Surflogic Australia Sponsors Windsurfer Class of Australia

Surflogic Australia Sponsors The International Windsurfer Class of Australia

Surflogic Australia is more than just a Surf Brand

We are a team of water sports enthusiasts that have a passion for all things in, on and under the water.

We surf, we sail, we windsurf, we swim, and we dive. We love being on the water!

Our core range of products from Surflogic Hardware are designed for functional use and improving the daily routine of fellow water sports enthusiasts.

A prime example of an arena where the use of Surflogic Hardware is a no brainer is Windsurfing. It is a sport that has been around since the late 60’s and is making a huge resurgence worldwide.

Surflogic Australia jumped onboard with the growing windsurfer class as a national sponsor in 2019 and are excited to announce that we have once again teamed up with the legends at the Windsurfer Class Association of Australia as a primary sponsor for the upcoming 2021/2022 sailing season.

A brief History of the windsurfer

The very first patent for the “modern day” windsurfer was filed on March 27, 1968, by an American Aeronautical engineer, Jim Drake, and Californian Surfer, Hoyle Schweitzer.

Drake and Schweitzer combined their individual areas of expertise to solve many of the early problems that enabled the board to be sailed effectively. Together, they are credited as the inventors of the Windsurfer.

Hoyle and Diana Schweitzer Founded Windsurfing International to mass produce and market the first windsurfer from Southern California, manufacturing the first board from their garage in the LA beach town of Torrance.

The first windsurfer was designed and manufactured as a pure one design which grew in popularity in the 70’s and early 80’s. With over 400,000 units sold worldwide between 1968 – 1984 the original windsurfer remains the highest produced sailing class to date.

In 1984 the Windsurfer One Design was re launched to include an updated rig with Mylar sail and a semi lifting dagger board. This was showcased at the 1984 Olympics as a demonstrator board.

As the concept of the traditional windsurfer was reinvented so did the sport.

Windsurfing or sailboarding as it is also known branched into different specialized offshoots including wave sailing, slalom, course racing, freestyle and now foiling.

As exciting as the new and evolving styles of sailboarding were, it was this technical development and the requirement for expensive niche equipment that started to bring the sport undone and lose momentum globally.

Gone were the days of needing just one rig and one board.

To compete at a professional or amateur level one required multiple boards, sails of different sizes and the skill to master these different criteria.

It became an expensive and time-consuming sport.

The Windsurfer One Design was still in circulation at numerous sailing clubs, but the numbers were dwindling and the interest in the sport was declining.

That is until recently. Enter the new Windsurfer LT.

In 2017 a project was launched to redesign the Windsurfer One Design using modern day technology. The Rig remained simple, and the board was manufactured with a much lighter, stiffer epoxy material with volume added to the board to increase performance across a wide range of athlete’s sizes and abilities.

The International Windsurfer Class adopted this new design in 2018 and has not looked back since!

The popularity of the Windsurfer LT, and the Windsurfer Class, is due to maintaining the ideals and traditions of the original sailboarding pioneers – “to provide a fun and inclusive platform for fair and friendly competition through inexpensive one design racing, where the emphasis is on skill and tactics rather than equipment”.

These ideals and traditions that are ever present at all Windsurfer Class events across Australia is what makes us, at Surflogic Australia, keen to continue supporting this growing fleet of hardy sailors.

We are forever stoked to see a warm and welcoming environment, with a good pinch of competitive spirit, bringing likeminded people together for a good time on and off the water.

It is an all-inclusive environment from the uber competitive young guns, through to the more weathered older and wiser sailors, stepping back on a board for the first time since the 80’s. It is also great to see a growing number of female board riders getting involved and a healthy number of juniors starting out.

It is a new era for the windsurfer!

The Windsurfer Class Association of Australia has grown rapidly in the last few years regardless of the challenges set out with COVID restrictions and border closures.

With a growing fleet nationally and internationally there is no better time to get involved.

Surflogic Australia will be supporting the individual State Championships held in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and Tasmania.

We will also be supporting the National championships due to be held in January 2022 at Parkdale Yacht Club, Victoria.

If you are looking for a fun and exciting sport to get into, check out the Windsurfer Class Association of Australia Website for membership details, dates on events, and where you can get hooked up with equipment or lessons:

http://www.windsurferclassaus.co

Photo Credits: 

Surf Sail Kite

Elisa Mariani