There was once a little boy who was bored at the beach. He went for a walk along the shore and eventually came across a funny sail and board contraption. The lady whose windsurfing kit it was came over and explained to the little boy how it worked. She offered to teach him how to sail. Having nothing else to do the boy readily accepted.
After a few goes the boy was managing to uphaul the sail and glide back and forth. Turning was still a tad tricky but the lady explained practice makes perfect. Within a week the boy had gained much more confidence and his windsurfing skills were progressing rapidly.
During the seventh day the wind picked up significantly – white horses (a new term he had leaned) were capping right across the bay. At first the boy was nervous but after a bit of advice from the lady he was whizzing back and forth much faster than he had gone before. The lady called him ashore and gave him a funny waist belt thing which she explained how to use. After a little more trial and error the boy soon got the hang of harness work and even discovered the additional acceleration benefits of slotting his feet into the footstraps.
Over the next few months the boy made many trips to the beach to visit the kind lady and learn more about windsurfing. Before long the boy was given his own equipment by his parents who had observed how much he enjoyed this new found activity. The boy’s little sister had also decided to give it a go.
One day, during a breezy spell, the lady decided to take the boy to a new spot round the headland. Here there were waves breaking with other sailors launching themselves skyward and racing across liquid walls of water, re-directing their boards according to how the surf was behaving.
Another anxious feeling swept over the boy but following yet another pep talk he was convinced to head out. Following a lot of crashing the boy came back to the beach all aglow. He may have spent a considerable amount of time swimming but there had also been moments of epiphany.
On one occasion the boy had been speeding toward a steep wave. As instinct took over the boy’s windsurfing kit met the apex of the wave and he soared high into the sky. While not landing the jump cleanly he had experienced windsurfing flight – the addiction was now terminal.
The boy’s skills improved quickly and he soon became one of the stand out windsurfers at his local spot. A couple of the more advanced riders had taken him under their wing and showed him a few manoeuvres. He took these newly acquired skills and added his own spin, slowly but surely developing his own radical style. Meanwhile his sister was also making good headway and was frequenting the same wave spot – she too displaying a natural ability that had onlookers nodding in praise.
Two years later the boy and his sister travelled to a big competition being held in Europe. The boy’s debut event was super successful with him taking the event win in his age category and placing fourth overall. His sister also did amazingly well and placed second overall – no mean feat considering the standard of opposition.
Post competition and both siblings were picked up by a number of sponsors and over the next decade became two of the most successful wave sailors the sport of windsurfing had ever seen. The boy showed particular skill in big wave arenas – often charging monstrous swells around the globe. His sister meanwhile could give any of the top males a run for their money when it came to flat water and wave trickery.
Whilst the above maybe a rose tinted and fictional account of a boy and girls love affair with windsurfing the point is you never know what’s around the corner. Seek and ye shall find, so the saying goes. After all, you may discover something you never dreamed of which could set you on a path of success you hadn’t even contemplated.
