I see your point Kazza! Surfing has heaps of women and the above images show the comparison of how women are portrayed in each sport. Surfing has such a natural beauty, yet the windsurfing picture is just a crap image of women wearing bikinis and pushing around houshold appliances.
I agree with you Kazza, windsurf women should be portrayed the same bare natural way as surfing girls. We can do a shoot on the weekend if you like
Only you could get away with saying that....smarty!
Windsurfing marketing - guys & gals windsurfing
Surfing marketing - guys & gals surfing
Porn marketing - guys & gals naked
Get my drift here..... there's a place for everything.
"Marketing" is kind of useless anyway. There's little to no schools anyway. If everyone actually cared they could grab a friend or a kid and teach them, them, instantly doubling the sailing population.
Not sure but outlets, nor suppliers here in WA do no favours in regards to try for a day type sales pitch. Women only days. After 9am weekdays even when the kids are in school.
You want to sell the product then it needs to get on the bloody front foot and stop sitting on its coit. There are minimal product exposure days here in one of the most available locations for windsurfing each year.
The outlets and the suppliers do very little in that aspect.
At least NSW has the windsurf van travelling with alerts well in advance for prospective try for a day.
WA we have??? zilch
Finn Kayaks, they have a number of try days. So if they can and local, then our side are either lazy or tight arses
The NP/JP trailer was on the right track...The problem is it's loaded with gear that suits the beginner/intermediate to advanced sailor. If companies are serious about getting people involved in windsurfing they would load a trailer with beginners gear and make it available to all shops and clubs in Australia...All year round, A true learn to windsurf program and not just flogging the latest kit. We all know how addictive this sport is, get a taste and your hooked....The problem is disposable cash. If each of the big companies donated a rig and board to each distributor for the sole purpose of attracting new commers to the sport and getting people to the level of purchasing their first intermediate kit then I think we'd have a much bigger uptake in the sport. I don't think it's such a big commitment from them to cement the longevity of our great sport. Another option could be that individual people offer via club websites to give free lessons...obviously the issue of insurance comes into play but if they could be covered under the clubs insurance then it might be possible. I'd personally offer my time and kit to anyone that wanted to try...Sail at your own risk type of thing. I think the use of the JP trailer wasn't used to its full potential, I love windsurfing and only saw the trailer once this year. I think it's a great start and if all the manufactures had trailers going around then I think it would contribute towards marketing and growing our great sport.
I don't know what the answer is but putting it in front of people's faces is a start......
First time I tried windsurfing was on a lake in light winds on a big board in the mid-eighties. I had a few minutes on a simulator then sailed back and forth tacking the board for 3/4 of an hour before falling off. After hiring gear at the lake for a while, I thought I had it sussed until I bought my own board and tried to get going in the shore break of the ocean.
It depends on the conditions/gear and coaching helps. Apart from the few minutes on the simulator, I had no instruction. With a modicum of common sense you can learn to windsurf on your own safely.
I think Starboard was the first company to really get serious about specialist beginner boards and kids boards, but although the rest of the industry followed that lead to an extent, the marketing and promotion has been aimed at the highest performance too much.
The advertising is not based on 'Its difficult to learn.' That's just kiters that get that stuff.
As Robby Naish wrote in Kitesurf magazine:-
"Kiteboarding is very accessible in that you can do it at a high level in fairly low wind conditions. You can also get "good" very quickly. Many people can windsurf their whole lives and never really get very good. Everyone gets "good" at kitesurfing... It is easy, and the rewards come more quickly and more often with less effort."
Windsurfing does need to change the way it is marketed.
Its actually quite complicated to get it right though. One of the best selling points is the experience of doing it.
Back to the original question......
For NSW/Sydney windsurfers, a big chance for a day of fun sailing & a show of numbers.
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/General/Winter-Solstice-Windsurfing-Fun-Race/?page=-2#lastpost
The link below shows what I think is the best way to grow windsurfing or probably any other sport. The AFL have it sorted with Auskick and the RYA have it sorted with Team 15
80 clubs across the UK full of kids under 15years of age. No gear requirements any board or rig will do, volunteer coaches, clubs provide gear for kids to try until they get hooked and purchase their own gear, huge second hand market created as kids progress so entry cost is low. The program provides safe, fun structured learning in a social atmosphere and it works. I read one of their regattas had 700-800 entries of kids under 15.
www.rya.org.uk/programmes/rya-team15/Pages/hub.aspx
Hmm, not quite what I expected from this thread.
I just wanted to see what images captured your idea of windsurfing.
I guess that the good thing is we're all (apart from lotofwind ) passionate about it!
Happy sailing!
I remember when I started it was often in light winds and I had a big board about 350 by 65cm. I did things like sail inside the boom, sail 360's, head dips, back to sail, holding the boom behind my back, nose sinks. And rail rides until my feet slipped down opposite sides of the board. I don't do any of those now, but it maybe is still a guide to what beginners might enjoy doing.
Hey paddymac, great thread you started..there are some great ideas coming out of it!
This topic is something I am really passionate abut and I know it is top of the agenda for Windsurfing Western Australia. As a new WWA Committee member I have been doing some very low-key investigation into how we can prepare for the next wave of growth for our sport, amongst a plethora of existing and growing alternative and equally radical sports.
Rather than hijack your thread(an apologies for not posting images as requested..(I'll have a shot at that a bit later!) I'm going to knock together a new topic for discussion about marketing windsurfing. I want to(on behalf of WWA and all their members) collect as many of these inspirational ideas as soon as possible so we work up a working brief for a 5-10yr development plan..so I hope you don't mind me inviting your audience over?!
Cheers and catch you soon!
Adam