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General Girls Perspective Waveriding Freestyle Kite Surfing
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14.07.03 Wellington windsurfing chicks There's an increasing number of female sailors out there these days and some of them just started sailing 2 ½ years ago. You might have seen them blasting around in the Ditch, Seatoun,Worser Bay or Plimmerton, where Kate and Wendy had their first debut out in the waves, while competing at the last Freewave event. Let's have a closer look at Kate Norris, Wendy Pannett, Amanda Bulman and Del Shanks, who got together and motivated each other to take up windsurfing and all the fun, excitement and learning woes they've experienced along the way.  KATE NORRIS tells her story:I think I've been sailing for nearly three years now and got into the sport when I was given a learners board for Christmas by my lovely husband Woo (great hint huh?!). I tried to get into it then but it wasn't so easy as I had no-one at my level to sail with so I gave up pretty quickly. Then I met the lovely girlies who were new partners of the windsurfing "blokes" (well the oldies!) and we all got into it together. It is great to have a team of people to sail with and we all look out for each other to make sure no-one disappears off the face of the earth! It's great that we are all (nicely) competitive so when someone learns something new we all have to quickly catch up! We are all also very lucky to be able to borrow gear and have some great hand-me-downs so it makes the learning curve a lot faster too. I guess the most frustrating thing about starting out is that no matter how much of a natural sports person you are, you still have to go through all the stages of learning - sometimes it is very annoying that you are not any better than you are! Before I learnt to plane, Woo always told me that its a huge buzz - I couldn't quite comprehend it then but now everything new you do is an absolute buzz! Currently I'm working on my gybes (which can be quite painful) and hope to get into the waves soon. I can't say I've had a bad experience (apart from the obvious learning woes!) so I've been really lucky. My favourite spots so far are: The Ditch, Lake Clearwater and Nananuira (we also hope to check out Terife next year!). Sailing in the warm waters of Fiji had to be a highlight of my windsurfing "career". I didn't wear a wetsuit for 2 weeks and got to play with the "Big Boys" in the same location. My philosophy is to go out and have fun and when you've got friends around sailing with you that's pretty easy. My advice for people starting is to invest in some lessons as the gear around nowadays is fantastic and you'll be able to learn really quickly. You may also meet a team of people that you can go sailing with who are at the same level as you. Its a fantastic sport and you can exercise at the same time as having a hell of a lot of fun! Kate started on a Mistral Vision 180L (no dagger) and has now inherited Woo's Starboard Freesex 96L. She uses sail sizes 4.1, 4.7 and 5.8  AMANDA BULMAN, who got injured last year and missed out one summer sailing has more or less recovered from her knee injury and is now slowly getting back on her board. Her partner, Gary McCorry got her into it, but it was the girls who kept her interest up and she enjoys the social aspect a lot too. Speed is one thing Amanda really likes but she also loves the fact that she's out on the water in a beautiful place with friends all around. "There are so few places in the world that you could do this and it is right on our doorstep", she says and adds "it's also quiet - nothing powering you but the wind, this is so unlike the rest of our lives these days and there is also a great sense of satisfaction about learning new techniques, like being in the footstraps or waterstarting for the first time." The hardest bit about windsurfing, she thinks, is the cost. "It needs a bit of commitment, but once you have made that, the satisfaction and enjoyment is worth it". Trying to learn new things is what fascinates Amanda the most. "There is always something else to try and each time you go out you learn something, even if it is not always obvious straight away. The technical challenge of just being out there and having to rely on your skill to get power from the wind is another thing that fascinates me". Being able to pull off gybes and then get out into the waves, is something that Amanda is working on and she also wants to get into freestyle a bit more.Her best sailing experience would have to be the first time waterstarting and blasting at Clearwater, followed by her first experience in the ditch on her small board - the board was a lot faster and so easy to turn. The days of joy, excitement and big smiles soon ended in Fijii, when she tore her knee cartilage, followed closely by redoing it in the Ditch a couple of months later and getting towed in by Gary in a pretty woeful state, thinking she would have to give up sailing. Happily that was not the case! The advice Amanda can give to anyone who wants to start windsurfing is to get down to h2osports and to book at least 5 lessons. Give it a go for the full 5 and then decide if you want to carry on (by then you will probably be fully hooked). To make it even more appealing, the social aspect of windsurfing is great too. "The people I have met through it are exceptional and there is a lot of fun to be had both on and off the water. Windsurfing always offers new challenges and new achievements whether you have been doing it for years or if you are quite new to the sport." Amanda is riding a 85 L board and uses sail sizes: 4.2, 4.7, 5.3 When WENDY PANNETT was living in Auckland, she used to watch the windsurfers and decided to go along for a couple of lessons. She then moved to Wellington soon after and started going out sailing here. She enjoyed it so much, that she bought her own gear a short while after and was hooked! The best thing about windsurfing she thinks, is the element water. She also loves going fast(ish!) and enjoys the people a lot. The only thing that annoys her sometimes is the rigging and she suggests that it would be great to have some professional riggers located on beaches around Wellington ($2 per rig of course!). The fact that there is always something else to learn fascinates her. "You master one thing and then there's another hurdle to get over - it's endless". Like Kate and Amanda, Wendy is still trying to pull off a gybe and she's keen to get out on the waves soon. Her best sailing experiences would be recently in the Ditch on her new Starboard Diva 80 litre, which she just loves! She also tells us about her worst sailing she experienced not long ago (also on her new Starboard Diva 80 litre). "The wind dropped out..I thought I was going to have a big swim (or drown)..but finally managed to waterstart in a gust! Her advice to women or starters. "Just go for it. Even if you don't know anyone else who windsurfs (I didn't when I started) you will soon meet people to sail with and become great friends with!" Wendy is riding a Starboard Diva 80 L, sail sizes: 4.2, 4.7, 5.3, 5.7  DEL SHANKS tried windsurfing when she was 14 years old. Although using a very small sail she still couldn't cope with the rig weight. About 3 years ago, she decided to get back into it instead of rowing as it was more flexible and not reliant on others. Del likes the challenge and flexibility of windsurfing and the great people around it. The hardest thing about windsurfing is waiting for the wind. The chase for wind can be very annoying sometimes. Like the others, Del likes the aspect that there is always more to learn and how beautiful it is to be out on the water. She's very keen to tackle the waves and also wants to pull off a gybe but that's a given, she adds. Her best sailing experience was blasting through calm water in Fijii and being in control. Not such a nice experience was when she got caught in a squall and was too exhausted to get back to shore.Her advice is not to give up at the beginning. "The first year is the hardest but it then just gets more and more exciting. Don't give in to a few tantrums - we all had them. There is a great bunch of people involved and it's a lot of fun. It's a personal challenge rather than a competitive sport and finally it's great for the fitness too." Del started on a 110L board. She now uses a 66 L board with sail sizes ranging from 4 to 5.4 m2. (c) S. Hollenstein
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