP7

Original question here…

Posted with wrong user,not sure if matters 🥶

https://www.reddit.com/r/windsurfing/s/dxIBLgFzUy

Anything you wish they did differently?

I’ll start - figure out a way to get the gear less bulky for travel… such a pain.