A few members of RQYS started a learn to windsurf program a few years ago, its grown and flourished so I thought I would recap from the start as it's interesting how it unfolded and may inspire others to start a grass roots program as well
This is the way we went about starting a grass roots program, not saying its the only way or even the best way its just the way we did it.
Our goals were to create a "feeder" to the techno293 class, we were of the opinion if you want 5 new techno sailors a year you would have to train 100 kids. After two and a half years those numbers are pretty close and interestingly enough I think they are similar for dinghys. I know RQ put about 1000 kids through tackers every year and if they get 50 to stay on that a good result.
Techno is a well established junior class (10000 strong world wide) its a proven model with cheap (in sailing terms) durable one design gear. It is also a feeder to every other windsurf class. Again that was our goals other may wish to create a program for slalom or wave or any other discipline they see fit.
We lobbied the club to allow us to start a learn to windsurf program, we asked for use of a rib on Saturday mornings as a safety boat. Then we asked the club to put a message out to members via the newsletter to donate any unwanted windsurf gear, (many current sailors are ex windsurfers with gear in the shed). We recieved enough gear to put together about 6 complete kits with some junior rigs and small wave sails and we built a simulator.
The first session there were only two kids, they were both mine but the following week another joined in and then another and before long we were getting a dozen kids and some adults as well all coming down to windsurf and a little social group started to form for both the adults and the kids.
The club was over the moon, we had created an activity that was providing benefits to existing members but even more it started to attract new members. RQYS is a big club and many see it as a business but its not, its a club and is primarily concerned with providing benefits to members and we as members had created a new benefit. The management of the club started to see potential in this new activity, not only could it attract new members but it also helped retain members by providing an additional junior sailing class for kids to join. One that is high performance but also cheap and easy to store and transport. RQ puts out a quarterly glossy magazine and a monthly e news letter, windsurfing started to feature regularly in these publications and be present at any promotional days. Simulators are always front and centre at any event and often at big dinghy regatta's to give dinghy sailors a go.
Dinghy sailors are a prime source on future windsurfers
The following season the club gave us a container to store the gear, we were high fiving because up to that date the gear was being stored on a rack outside with a tarp over it. That season the program grew more and we were getting 10 to 20 every session, sessions are Saturday mornings 9.00 to 12.00 and they always go ahead unless there is a gale warning.
Plans began to form with RQ management and Sailing Australia (thanks to intense lobbying from the RSX Coach Max Wojick) to create a "Windsurfing Centre Of Excellence" a deal was struck with both RQ and Sailing Australia contributing to the purchase of new gear. 12 new windsups, 12 new techno 293od and a range of sails for each board 3.5, 4.5 learner sails, 5.8, 6.8 and 7.8 race sails. The gear arrived and another container was required to store it.
Now we had 2 containers chock full of brand new gear plus the original donated stuff.
We needed to split the program, we had newbies every week plus the regulars which made it difficult to advance the regulars but also look after newbies so in conjunction with Sailing Australia and the RQ sailing Academy we developed a "learn to windsurf" course, 5 x three hour sessions. The first course filled quickly and subsequent courses have continued to fill with the club needing to schedule additional courses to meet demand.
A critical point was reached, the instructors in the course went from being volunteer to professional ie the course's became part of the sailing academy activity with paid instructors. These instructors will in future be drawn from the ranks of the windsurfing kids, (an awesome part time job for a kid).
The important part was now we had the infrastructure in place to start training the 100 kids mentioned above and not with volunteers which is ultimatley unsustainable, but within an established sailing academy staffed by paid employees.
Theres more to go but that will be part two, gotta take my son to footy now
Good stuff Cam.
Might I add another spill on effect is a lot of recreational & slalom sailors have joined the RQYS to access the excellent rigging lawn with washdown taps, toilets, facilities, and secure parking. Most of these people wouldn't have joined if not for all the regular windsurfing activity taking place.
Hey Cam, have you received support from the windsurfing industry, whether it be at a retail, wholesale or manufacturer level?
Great initiative though, I learnt to sail boats with our local Bribie sailing club, but learnt to windsurf with the Sandstone guys because there wasn't anything available like you guys have created.
Fantastic work. Something that could be emulated elsewhere. Your sharing the lessons is valuable- saves others having to reinvent the wheel!
Part two
So we now had lots of modern learner friendly gear, a structured learn to windsurf course being managed by the sailing academy and we still had the Saturday morning sessions going that are volunteer based.
