A Tale of Boom, Bust and Boardsailing … Why did windsurfing die off as suddenly as it did? … A death in the family – the end of windsurfing (not likely!)… How competitive evolutionary dynamics first created then ruined windsurfing… Whatever happened to windsurfing? … Top 10 Reasons Why Windsurfing Has Declined … (titles from web sources, 1990 – 2021)
Decline of windsurfing after 1985 (someone says it happened later, somenone might call it ”death of windsurfing”) is one of the most interesting themes of our sport history. I have to admit, as a museum guy I am obsessed with this period. Maybe it has to do something with human ”Fascination with dead”**. The rise and fall. It´ s been so much written about the first one, a bit less about the fall. During the preparation of new exhibition I´ ve searched many websites and completed 77 the most suitable and appropriate quotes, arguments, facts, reasons…
Let us know via mail ws1975@post.cz which quotes You like the most and add more explanations if you wish.
Good winds to your sails,
Tom
P.S. discussion continues on facebook
Credits and Special thanks to Guy Le Roux, L. Jon Wertheim, Martin Hawthorn, Tez Plavenieks, Stuart Thomas, Jason Potts and to all quoted discussion participants from the Old school Windsurfers group, seabreeze.com.au, singletrackworld.com and google forums.
P.S. This post is NOT looking for arguments ”HOW” to save windsurfing or ”WHETHER” it is in decline or it is dead yet… I am looking for main reasons. We cannot learn from history but we can try to get to know it and understand it…
P.P.S. We are discussing only a pre-2000 history – windsurfing of the last century
The Top 50 Reasons – Summary:
Wind availability * cost * space * kiting + paddleboarding * learning curve * internet * planning * macho image * the marketing * the manufacturers * the demography * the computer games and social media * the pressure to always advance * the high-tech * ignoring the family base * making it extréme * wind snobs * learners died off * normal surfers were no more good clients * too complicated * media destroyed family windsurfing * expensive * isn’t easy for girl * media and ‘the industry’ * new equipment * so much European production * sale by mail * closing of full service shops * adrenalin sport * manufacturing, distribution, sales * funboard * waterstart * cycling * loss of world cup sponsorship * equipment intensivr * cost of keeping up * short board route * no longer teaching your friends * not many places to learn * and painful uphauling stage * wind blows Monday to Friday * stopped being trendy * I wasn’t good enough for a short board * difficult to pick up at first * too much kit * I can’t plane * fun factor no more * shortboards * lack of wind, skills, time and money * seasonal business * product cycles measured in months * mail-order houses selling * No more a family aktivity * Volkswagen factor * camaraderie factor disappears * it’s not cool to not plane * boards are eggshell and your sail can’t handle a lot of sun * few women and kids * No clothing company involvement * planing * a lot of big gear * Time constraints, instant gratification, team sports, money/career sports * not a good return on leisure time, money, storage * fear of jumping waves like they show the windsurfers doing on TV * no updated pictures of Jenna de Rosnay….
* check in detail if you do not believe me >>>
* The title is borrowed from L. Jon Wertheim and Pete Seeger of course
**Fascination with death has occurred throughout human history, characterized by obsessions with death and all things related to death and the afterlife (wikipedia.org)
Guy Le Roux – A Tale of Boom, Bust and Boardsailing @ Sailing world – 1996 “If it doesn’t work on Saturday, the sport won’t grow.” /1
Plat Johnson @A Tale of Boom… 1996
… the first factors that led to the sport´s present contraction started in about 1985 when …sailors realised that to have fun on the new high-performance equipment, they´´ d have to buy all new equipment. Then they found that this new equipment didn´t work in the conditions they used to sail in, plus it was harder to put together, so they became frustrated… /2
Ken Winner @A Tale of Boom… 1996
… if you ask 100 people if they´ve windsurfed, 30 might say yes and 28 would say it was too hard to pick up the sail up out of the water … /3
Discussion to the Guy´ s 1996 article @ Old school Windsurfers group 2019 – 2022
Rasmus Wiman
Also, the number of water sports have increased since the 80s. Today, the first thing people say when I say that I windsurf is “do you kite surf too”, or “why don’t you kite surf”…/4
Phil Scheetz
There is a demographic component. The baby boom generation was at peak windsurfing age, pre-kids, in the 70s and 80s. Once you “needed” to be planing to have fun, and thus, you were rid of your long board, the end was near. If you then had kids, and really couldn’t justify sitting at the beach, waiting for planing conditions, you were out. The big shift from longboards to short boards, made the sport much less accessible. You needed more wind and you no longer owned a board that you could teach a friend on. My $.02 /5
