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

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!

It’s not a time for the RSX fraternity to gloat, but to put more effort into growing the class. Does it exist only because it is the “Olympic Windsurfer”?

The FOD/FWOD is not dead-in-the-water, but needs the momentum of numbers, ISAF international class status and a strong following to be built ready for the next round of decision making.

The final decision for the 2016 Olympics is likely to be made in 2012, but FOD will need to have a noticable presence by late 2010 to be considered a serious contender. To be a serious contender, formula fleets should be mostly “One Design” (FOD) – state and national windsurfing bodies should encourage that scenario.

Or is a longboard still the best option??

Last minute lobbying with comments (Nov 2008):
Why FOD is right for 2012 (Ceri Williams)
Fact not Fiction (Allison Shreeve)

The longboard view:
The Longboard Windsurfing Journal

At this weeks ISAF meeting amongst the agenda items is a proposal to switch windsurfing boards for the 2012 London Olympic Games from the existing Neil Pryde RS:X to a new Starboard built Formula board.

Read more:
http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Not-time-to-change-Olympic-windsurfer-says-Pryde/50457 

See more @ http://windsurfingnz.org/node/1796

Previous Posts on this subject:
2008/09/15: Press release: Formula OD
2008/06/05: 2012 Olympic board – RSX or FWOD

Please leave a comment here.

RS:X Men
1. Tom Ashley (New Zealand)
2. Julien Bontemps (France)
3. Sharar Zubari (Israel)
4. Nick Dempsey (Great Britain)
No Australian entrant
Article: http://www.sailing.org/olympics/news/24796.php

The mark roundings are posted LIVE to the website.
http://www.sailing.org/olympics/resultscentre.php?raceid=42

Here’s the main olympic sailing site and other links that may be of interest.
http://www.sailing.org/olympics
http://sailjuice.com (blog)
Results Alert (rss feed)

AWA delegates to vote on their State/s preferred option of Olympic Board choice for London 2012 : RS-X vs FWOD (Formula Windsurfing One Design)

Background : AWA has the option to submit an opinion to Yachting Australia (YA) voting delegates on the Australian windsurfing community’s (ie : AWA membership) opinion on their preferred option of London 2012 Olympic equipment to be voted on at ISAF meetings November, 2008

Please add your comments to this article so that we can make an informed decision.

AWA may then submit the AWA consensus to the YA members who carry votes at the Olympic equipment selection ballot/s for their consideration.

Why is this important ? Because the IWA fully support and endorse the FWOD concept. Because YA delegates have a significant number of the votes in this process, yet operate fundamentally with yacht background experience, with little or no first hand or current understanding of the real sport of windsurfing. (exception here is YA’s Phil Jones, who has a previous history in BiC Techno in UK – and is Vice President of the ISAF Windsurfing Community).

Without the clear input from the Australian Windsurfing community (ie : AWA membership), the YA delegates will vote with their best intentions, but they may NOT reflect the Australian Windsurfing community. Even WITH our submission, they may still choose their own vote, but cannot do so ignorant of the concensus of the AWA.
 
In Australia it is even more important, as most other member nations have a more direct input and representation to their ISAF office/rep than we do in AUS (being somewhat isolated from YA affairs.)

Please note, although a lot of debate over finer equipment details can ensue (and with some merit !), the vote (and thus AWA discussion and decision making) is very simple : the RS-X solution or the FWOD solution.
 
For more information on the FWOD concept and proposal, please see the full background info at  
http://www.star-board.com/2008/pages/news/news.php?readmore=351
 
PowerPoint file
www.star-board.com/2008/pages/downloads/star-board-presentation.pps

Formula One Design video clip
http://2008p.star-board.com/2008/video/p_olympic.php

Formula One Design (Allison’video clip)
http://2008p.star-board.com/2008/video/p_new_olympic_v2.php