After the death of my father in 1987, I was consciously looking for something. I considered sit-down boat sailing as a family activity, but no one in the family was interested in pursuing that. I remembered having seen windsurfers on lakes in Austria in 1985, so I took a lesson from Jay Blackburn at St. George's rental at Crosswinds Marina on Jordan Lake. I bought a used Vinta board and rig (both items were Vinta brand!) from Jay. It was an all-round funboard and felt a lot tippier and less stabile than the tanker I had learned on.

I sailed that for a while before moving to a New Malibu. I stayed with the New Malibu too long, but eventually purchased a Screamer I and 6.5 North Prisma from Ray Riggs. I was out in the sound sailing my Malibu when Ray came by and let me try the Screamer/6.5. It was an "ah-ha!" experience: instantly I was the stone skipping across the water.

About 1991 I got a yellow Equipe from Water World for racing. Racing was more popular in the early 1990s.

In 1994 an Explosion 288. This was a classic and great board. I thought a long time before giving it up in favor of a Seatrend Allstar 70 (155 liters). The Allstar 70 came out in 1998 and was one of the first "flapper" boards.

In 1996 an Ecstasy, used from Hatteras Wind 'n Surf.

Sold the Ecstasy to get a 1995 Electron. Charles Livaudais had an Electron and it seemed fast, but not too "squirrely" for coastal sound conditions.

In 1999 I bought an Australian board, a Rocket Slalom Strapper, from Craig Wright at a club-sponsored swap meet. 95 ltrs. This is a cool board!

I had an Explosion II, which I got from Dave Marshall in trade for the Equipe. I kept the Explo II for a couple of years before I realized that it just wasn't the right board for me. In 2003 I traded it in on a Hifly Free 274 (122 liters).

You have to want to windsurf. Learning to windsurf takes years for most people to learn and it requires a lot of persistance and time.

rev.: March 9, 2004