We changed the name of these Saturday sessions to "Team Windsurfing " sessions. Being volunteer based these sessions still remained free to club members and the donated gear was free to use. To be involved in these sessions we now require participants to have prior windsurf experience or have completed the beginner course. Reason being is these sessions are targeted at transitioning beginner windsurfers to become independent sailors. So informal instruction is available, a safety boat is present and often the sessions will have a loose plan such as setting a slalom course or a upwind down wind course to sail around.
The last session of the beginner course is used to introduce people to the team windsurfing session, that is to increase the chances of keeping them engaged in the sport and providing a safe and social setting to continue. Often people will complete the course and disappear never to windsurf again but we provide a place for them to keep coming, this is to try and minimise that from happening and so far I think we have had reasonable success with many still coming and a number of these people have joined the club and gone and purchased there own gear. We encourage that because it allows other's to use the club gear and when you buy your own gear that is a real commitment to the sport and it is good for the local retailers who have supported us by sending participants our way.
Part of the deal between RQ and Sailing Australia was a dedicated facilty "The Windsurfing Centre of Excellence" was to be constructed. RQ applied for a grant from the Qld Government and was succesful in obtaining the funds required to build the centre, essentially it 8 shipping containers custom modified with roller doors installed and walls cut out and joined together and positioned in concrete foundations with astro turf and shade sails etc etc, its pretty awesome and it houses the Academy gear, the techno gear and also members private gear. It is positioned right on the beach and basically windsurfers can grab there gear from the racks and go sailing. No fights for parking, no security worries, toilets and showers are available, we haven't been successful in getting the cappacino machine but we did get a bbq.
The first big event this facility hosted was the 2016 Raceboard World Championships which btw coincided with the offical opening of the facility.
So now we have a facility full of gear, a structured beginner program and a social saturday morning program that attracts kids and adults on every type of board and sail, everyone is welcome.
Finally at the end of this season we have the beginnings of a "Green Fleet". That is a group of kids dedicated to engaging in the sport on a competitive basis. This green fleet has about a dozen members ranging from 12 to 19 years in age, the older kids or should I say young adults are already accomplished sailors and can hold their own in open racing fleets. They are role models for the younger kids and give them something to aspire to and often provide instruction and advice to the younger kids.
The younger kids are at the beginning of their careers and are all sailing on techno boards, again these are the kids that want to pursue windsurfing as a competitive sport. The Green Fleet meets three times a week, two sailing sessions and a fitness session.
On Saturday mornings we will have all three programs running together, inshore will be those just learning the basics, sailing in and out will be the "team windsurfers" who have learnt the basics and are now progressing to become independant and a little way offshore will be the Green Fleet doing drills and getting advanced instruction prior to racing in the afternoon.
You will be able to stand on the shore and see the pathway from complete beginner to accomplished racer.
Next weekend we have the Raceboard State Championships at Lake Cootharaba on the Noosa river. For the first time in many years we have a techno fleet, this will be the first regatta for most of them. Its exciting, we just came from a team meeting this afternoon to discuss next weekend. The kids are very excited to be going as a team and racing together and camping together and looking forward to a great windsurf weekend away.
Later in the year is the Midwinter Youth Championships, the Qld squad will get to test itself against the NSW squad, more friendships will be formed and these kids from across the country hopefully will be sailing against each at events for many years to come.
Next season we will train more beginners and hopefully we grow the Qld fleet by another half a dozen.
Our goal was to create a feeder for the techno class, the positive spin off is we have trained lots of people adults and kids alike and many have engaged in the sport, they will never be techno racers but that is fine by us because where for windsurfing in all its forms.
Kids are the future of windsurfing, hope this made for an interesting read.
Your model is clearly panning out and other states are taking notice.
NSW has the bones of programs up and running and the initial results are encouraging.
I know Woollahra Sailing club has a adopted BIC Techno's as their board of choice and it is proving very popular, with both beginners and seasoned racers who are looking to try something new.
On the back of the increase in Kids participation there is a healthy adult fleet of WOD and Raceboards developing also.
The 2017-18 NSW racing season now includes a travelers tropyy for Raceboards and BIC (1 day events).
Touch wood, but 20+ kids at the Youth National in Jan up at RQ is looking very conservative.
Keep up the good work....Cheers
It is great to see that with a bit of dedication and persistence, the work pays off.
While a lot of people on here focus on the high performance aspect of windsurfing, for the average person wanting to get into sailing of some description, windsurfing is the ideal platform:
cheap
lightweight
easily transportable
quick to set up
What other sailcraft can be purchased for under $5000, rigged and handled by one person, raced at any level and could hit 30 knots with a good sailor.
Boards like the techno offer even more- a huge worldwide fleet and association, can be used for teaching, competitive racing.
This sort of initiative is critical to getting numbers on the water to share the stoke that we all know and love.