Jon Grau
Back then it was all about the camaraderie /6
Ilya Utkin
…. not only windsurfing declined, many other sports too. And the major reason I think are computer games and social media. That is where young people try to impress each other, not on the beach or in the sky. /7
Steve Hickey
I think an additional reason for giving up is caused by pressure to always advance to the next level with equipment. If someone loves sailing their LT and that is their level of participation – support that and celebrate it. … I have several times defended another’s choice to sail a longboard or without using straps. /8
Evan Marks
There are parallels to the decline of other sports: Rollerblading had its moment. Did high-tech inline skate racing drive the death of casual rollerblading? Snowboarding boomed and declined, too. Did the push towards more and more radical riding ignore the family base? /9
Chris Thompson
….. One thing that frustrates me is that all the time the sport has been declining, people have been saying “we must make it extreme to attract new sailors and kids” despite the fact that this is clearly not just an old approach, but a failed approach. We started promoting extreme sailing in the early ’80s, yet people still claim today that if we keep pushing the same line, the long term decline will turn around. It’s bizarre that they stick to a philosophy that has been failed for over thirty years, and even more bizarre that some people claim that the “extreme” approach represents new thinking…. /10
Alain Bolduc
…. afterwards kitesurfing came, and that made it even more difficult for Windsurfing. /11
Martin Hawthorn: ·Why did windsurfing die off as suddenly as it did? – 2021 – We had some of the best times but cant figure out what stopped new people joining such a great pastime.
Discussion @ Old school Windsurfers group, 2021 /12
Brent Johnstone
…we imploded the sport… boards went from big fun boards that everyone could learn on, picnics and teach your mates and family to sail, they loved it and went out and bought one. We became wind snobs 25kts plus, high wind small wave boards plenty of fun but the next generation learners died off. … /13
Claus Rübel
I worked in a surfshop and the peoples who just wanted to have a good time on the water had no voice in the industry. Everything had to be radical, short, for strong wind and heavy conditions. Normal surfers were no good clients… and stopped buying… same as me… /14
Nick Amos
Got too complicated simple was better I think for the masses one board mast daggerboard booms all set ! /15
Paul Wright
The media destroyed family windsurfing “its dangerous, its boring, you need high tech kit and only wave sailing is great“. UK water authorities did the rest with extortionate charges for car park and launch. Many of my windsurfing mates just switched to other sports, mainly cycling/MTB. We relied on schools to introduce youngsters to watersports and windsurfing/sailing was just too expensive. /16
June Swinerton
Expensive. You need at least five sails two booms two mast and two boards to cover the range. Maybe …. On the water adjustment that doesn’t hurt your hands. Being female, and darn strong, I often have to get guys to break a line free, press in a button, or unstick a stubborn mast. The sport isn’t easy for girls, things that are too hard to press or pull, most my booms and mast are heavy because light cost a boatload, and needing so much equipment just to be able to sail winds from 12 to 25 * mph. …. Kite sailing is a bit easier, and I do notice more women. /17
Nick Field
The thing is, the ‘media’ and ‘the industry’ simply went where we wanted to go. If the market (us) decided we wanted to stick with light wind easy to sail kit, they would have continued to make and sell it. If we had only wanted to read about light wind windsurfing, that what the magazines would have covered. They only changed because that’s where we – the consumer – wanted to go. We seem too ready to point the finger anywhere but at ourselves. /18
Annie Gardner
The grass roots died with all the new equipment. When it was simple and one design it grew and grew. …. /19
Barry Cochran
“Keep It Simple Stupid” The One-Design was Great. Got too complicated after that… /20
Freddy Callis
I was one of the largest dealers on the East Coast at the time. I can tell you that there was so much European production dumped on the US market and whored out through so many non-dealer networks and Windsurfing By Mail, that legitimate dealers that ran schools and brought in the new blood to the sport, couldn’t make money. It’s like trying to run a ski industry without ski instructors. The whole market imploded. /21
Bernie Edmonds
Also the internet perpetuated the closing of full service shops. /22
Rich Mitchell
Learning curve & Wind speed availability … Kiting takes weeks to master. Windsurfing takes Years. /23
Bill Dawes
