My wife and i are thinking about taking windsurfing lessons during our upcomming trip. Is it something we could reasonably accomplish with 1 lesson? We are both pretty athletic.

Hiya

I have been teaching for 28 years and it depends....

1. on the wind (not too much is good. very little is not good)
2. Any sailing in a boat experience (understanding of wind)
3. Balance and sporting ability (you have already answered that one)
4. How good at listening you are. Girls learn quicker than boys.....
5. And the conclusion is that I would budget four of five sessions to be able to go back and forwards in light winds with you steering rather than drifting at the whim of the wind...
6. I would budget 5 years to fall in properly

LOL

Trevor

Hi Gino,

I agree with some of Trevor’s points below and respectively disagree with others. So I thought I would offer some further input that I hope will encourage you and your wife to give windsurfing a go.

1. Bonaire is probably the best place in the world to learn because it is very shallow—mid-calf to knee height where you will be learning, and there are almost always days during a typical week when the wind will be good for learning.

2. I would strongly recommend you use Bonaire Windsurf Place as they are well stocked with wide beginner boards. Further, it is essential to hire the right instructor. Going alone will be a waste of money. I would strongly recommend Elvis or Patoen at Bonaire Windsurf Place. I can’t emphasize this recommendation enough—it will cost a few bucks, but it’s the most important one I will give.

3. Timeline: the days of 5 years to “be there” are over—but only if you have great instruction. My 30 year old niece came with us to Bonaire last week, with her 12 and 14 year old nephews. They were all divers, and didn’t arrive at Lac Bay until 3:00PM each day. None of them had any prior sailing experience. I insisted they hire Elvis. They did, and after the first lesson, they hired him for two hours a day for the rest of the week. I will describe my niece Lisa’s progress, but her nephews were very close to the exact level. You won’t understand some of the terms I use—but you will learn them quickly when you are there.

4. My niece Lisa was beach starting and sailing back and forth with jibe turns the first day-rarely falling. The second day she was comfortable with turns, and I almost never saw her fall. The third day, Elvis had her in a harness, and by the end of the day, he had her in the foot-straps and “pre-planing.” On the fourth day, my niece was planing in the foot-straps the entire afternoon and having the time of her life. She was now addicted! She was managing all this without going through the “falling” stage! Her uncle (me!) was in a state of stunned disbelief!

5. It was all made possible because of Elvis, the moderate but quite strong wind conditions (everyone on the bay was planing), and the board. Incidentally, the board was the Starboard Start and it is ideal for beginners to learn footstraps as they are set “inside” the board, and at Lisa’s weight, she could plane at 10 to 12 mph on such a wide, buoyant board. The gang you will see planing on the smaller boards will be going 20 to 30 mph+. On the fifth day (and remember she had 3 hours a day available for windsurfing!) she took out a smaller, more advanced board: the Starboard Carve 160, and a bigger sail—approx. 5 meters as I recall. She was utterly frustrated for the first hour was falling constantly. It was, as they say, a different cup of tea, but she plugged away. By the last of her three hours, she was no longer falling and fine: in the foot-straps and ever so close to planing! Her addiction was growing! I was amazed, but Elvis wasn’t. He said: “Bob, if I had her one more week, and she devoted herself just to windsurfing, and didn’t dive, she’d be there.” I have absolutely no doubt he was right. My nephews were in the harness, foot-straps and planing on the Starboard Start boards the last two days. Falls for them were very rare. Further, I don’t recall seeing Lisa uphaul the sail—she almost always did beach-starts

I was simply amazed. It had taken me several years to reach the level my niece got to in five short afternoons. I had a fascinating discussion with Elvis and the guys back on the shore later. Of course Elvis had just proved this with Lisa, but he told me the old days of learning are over, and that beginners, if properly instructed, can go right into the foot-strap and planing phase of the sport right off the bat. Period. I picked up a windsurfing magazine a short while later that was on this exact topic saying exactly the same thing, so its not news within the sport—though to me, quite remarkable.

Had Lisa not been with Elvis each day for two hours; for example, had she taken one lesson, or none at all—and you will see many beginners at Lac Bay giving it a go without lessons, or perhaps one “group” lesson, she would have been struggling and right in the timeline that Trevor suggests above.

We are looking for our return visit. I have no doubt at the end of Lisa’s second week of windsurfing, she will “be there.” It also helps that she is a model student: great listener, good athlete, and a tenacious worker.

Hope this encourages you. You have the names and place—have fun.

Date correction to my post above: Sorry Gino, I meant to write that my niece and I were in Bonaire "last spring" not "last week"! Incidentally, it was her first visit. I've been coming to Bonaire and windsurfing out of Bonaire Windsurf Place and Jibe City (though I now prefer the former--but they're both good) for a decade, often twice a year.