Maybe because almost all windsurfing in Australia is done by the coast where there are waves, and hence anyone who is inclined towards doing tricks is more likely to wavesail. Isn't freestyle more popular in places that have wind but not much surf?

Just a guess.

it's too hard

AUS1111 said...

Maybe because almost all windsurfing in Australia is done by the coast where there are waves, and hence anyone who is inclined towards doing tricks is more likely to wavesail. Isn't freestyle more popular in places that have wind but not much surf?

Just a guess.

I agree. If we had no waves, we would have a lot of good freestylers too due to the amount of wind in some places

I reckon it's a good thing for summer when it's windy and bugger all swell. The reality is there are not always waves that you can belt the crap out of (talking about Perth metro here) If you learn a few tricks it's good to chuck them in with your wave routine.

Whatever blows your skirt up, dude.

maybe you should try 'sup

something about a bloke called grubby..

but seriously - its a cultural thing here in oz - bit like how few euros have any style surfing - maybe something in the tap water?

Jaeger's got some moves!

I would agree with you that in Australia, particularly in WA the lure of the waves is too great for most to stick it out and try and learn freestyle. But, I would absolutely disagree with you that it is harder to do a ripper bottom - top turn than it is to do a Vulcan. I say this because to learn how to bottom/top turn is something that almost anyone who can windsurf can pickup almost instantly, that is get almost instant enjoyment from. Sure, they won't look like Polakow but they can very quickly get enjoyment out of it. The same can not be said about freestyle.

How many Vulcan do you have to try before you even get remotely close to landing one, 50? 100? How many before you can do them consistently 300? And there in lies the problem. What sort of time span on water, assuming vulcans are all you do every session (which is not realistic), does it take to do 300 attempts? I'd say a metric shirtload.

I mean you can turn up at most windsurfing beaches in Aus and see people smacking lips with abandon, but it's very very rare that you turn up to a spot and see someone just busting out spocks and flakas. Maybe like Reflex said, it's also a culture thing.

Technically, Australia is in, but rather sub-PWA level. I'm going to an event that has 2 PWA guys in 2 weeks time in the Great Lakes, piloted by this Soltsyak (sp?) guy. Will do crap on an Exocet, but should be fun. Last year at the same event were too light wind for vulcans and all, so I was able to dig up old board and do my stuff, until I broke the mast. Good time was had, but that doesn't include the guy who got the mast on the head.

Seriously, as a Sydneysider who did both a bit, I think there is a choice to be made. I hated jumping off Wanda on a NE, so I'd freestyle in Sanderingham and Kurnell at times, even Narrabeen in the winter. On a southerly it was Wanda or the north shore, except that those winds got rarer in the 90s.

Takes too much time to do both - a choice has to be made. However, it takes little time to get good, for those who do. I'll bet you most PWA guys were doing good after coupla years only. I mean, those have even shaved yet!

Also suspect the good PWA guys either live in the few forever windy places with 300+ outings a year, or moved there after getting good in their 1-2nd year.

In terms of perseverance, may I remind you of absolute great freestyle Aussie names of the past? Wilmot, Wylie, Long, Johns, Ludecke to name a few. Sure the gear was different, but the perseverance aspect was even more there, as more injuries were to be had. No excuse there for would-be aussie freestylists.

Cheers all, now going to practice me crappy moves...

AUS1111 said...

Maybe we'll find the truth if we do a poll among we Aussie windsurfers.

Why don't you freestyle?

OK, I'll go first;

Because I haven't the remotest interest in freestyle. It doesn't even look like fun to me.

No disrespect intended to thse who enjoy it and are good at it - good on ya.

There you go.

Cos I'm too old & would probably hurt myself
I like watching others do it though

I find it hard to just sail back & forth these days, as soon as I get a decent gust I can't help myself, screaming off downwind to see how fast I can go & forever looking for flat water.
Caution: The use of a GPS is addictive & dangerous

I think wave sailors would be the same, can't help but grab every wave they can, never finding time to practice freestyle.

The wind in Sydney is usually not that strong so I usually use a 7.2m RS6 and a Tabou 140. Not the sort of gear you can flick around. I can't even do stuff I used to do, like sail in fin first to do cool beach landings. Maybe the 48cm fin has something to do with that.

I enjoy blasting back and forth, and the GPS sailing has given that pursuit purpose. GPS sailing is the antithesis of freestyle.

CJW said...

How many Vulcan do you have to try before you even get remotely close to landing one, 50? 100?

I must be bad, I reckon it took me over 300 easy.


I know a lot of "Wave" purists don't like or don't have an interest in Freestyle but I think this is like a Club DJ who doesn't like to buy any new music. With Guys like Kauli as world champ you have to have some freestyle tricks in the bag otherwise you are not a competitor any more. Kauli was a Freestyle guru before he became an expert in the waves. Wave sailing is breaking new boundaries and it is attributable to Freestyle whether you like to admit it or not. Not all but most of the local wave guns here in WA can be seen practising their freestyle when there is no swell. I think if more people tried it, we could encourage some young guns and who knows, maybe produce the next world champ in a few years.

try and do the odd vulcan etc. into one direction... can't do anything in the other direction as I busted the ligaments in my ankle a few years back and honestly don't want to go through that again...

... re wave purists not doing freestyle, I would say one of the best wave sailors in Sydney at the moment is Dan "skinny as" Berry. You will always see him busting out a couple of moves on the inside at Wanda

> taking 40-50 tries to do anything

True. More like 100-300 here on most moves, but I must be slow. Even then, it's a % thing, with the success rate increasing over time, never being reaching a full 100%.

This challenge drives some people, and discourages others. Having said that, it must be very quick to learn since at the last sub-PWA event here out of the 25 top guys, about 2/3 looked under 18yo. Since we're talking a 6-month season max with poor wind, they must have learned real fast.

Maybe it's not that hard in the end...

I'd be an awesome PWA freestyler...

..if I wasn't so sh!t at it, and shot every other freestyler in the world.