What's your story? What did you like and not like about it? Why did you quit doing it if you did?

I've met people recently that have been doing it for the last 20 - 30+ years. That's staying power.

I grew up in sailboats, monohulls and cats in Southern Calif.
Taught myself windsurfing on lagoons in most Northern Calif in 1980s.
Took a job near Portland Or so I could feed myself and windsurf in the Gorge. World Class spot! Extreme conditions. Sigh.

Got caught fishing off the company pier and started a family in the 90s.
Gave up windsurfing cuz I was spending all non-work time with my kids.
Still have a full quiver of gear but my dry suit no longer fits. It shrank??

Kids are grown and gone and I just retired last year
and discovered Power kites and buggies as a challenging
wind powered outlet.

No regrets.

If I was near warm water, I would be in it with windsurfers and kites.
Now that I am North of the 45th parallel, I limit my time in the water.

In 1996 the Olympics came to Atlanta, and inspired me to start windsurfing. Not because it was an event in the Games, but rather because we wanted to get out of town to avoid the traffic and crowds. So we went to Hilton Head and I happened to see two guys windusrfing in the ocean. It looked so cool, I decided to take lessons, and have been windsurfing ever since. We have 2 local lakes in the Atlanta area and about a dozen launches that can be used. I sailed every month of the year in temps dropping into the 40's (and even lower sometimes) to the 90's in the summer in all kinds of winds and every size board and sail. At one point I had about 10 boards and probably more sails I worked out of my house and could get away on weekdays at times so I sailed a lot. One year I sailed over 100 days, and almost always sailed 50 or more. For a number of years I also did a fair amount of landsailing putting a windsurf sail on an ATB at a small park near my house.

When I retired in 2014 I got interested in kites, with a side eye to kitesurfing but I decided that I'd try kiting with my ATB first. I also figured that the best time for that was in the cold weather months when the few parking lots I had available were not crowded. Avoiding the cold water and winds in the winter got me away from windsurfing during those months. Around the same time I got into making kites, mainly NPW's and that was a nice fit with landboarding. However, my locations were limited due to wind direction (best launch was right on the lake where I've sailed from, but only for easterly winds.)

Last November I decided to get a buggy and have been riding it using the kites I've made. I've actually gotten to buggy more in the past few months than I was able to landboard in 3 years so its been a great choice.

One might wonder with all my time on the water, why I've never taken up kitesurfing. I would like to but in our area there is really on one location (an hour from my house) where there is space to launch a kite with long lines and that spot is typically a crowded once the weather gets decent. There are a small number of guys locally who do kitesurf including some of my friends, but its a rough spot to use and most have had some mishaps (like getting dragged over the rocks) or close calls. So I've held back on it. I still might take up kitesurfing someday.......

I still consider myself a windsurfer, but now I'm more of a fair weather friend to the sport. I only have a few boards now, mainly for light winds in the warm weather months. Right now I prefer kite sports to windsurfing, but sometimes windsurfing is a better suited to the conditions. My motto is to take what the wind gives me.

I have been windsurfing for 18 years and have moved to a barrier island so I could sail most days. My wife and I plan each day according to the wind and weather. If winds are above 18mph and south or north it is a windsurf day. The thrill and challenge of windsurfing seems to never diminish. Takes a lot of time on the water to develop skills with no end point to the learning. Great physical activity with days of relaxing cruising or adrenaline thrills. If you like water, speed and challenge give windsurfing a try. When winds are east or too mild to windsurf the kite buggies are the next activity for the day. We also kiteboard as the kite skills and thrills are the same as the buggy. Windsurfing takes more physical effort and kiteboarding/buggy have the beauty of the kite. It is nice that these wind sports can be done all year! Love that wind.

Hi I'm back. Been awhile.

One of our locals will be 72 this year. He started windsurfing in the early 80s. One of our pioneers. He still windsurfs occasionally but has been kiting since early 2000s.

I windsurdr for 10 years prior to getting into kiting. Many trips to the Gorge (Hood River, OR) for windsurfing. I watched the original Kiteski guys there and immediately saw the potential and thought is was so cool.

I decided it was time to get into it after returning home from the Gorge in 1999. It started out as a better light wind option since I needed to update my light wind gear anyways.

I windsurfed in higher winds for the first 4 years of kiting but as my kite skills improved I found myself able to kite in those same winds. I finally, gave up windsurfing because I was getting my
a$$ handed to me in those conditions. Different set of skills, different sets of muscles, and not enough days, I was getting worked. I was also taking way longer to load and unload the windsurfing gear. The gear got too big for me.

I still love watching windsurfing. Never in my imagination did I see the things guys are doing these days. Phenomenal!

I love kitesurfing though. So many ways to ride. The gear is so small and maneuverable with no mechanical connection between the rig and the board. So much freedom. Endless wave riding. Minimal gear, bye bye rigamaroll. Currently riding 9m and 6m Core Section wave kites and a 2016 North 5'2 WHIP. Sweetest combo ever!

I'm a new guy (first posting here). I used to be a totally addicted windsurfer. I mean addicted. If the wind was out, I was gone no matter what. It was really bad. Outerbanks, Lake Erie, the Gorge were my vacation spots. Nothing like Lake Erie when small craft advisories are in effect, and the swells are big enough to hide a school bus in.

Ever been on a really tall roller coaster? Click, click, click on the move up the highest hill, then over the top, and WHOA.. the straight down Zoom, Zing, Yowza... Well windsurfing is kind of like that straight downhill move, except it doesn't stop, and you can steer. Yeah, I had it bad. The only thing I could do was totally quit. Done. Out.

So last week I headed on down to Ivanpah Dry Lake near Primm, Nevada, during the Ivanpah Buggy eXpo (IBX) 2017 . Got a good look-see at the kite buggies and land sailors. The wind beckons.

Hmm.. So now, I'm thinking about picking up a small four line kite and learn how to fly it. I also just stumbled across three wheels and a couple of hubs off really small trailer, just enough to start a buggy project. I used to be an automotive design engineer, and I've got decent TIG skills, and a nice A/C D/C inverter TIG welder in the garage. Stay tuned.

--Zip.