It didn’t ‘suddenly die’, it simply had a massive incredible start – utterly bizarre that windsurfing turned out to be the very first ever recreational adrenalin sport, but it was. So it was entirely uncontested in the late 70s and early 80s. Preceded mountain biking, snowboarding, the longboard surfing revolution, all that other stuff that we now take for granted. And then, for all the reasons listed above and a few others in terms of manufacturing, distribution, sales approaches and a multitude of other ‘thousand cuts’, it just steadily declined. And unfortunately, on the two occasions when it seemed to be regaining momentum, such when manufacturers revisited beginner boards and made them much wider and far more accessible etc, other watersports (ie kite and sup) came along and strangled that momentum /24
Javier Taramona
To me Funboard was probably the main reason, I saw many old school sailors that they quit because waterstart… /25
Rick Filho
The windurf industry killed windsurfing! Sold out to the Chinese and game over. PWA killed the competition, like same money prize for women. killing even more. Game over… /26
June Swinerton
… I think kiting nailed the coffin shut. Everyone that does it says it’s easier all the way around. Till the next best thing. Foiling and a wing? /27
Berky Boats
Cyclic, Kites, loss of world cup sponsorship, expensive, equipment intensive, no key /28
Sven Aldar
I was working in sales and running as a shop sailor . I saw the decline caused by the factors above . The main one being the exponentialy accelerating cost of keeping up with mr Jones. /29
Jan-Derk Haan
When no updated pictures of Jenna de Rosnay could be found in the windsurf magazines anymore /30
Claudio Rohrsetzer
Price of equipment, learning curve and wind availability. /31
Clive Lindsay
Doing long reaches blasting back and forth was all I wanted to do…BUT along came twirls and tricks….to me … an entirely different sport…in the same way that Raceboads with daggers, was totally different . /32.
Alyson Rando
I think Kiting took over… even though it can be a bit harder to learn… it’s definitely easier on the body and you don’t need as much wind…. /33
Graeme Fuller
The single biggest factor in windsurfings decline imv was the fact once you’d gone down the short board route, you could no longer teach your friends, or let them have a go. Couple that to the increased litigation that occurred in the late eighties and nineties which restrained schools and there is your recipe for disaster… /34
Brian Coles
In Scotland the cost of kit, not many places to learn, shops mostly closed or diversified in 80s and we all got older and had different priorities. Both my kids tried it but never got hooked… /35
Dori Fontaine – 1990
“Some people are intimidated because they think they have to jump waves like they show the windsurfers doing on TV,” /36
L. Jon Wertheim – Where have All the Windsurfers Gone – 2001
Where did windsurfing go wrong?
Much of the blame can be assigned to those who marketed the sport after its initial surge in popularity. Instead of promoting windsurfing as physically challenging, environmentally sound and accessible to practitioners at all levels, “wind snobs” played up the extreme element. Television coverage and product brochures featured acrobats negotiating mast-high swells in Maui and freestyle daredevils executing midair sorcery in 30-knot winds. …. It made for a macho image, but it scared off some beginners and frustrated even skilled boarders.
Manufacturers didn’t help matters. While they didn’t cease production of beginner-level boards, companies, in an effort to appease the daredevil contingent, put far greater emphasis on sleeker, more aero- and hydro-dynamic boards that were prohibitively expensive.
More recently, the sport’s popularity has been scuttled by kitesurfing, a fast-growing windsurfing cognate that offers a considerable element of thrill but with a near-vertical learning curve–at about half the cost. /37
Fred Hasson – How the Internet Killed Windsurfing – 2017
… how did the internet kill windsurfing? By taking the money out of it. First, the money went out of small shops, lost to the online retailers. But the shops’ customers were the clients of the online sellers, and when the shops stopped generating customers, the online sellers gradually lost their sales. Little by little, windsurfing ….. went away. /38
Tez Plavenieks – A death in the family – the end of windsurfing (not likely!)… – 2018
… Some say that it was the discovery of planing that sounded the death knell for windsurfing while others suggested it was the technical difficulties of mastering the then performance equipment of the time that put the nail in the coffin. /39
Stuart Thomas, Jason Potts -How competitive evolutionary dynamics first created then ruined windsurfing – 2019
….No one was thinking about the longevity or the health of the sport because it was bomb proof, it was going through the roof. So in ….’83 or ’84 the sport was probably nearing the apex.
