Archive for the ‘history’ Category

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Windsurfing Milestones

September 5, 2011

The “Australian Windsurfing Assoc. Inc.” was incorporated in Victoria on 1/12/1995. The incorporation followed a name change to Australia’s then peak windsurfing body, AUSA (Australian Union of Sailboard Associations).

I’m not sure of the AUSA formation date, only that it would be after the formation of the NSW Boardsailing Assoc in 1988. AUSA was run out of NSW with Bill Joselin being on the committee for many years.

Bill Joselin (NSW), Bruce McPhail (Vic) and John Rohde (SA) were some of the people involved in the drafting the AWA constitution.

Up until the mid 80’s, Windsurfer One Design ruled.

Here are some SA Milestones – Do you have any additional State/National Milestones (Establishment dates) to add??

8th June 2011:
25th Anniversary of WindsurfingSA
formerly SA Board Sailing Assoc Inc.

7th September 2011:
15th Anniversary of Windsurfing.org website

2007:
Australia celebrates the
30th Annual Windsurfer Class Nationals

July/Aug 2008:
Events that would have been celebrated if the organisations still existed
30th Anniversary of the SA Windsurfer Class assoc.
SA’s first windsurfing assoc.
I remember being on the committee when it was formed – windsurfer one design hasn’t changed much in that time, but little changes in those early days seemed to be quite significant at the time.

25th Anniversary of the SA Funboard Assoc.
both groups were supposed to dissolve on the creation of the SA Boardsailing Association, but for various reasons, it never happened.

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Return of the Original Windsurfer

August 30, 2009
The Original Windsurfer (Photo: Jean Souville)

The Original Windsurfer (Photo: Jean Souville)

It’s never really been out of use in Australia. The Australian manufacturer of the Windsurfer One Design (Windgenuity, Sydney) reports interest from Italy & USA. I have also received queries from these areas in the last few months. In the latest issue of Windsurfing (US), Winter 2009 (Aug), p46 states: The Original Windsurfer was the board that started it all – and now you may be able to by one. Ted Schweitzer, son of Original Windsurfer founders Hoyle and Diane Schweitzer, has plans to reintroduce the board to the US market. “I can’t believe how many people have expressed interest in ordering, sight and price unseen”, says Schweitzer.

Photo: Michael McGrath

Photo: Michael McGrath

Some of us can remember sailing the original craft – dacron sails, teak (square-ish to rounded) booms, and manual adjust centerboard (pictured top). Following the Perth worlds in 1985, a new board was introduced, and it’s still in production today. The new board (see right) has a shorter aluminium boom, retractable centreboard and mylar sail. For more info, see our windsurfer page.

1985 marks the beginning of the funboard era. About that time, alternative boards began to move into the Australian market. The longboard era lasted into the early 2000′s when Formula Windsurfing took over. Longboards, and the Windsurfer one-design are making a comeback as the noughties close…

What about wavesailing… that’s never gone out of fashion!

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Honor Roll: Life Members

July 12, 2009

The Australian Windsurfing Association is compiling a list of State Association Life Members.

So far, the following information has been received:

Victoria – Active

  • Ian Fox
  • Bruce McPhail
  • Warwick Lee
  • Mike Meyers

Victoria – Inactive

  • Lex Bertrand
  • Arthur Brett
  • Mike Mannix (Mordy Surf)
  • Frank Nachtigal (dedicated official, now living in Qld)
  • Adam Tilley
  • Colin Tregonning
  • Les Lindenburg
  • Lucy Palmer (deceased – 1998)
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History of Windsurfing Videos

September 29, 2008

My tour into the history starts with a new Movie from veteran photographer Jonathan Weston. It’s called Wind Legends and stars the top names in windsurfing telling the story of the sport.
More about the movie can be seen at windflicks.com

Wind Legends - The Movie

Wind Legends - The Movie

The site includes a few film trailers – It’s worth viewing them all.

Part 2:
Following a link on Jonathans site lead me to a wealth of historical footage @ stableroad.com     Pay particular attention to the Windsurfing page. Heres pics of some of the videos on the site.

The Windsurfing Tapes

The Windsurfing Tapes

More Windsurfing Tapes

More Windsurfing Tapes

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