“I was fascinated by wavesailing from the very first moment that I got into windsurfing, but it was not until I moved to Oahu that I learned to appreciate what it really means to “ride a wave”. In contrast to Maui, winds are lighter on Oahu, blowing most of the time gusty from side to side-offshore for a 5.2.
In the beginning I was often frustrated as I had a hard time catching waves because of the light winds. After a while I started to “read” the waves better, and realized that actually not much wind is needed to take advantage of the immense power of the waves. There are so many different styles how you can ride waves, it’s amazing!
One of the things that got me hooked are “aerials off the lip”- the feeling when you hit the lip and fly is quite addictive, and very different from classic jumps because you still go with the flow of the wave.
As everything it’s all about the timing…however, if you follow some basic guidelines the reward will come soon:
- Side to side-offshore winds are best for learning
- The steeper the lip the easier you fly (a one foot wave is enough but steep!)
- The center of your body has to stay over of the board (this gives you control over your gear)
- Pull the board with your feet under your butt
- Open your sail (mast arm short, sail arm long)
- Enjoy the view!!!
Basically, the more compact your body, the easier you can control your airtime. The lighter the wind the more you should stay over your board, the stronger the wind the more you should hang beneath your sail.
One more remark: you see crazy jumps mostly from younger sailors whereas waveriding doesn’t seem to have an age limit. On Oahu were plenty of guys around fifty that come out only on the bigger days and that were literally tearing apart mast-high waves. Radical waveriding is a thrilling aspect of windsurfing for all ages – it’s up to you!”
Matthias Jansen August 2008
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