Windsurfing

From the early days of Windsurfing the material progressed quickly and changed dramatically over the years. And so did the disciplines develop and change over. When it was racing in the beginning, Robby introduced wave sailing and made the crossover between sailing and surfing. But racing stayed important in Europe, as there aren’t so many perfect wave sailing competition sites. The boards got extremer – the material was so important that some of the professional windsurfers used to carry 20 boards around the globe. And then from one to the other day nobody wanted to have that hassle anymore. Racing died within one season. The outcome of the pros without a job was Formula Racing. Here the equipment was strictly limited and had to be production. Just wave sailing was still so much more attractive for spectators. Therefore in 1999 Freestyle developed from the lake of Garda and spread around the world within years. The original idea was to “translate” some of the wave sailing moves to flat water. Nobody could imagine by then the skateboard-like moves the young freestylers would do a few years later. When the professional freestyle repertoire got out of hand organizers realized that it probably ended up less achievable for an average windsurfer than sailing in big wave. So in 2003 the snowboard influenced disciplines Super-X was created. At the same time the speed discipline celebrated a revival. Today we use special boards and sails for all disciplines. As the wind can be very different those boards and sails also vary in sizes. Two to three boards per discipline are still used to compete at the highest level. But most sailors are true specialists and compete in just one or two disciplines. That explains the absence of an Overall World title

 
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Speed
The history of Speed sailing started in Weymouth England with the boating fraternity and hand timing. A 500m course was used to ensure fair competition, with today’s modern technology shorter courses are often used to open up more accessible locations, but the original 500m courses still remain as the most prestigious and a true measure of ability and consistency.
The ownership of the outright fastest craft on the water has changed between boats and windsurfers many times over the years, and currently rests firmly with the Windsurfer.
 
     
 
Wave

The most attractive discipline. Two competitors sail against each other. They get scored by several judges for their performance in jumps and wave riding. Jumps can differ in complexity and how safe the rider performs them. There is a scoring list with all the possible jumps. The highest counting are doubles, followed by combination jumps, back loops, push loops, tabletops, forwards and the more simple low scoring maneuvers. For a good wave-riding score it’s important to choose the right wave and to ride it radical. The winner moves into the next round till the last two sailors battle out the final heat. A heat usually lasts 8 to 15 minutes depending on the conditions (wind strength and wave period)
 
     
 
Freestyle
A young and very dynamic discipline. Everybody shows off with his best moves. There is no limitation. Everything scores: tricks, jumps and waverides. In just 5 short years this discipline completely redefined windsurfing. Nowadays the “young guns” show off moves that nobody ever thought possible before. Like in waves the riders compete directly against an opponent. Judges score the sailors whole heat (usually 5 minutes) by taking into account 4 different scores: “technical skill”, “diversity” (how many different moves), “style” (of the rider), and “overall impression”.
 
     
 
Slalom
High speed and good tactics are important for slalom racing. The course is a downwind or figure-8 course. The competitor fleet is divided into heats – usually 8 sailors per heat. The start can be an on-land-start where competitors have to run with their equipment to the water after the start signal is made or an imaginary starting-line on the water like in Formula racing. The top half of every heat advances to the next round till the last 8 sailors battle out the final heat.
 
     
 

Super-X
Super-X is the youngest windsurfing discipline. The first world champion - Matt Pritchard - got crowned in 2004. It’s similar to the snowboard discipline Boarder-X. The sailors start in heats (usually 8 sailors together). The course is a downwind slalom course but with obstacles to jump over and mandatory moves to complete. For the moment the moves are a choice from duck-jibes around the buoys, forward loops and spocks.
 
     
 

Formula
In Formula racing the equipment is limited to production boards (boards that are mass produced and that everybody can buy in shops). Every rider can only register one board, three sails and three fins. The boards are all nearly 1 meter wide. They were designed to perform best in very light winds (5-10 knots) but still stay controllable in high winds.
This is the discipline that is closest to boat racing. The race crew sets out a course with a start line, which is an imaginary line from the start-boat to a buoy.
Using flags and signals on the boat, the start is executed and then the sailors have to make their way around the course, rounding several marks. Using sharp tactics and tuned equipment is necessary to succeed.