User:Jharvey

Windsurfing boards have always been one of the most significant factors in the performance of a windsurfing rig. Sails, masts, and booms, are all important, however i think that the board has the biggest impact on how the rig performs. I have been windsurfing for 12 years and have sailed on every type of board there is from freestyle and wave boards to race and slalom boards and the difference of performance between them all is incredible. Starting with the smallest boards, wave boards i will describe the performance of each board all the way up to the biggest boards, the race boards. Wave boards were first invented when some people windsurfing in Maui on slalom boards (the only boards there were) decided that slalom boards were too long to carve back and fourth on bigger waves, so they wanted a smaller board. At first, the boards they made were pretty much just small slalom boards but then the shape of the true wave board was created. Wave boards are short in length, anywhere from 7 1/2 feet to 8 1/2 feet, wider than a slalom board, and very light so that they can carve sharply and quickly in the water and they are easy to jump. The next biggest board, my personal favorite, is the freestyle board. The freestyle boards were invented just recently (about 4 years ago) when people started doing more and more freestyle (tricks). Most of the freestyle moves people were able to do on wave boards, however the newer moves that people were doing, where the board is doing a lot of sliding on the water and jumping the board in little or no waves, were getting hard to do on wave boards because they were too small. So the freestyle board was invented. Freestyle boards are about the same length as wave boards, however they are much wider, which gives them more volume (in other words, since they are wider they have more buoyancy). This is critical for the new freestyle moves. When the board is sliding sideways, if it is long and narrow it does not have as much stability which makes it harder to balance. With a wider board, the board has more volume (which gives it buoyancy) which makes it easier to balance when the board is sliding sideways on the water. This also is very helpful when you are doing light wind tricks when you need maximum balance. Just a small step up from the freestyle board is the freeride, or slalom, board. This board is more centered towards the people who want to go fast but still want the light weight for jumping. Freeride boards were invented just after the sport itself was. They were the first boards that you could go fast on. Freeride boards are shaped a lot like wave boards but made a little longer. Freeride boards are great for speed, carving, and jumping. They basically are the average boards, they include aspects from each discipline of boards. Wave, the long narrow shape, race, the speed, and freestyle, the light weight. And finally the biggest board of them all, the race board. This is the board that probably first started the sport. It is shaped much different than any other board. It is long, about the same as the freeride board, but is very wide, much wider than the freestyle board. However, the most significant aspect that makes it stand out is the volume. It is the floatiest board of them all. It is designed for early, light wind planning and is very fast. In addition to being a great board for racing, it is an excellent board for beginner windsurfers, due to its wide stability and large volume.