Rohan Cooke, from the Auckland Windsurfing Association, asked me to write about windsurfing, saying it's an oldie but a goodie. There might be all these new and popular sports about, he says, but all this means is that more people are getting into water-sports. The former Olympian yachtsman says it's hard to beat the adrenalin rush of being out solo on the water on a windsurfer. It's his choice of sport these days as it is easier than trying to assemble a sailing team at a moment's notice to get out on a yacht. He calls windsurfing "probably the closest exciting water-sport to yachting".
I head to the Raymond St Reserve in the Auckland suburb of Pt Chevalier for a lesson from the Auckland Windsurfing School, run by Pete Smith, who boasts his instructors can get most people up and windsurfing within an hour.
I've windsurfed before so I'm not really a good test of this theory. However, the last time I tried was a long, long time ago, so I ask the instructors to take the lesson from the beginning.
Instructor Laurence Carey is the top youth and overall No2 slalom racer in New Zealand and he is competing strongly with the world's best professionals in Maui. Watch out for Laurence next competing at the NZ National Slalom Championships in Dunedin next month.
The Kohimarama 19-year-old says he was 14 when he took up the sport and he plans on making a real mark in it. He can plane across the water at 30 knots, easy. And yes, it does hurt when he falls off, so he tries not to do that.
I'm taught to hop on to the board on my knees first, either side of the mast in the middle of the board. I then put my feet either side of the mast and use a rope to pull the sail out of the water.
When the sail is positioned at 90 degrees, I hold on to the boom (while balancing on the board and trying not to fall into the drink), and I'm capturing the wind and I'm away. Thankfully, I'd learned - while on land - how to dip and lower the mast over the back of the board, shimmy my feet, and turn around so I could sail back into shore again.
Getting tips during the lesson was a real help, especially how to save my back by standing correctly - I stood with my pelvis forward and in more of a "No7" shape, rather than looking like I was "in the toilet seat position" (as Laurence puts it), which did the trick.
After a bit, I'm shown "sheeting in" for more power on the water and how to point the sail to go left and right and take off on a gust of wind. The day I'm out it's blowing 18 knots and pretty gusty offshore, but good fun when I'm skimming across the water with a little speed. It's a good workout, especially for the arms and, of course, I fall off a couple of times during the session, which is great entertainment for the photographer.
To end the morning's lesson, Laurence takes me out on a double windsurfer, on which he can control the speed. The double board is something young kids can learn on with an instructor. However, I prefer being on my own windsurfer and in control of my own speed, cheers Laurence.
How much? A 90-minute lesson at Auckland Windsurfing is $60.
Worth it? It's much easier than years ago to learn to windsurf because wider and lighter boards allow you to get up on the water quickly. Plus niftier, lighter sails are so much easier to manoeuvre. This means children as young as 9 as well as retirees are enjoying this Olympic sport.
Try it: Organise a lesson with a windsurf business near you. Auckland has several outfits, including aucklandwindsurfing.co.nz, based at Pt Chev, and madloop.co.nz, at Lake Pupuke in Takapuna.
Rating: 8.5/10