The marketing no doubt was probably 75 or 80 per cent skewed towards the advanced sailor. People aspired to be Robby Naish. They didn’t want to be Joe Blogs on a heavy windsurfer at a resort with a chewed up sail.… the companies had forgotten about the grassroots level of the sport, forgotten about the entry level part of the sport. The participation at that grassroots level…was lost….. Windsurfing…to most people was getting together with your mates, blasting around having a good time. Then the marketing came that unless you’re in the waves, surfing big waves on highly refined wave gear, you weren’t cool. Then two things happened, people either felt they’re not cool so they won’t do it. Or they went and bought the highly refined gear and sunk to the bottom, hated the sport and left.
In 1985, as the performance market boomed, the recreational side of windsurfing crashed and several of the biggest mass producers went bankrupt in that year (Neil Pryde, 2010).
Driven partly by the demands of elite competitors and partly by relentless competition for market share, manufacturers refined their equipment and materials to the point where using it moved beyond the skills and budget of the average recreational user.
The sport and its associated industries then went into rapid decline, with severe economic consequences for those directly connected with the industry such as manufacturers, distributers and retailers… /40
Whatever happened to windsurfing? @ singletrackworld.com – 2010
gusamc
I was hooked then gave up (I got better and needed stronger wind – inland that wasn’t that often) …… I think most people didn’t make it past the tiring and painful uphauling stage. /41
purser_mark
Kite surfing really killed windsurfing. Thats why there isn’t a massive influx of people into the sport now… The equipment is much lighter, the air is much bigger, you don’t need a roof rack or a van and if your’e talented you can probably pick up the basics in 3-5 days. You also need a lot less wind, so get out more often.
Learning intermediate techniquies such as how to gybe and waterstart a windsurf board probably takes 6 months if you are very talented………..I loved it, but Kitesurfing still kicks it’s ass. /42
GaryLake
Same, got good, needed more wind, only seemed to blow Monday to Friday, got into bikes, gave up… /43
iDave
… it stopped being trendy so people who really enjoyed it felt they could no longer be seen to enjoy it. global marketing lizards found new equally enjoyable activities to sell to them having already got their windsurfing cash. /44
Moses
I used to love it, but wasn’t good enough for a short board … That, and that it took so effing long to pack all the kit into & onto the car, get it ready, and then stow it again afterwards. Too much effort for just an hour or so on the water. /45
ads-b
Kitesurfing has attracted loads more people down the beach. I would say 25% of windsurfers have either stopped going or have converted to kitesurfing in the last 10yrs. ….. In the 90s everyone ditched skiing for snowboarding. Now skiing is the thing to do. Hopefully windsurfing will have a resurgence. But like skiing, windsurfing is a lot more difficult to pick up at first. But as people have said, its significantly easier with the new kit. It took me 5yrs to do my first carve gybe. My mate is doing them now after only his second year. It seems unfair. /46
Sponging-Machine
Windsurfing is too expensive, needs too much kit and requires too much cocking about on the beach rigging things up. /47
Top 10 Reasons Why Windsurfing Has Declined @groups.google.com
Jerry McEwen
10. I don’t know whether or not to dry my sails,.
9. Waist harness or seat?
8. Ellen hasn’t taught me how to waterstart my 10.0.
7. I’m too sore from butt-dragging.
6. I need a three-fin quiver, but can only afford two.
5. Can’t decide whether to sail my HS 105 or HS 125.
4. Can’t decide whether to rig *with* or *without* cams. /48
Mike F
13. I can’t plane through my jibes.
14. I don’t like arguing.
15. It’s too haaaaaaaaaaaaard. /49
Frank Weston
There is only one reason: windsurfing was a “trend” sport in the beginning.
It boomed while it was trendy, but now it’s not. /50
Bob Jacobson
Shortboards killed windsurfing. When everyone was on longboards, you could longboard and still be cool. When shortboards showed up with planing jibes, jumpin’ and bumpin’, and real wave ridin’, cool was re-defined. Unfortunately, many people didn’t have the wind, skills, time and money involved to move on. The “industry” responded with “transition boards” instead of quickly developing a school system for upgrading skills. Not to be too harsh on the “industry”: even at the height of windsurfing popularity, we’re talking a tiny business. Have pity on your windsurfing retailer: a seasonal business with expensive inventory, product cycles measured in months, customers with various skill levels and financial resources, help that knows how to windsurf, but not how to retail (lots of cool dudes who look down their nose at beginners), and mail-order houses selling on price. Not much margin there to develop a good instructional system. /51
RON – RMoore 41
One thing I see in my perspective windsurfing for 20+ years is that it is NOT a family activity and for the most part the wife and kids hate it and pop is torn between spending quality time with the family or chasing wind. There is trends and people will quickly jump on a bandwagon and just as quickly jump off when the fun factor wears off ….. In my area windsurfing is fading and sailors are either not sailing anymore because they are too busy or too lazy or just the fun factor is not there anymore for them. Some of the real wind addicts have gone to kiting and they arn’t coming back and the new crowd is going into kiting as it is the current new activity… /52
Pete Cresswell
I think there’s also the “Volkswagon factor“. Back when they were ugly little bugs with no gas gauge and owned by only a few people there was sort of a fraternal feeling – VW drivers used to wave to each other. Same thing with a lot of sports, I think – surfing, Hobiecatting, snow skiing, windsurfing…now kiting. Once the unwashed masses get in and the camaraderie factor disappears a certain number of people drift away and new people are not attracted for that reason. Dunno what the percent is…probably not real high…maybe less than 10…but I think it’s still one factor among many.