Is there a facebook or other link that other state associations or clubs can share as a bit of inspiration? Seeing these success stories, shining sun, smiling faces and people on the water is a big motivator.
Clarence
I have been watching the forum for quite a while and I congratulate you guys. I remember when I learnt 30 yrs ago - I got an old board for xmas and spent a week uphauling and falling off before I went anywhere. I was a persistent bugger though.
A learn to windsurf school is a great opportunity for the kids to come and try without their parents making outlays on gear before they know their kids will stick at it.
Trying to get my partners boys interested at the moment and when they say yes - we are coming to join the party.
cheers
Congratulations to all involved in this awesome initiative. I participated in a raceboard training session with the guys at RQ yesterday and was really impressed. Max did an amazing job on and off the water. On the water involved board handling skills and techniques, start line positioning practice, as well as practice races. Off the water included simulator sessions and informative debrief session. Max has a great rapport with all the students, and everyone has fun.
I was introduced to windsurfing in the 80s while racing dinghies at a sailing club, then became addicted to the excitement and infinite challenges of the sport and was fortunate to experience many aspects of its early development, but never had an opportunity like RQYS now provides. I'm excited to see what develops from this.
What a fantastic job these guys have done for windsurfing in Qld and in general. We ran some of our Slalom racing from RQ this season and it was a great venue. Feedback from retailers show an increase in numbers which I have first hand experience of, whenever I am out sailing I see new faces - awesome effort.
Great to hear about a successful initiative that will surely bring joy to more people and help with the future of windsurfing.
Here in Melbourne we started doing something similar late in the summer at a much smaller scale. We kept it simple and enjoyable for the kids and ourselves: meet at a shallow beach, bring along and share learner boards, windsups and kids rigs, have some sausages on the BBQ and enjoy the day. The best day was organised by Paul from The Zu and Adrian from Elwood Sailing Club with a fair bit of participants... kids stayed in the water for hours! For the other days we had varying degrees of attendance but it was always fun according to my kids. Now the summer is over it's too cold for the young kids to enjoy.
To me the fun factor is the key for the kids to get hooked...it doesn't take long for them to learn and they learn mostly by feel after some basic instructions....and kids have more fun when they are with other kids.
We will definitely learn from the Royal Qld Yacht Squadron's experience and maybe one day we'll get there. Thanks again cammd for sharing it.
I'm so happy Cam has put this long journey down on paper.
I've been very keen to tell the story that not many know of the persistence and determination this small group of dedicated sailors has shown to develop such a stronghold in a club that in general didn't recognise windsurfing as a class of sailing.
The whole success story of the learn to windsurf program, the school of excellence and the very successful national and world championship events are largely as a result of these efforts and I can't speak highly enough of the people who grew this from the roots up.
I look forward to seeing the full effect of what they have begun. I see it being repeated throughout Australia with the help of Australian Sailing (headed by Max Wojcik's programs) backing and resources, but all based mostly on the foundations of these efforts.
Congratulations and a great article Cameron.
Scot Farley (president Windsurfing Queensland)
Cheers Scot, so many people got involved to make all that happen and I don't remember ever having to ask any for help it was just forth coming and still is.
Paddles asked if we had any help from the Industry and the answer is absolutley and not just from the industry.
RQYS provided essential infrastructure in terms of safety boats and life jackets and storgae and just general admin in the beginning then along with Australian Sailing and the Qld Government invested significantly and continue to do so
Yachting Qld (before it merged) arranged for instructor courses
BIC provided new kids gear at the beginning and continue to support the techno class in multiple ways
Starboard and Slake were instrumental in making the worlds a reality and Boardcrazy sponsored the two National's events in the lead up (those events were huge contributors to the general level of windsurf activity that inspired investment)
Windsurfing Qld and NSWWA and the AWA have all supported the events with cash and underwriting the risk of running events and providing insurance and the legal entities to operate under along with just general support such as your post above.
The local shops Boardcrazy and Goodtime have continued to send participants down to us.
Our other local winsurf clubs Bayside and Wind Wanderers have provided moral support and recommended the program to beginners in Brisbane to keep participants coming
The learn to windsurf program at RQYS didn't happen in isolation, it is part of a bigger picture that involves people and organisations from all over the country.
and now Australian Sailing has employed a dedicated person to assist kicking off grass roots programs all over the country.
Awesome, I was curious to hear what level of support you were getting from the windsurfing industry itself as I had already guessed that YQ and RQYS had contributed heavily. It was also an opportunity for you to let the wider windsurfing community (guys like me who sail recreationaly and aren't in a club) know who supports grass roots windsurfing so we can make sure we support their businesses. You guys have started something really good down there.
