May 26, 1999
Sailboarding provides addictive rush
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Add a sail to a surfboard and you have the makings of an addiction. Sailboarding, adherents say, is a rush of the first order where you can zoom over the water at up to 35 miles per hour, jumping waves and flying with the wind.
Even veteran sailors and kayakers often prefer sailboarding, settling for the others activities when the wind is not up to the minimum 15 knots.
"Once you try it and once you get into it, you're hooked," said Scott Wilson, owner of Sailsport Marine and sailboarder for more than15 years. "It's an adrenaline thing. If you can swim and have balance, you can do it; you don't have to be that athletic."
Wilson brought together devotees of sailboarding Sunday at Sailsport Marine for a sailboard swap meet, a chance to unload old boards and sails and therefore have the perfect excuse to buy new ones. As a dozen boards and sails lined the sidewalk in front of the store, an handful sailboarders huddled inside on the cold, rainy afternoon hoping the wind would pick up consistently so they could head out on the water.
Andy Schudlich of Lake Leelanau came to the swap meet with his two roommates to find one of them a new board, so everyone in the household would have their own equipment. He wound up with a wet suit for his efforts, a find for a sport that starts when the ice on the lakes melt.
"We're out there when the ice is gone," said Schudlich, who has been sailboarding for 12 years. "I surf and I ride whitewater, but I prefer sailboarding. It's something you do for yourself; it's super finesse where you focus the wind into the board."
As the wind speed increased Sunday afternoon, Schudlich and his roommates hurried off to see if they could get in some time on the board. In an area that is barely windy enough for the sport, sailboarders take advantage of every opportunity they can. The flexibility of sport helps, just throw the board and sail on the car and go to wherever the winds are strong and consistent.
"When the winds are up, you gotta go out," said Terry Mol of Acme Township, who has been sailboarding for 20 years. "I arrange my schedule to go whenever sailboarding I can because it is just an exciting thing to do, the most exciting form of sailing."
Sailboarding swept into the world of water sports in the late 1970s, becoming very popular by the early 80s. An Olympic sport for 12 years, its popularity reached a low in the early part of this decade when personal watercraft burst onto the scene, but it is slowly rebounding. Design advances in the past few years have helped, including shorter, wider boards that sail better in lower wind speeds, increasing the times sailboarders can be on the water.
Start-up costs for the sport begin at around $1,000 for a board and sail. The boards are made of plastic, filled with either fiberglass or plastic, and weigh between 20 and 35 pounds. As in many sports, lighter is better in sailboarding and every few years a new material comes along that makes the previous models look clunky by contrast.
Sails are made of monofilm, which is essentially high-tech plastic wrap, and range in size from five to eight square meters. A curved mast sets the sail in the board and allows better steering and technique.
"Sailboarding is a sport of more balance than strength," Wilson said. "Women pick it up faster than men because they don't try to muscle it."