….. I remember sailing for hours and hours without even *thinking* about planing…and enjoying every minute of it. Now, as somebody observed, it’s not cool to not plane…and most people’s equipment reinforces that. /53
Bernardo – bsurf
In my opinion what’s killing WS is $1600 boards with $400 masts, $600 sails, $300 booms and $300 fin quivers. Not to mention all the extra gadgets (extensions, bags, racks, tools, wetsuits etc…) that could easy add up to $4000. But that’s not the worst part, your $1600 board is an eggshell and your sail can’t handle a lot of sun!!! whats that, a board carries a mast and a boom that are rock solid, and the best WS day should have sun.
I know that manufacters can’t build $300 bombproof boards, at least with all the exotic materials they are using now, but what about $1000 boards in a 2 lb heavier construction that is not that crisp but a lot more durable, ….The same goes with sails, at least they should be able to handle a lot of sun and cost a little less. I bet you that if equipment like that came out, a lot of more people were willing to try it, or not to quit after some of their quiver have broken…. /54
Bill Kline
6. ….The center of the sport is lighter wind sailing, prevalent around the world ( not only”waves and high wind” < Windsurfing museum comment)
8. Very few women windsurf
9. Few kids from 16 to 25 windsurf. This group comprises 65% of the readers of Surfing magazine. Surfing is many times larger, despite the fact there is more sailable water worldwide than surf able water.
10. No clothing company involvement: the big money in surf promotion is clothing and lifestyle companies. Windsurfing needs such involvement. Surfing is hard core, you paddle to get out, get LOTS of exercise. Windsurfing needs to be hardcore, sail on regardless in all winds! Such is the soul of our sport. When the opinion leaders are soulful, the sport evolves, be it basketball, windsurfing, skiing, snowboarding, surfing, or LIFE!:) /55
Michael US5613
I might even say that planing killed windsurfing (as a more popular sport). When not planing became the equivalent of not windsurfing, this increased people’s gear requirements while simultaneously decreased the quality of thein prevailing conditions. 8 knots was “bad”. /56
Gary K
Why is Windsurfing Dying? [5 Reasons]
– Too Weather Dependent
– The Cost
– The Space
– Competition from Kites and SUPs
– The Learning Curve /57
whosywhat
Windsurfing is a relatively expensive sport, so it’s hard to attract new people …. you have to carry around a lot of big gear . Plenty of windsurfers need vans or trailers to haul all their gear, but kitesurfers barely need a hatchback. /58
slammin – 2012
Time constraints, instant gratification, team sports, money/career sports all had a huge impact on windsurfing. Hell we would have windsurfed on ferro boards if we had to! But then we had weekends at the beach, Only dad worked. … Try and explain that to a teenager who now can’t survive for 30mins without facebook and is more concerned with their looks… seabreeze.com.au /59
NSW- 2012
Most people get to do their sport maybe one day per weekend and one afternoon, so the chances are that they if they use typical modern gear, they will get a decent sail once every couple of weeks and the rest of the time they will schlogg around, plane intermittently, or stay ashore. That’s not a good return on leisure time, money, storage etc, and it makes learning difficult. … Imagine if you were playing a team sport in which you were left on the bench every second game. You’d probably get pretty narked pretty quickly. The “progression” of windsurfing gear has lead to people being “benched” most days. The strange reality is that on a typical day around Sydney Harbour, an original teak-boomed Windsurfer would leave a typical modern board for dead.
I don’t know of any other sport in which “progression” has lead to a dramatic reduction in performance in typical conditions like that. seabreeze.com.au /60
P.S. updated 11/2023
John Langvall: ” The idea that if you aren’t planing you aren’t windsurfing is what killed the sport”
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