Anonymous
01-15-2007, 05:00 PM
Readers, here's your chance to sound off on windsurfing's most vocal expatriate, Trip Forman, and his comments in our most recent issue (reprinted below).
Has This Trip Been Canceled?
The most hated man in windsurfing is a kiteboarder. But he hasn?t always been hated ? or a kiteboarder. Trip Forman was one of us. In fact, he was an esteemed leader of windsurfers, a manufacturer?s rep, an emcee at contests, a top sailor, a constant contributor to this very magazine. But then Forman switched to the dark side. Six years ago, he and his disciples started showing his infamous ?Windsurfing Has Been Cancelled? bumper stickers at all our launches. He even co-founded Real Kiteboarding in Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Looking back on it all now, we had to ask: What happened?
What, in your opinion, is wrong with windsurfing? Windsurfing lost its focus on the beginner in regard to equipment, schools and the sport. When the sport first exploded in the ?70s, windsurfing could be done by everybody. By the late ?90s windsurfing and the way it was portrayed to the public was reserved for those who had access to 30 knots of wind and/or 15-foot waves. Anything else seemed boring to those promoting the sport. Basically at the beginning, the entire world could windsurf, and by the ?end? almost nobody could.
Real Kiteboarding seems incredibly successful ? teaching several thousand kiters each year. Why has there never been something like a ?Real Windsurfing?? It?s funny you mention ?Real Windsurfing? because the idea has been brought up several times. Creating what we have at Real has taken a lot of hard work and a lot of time and resources, also factoring in that we have 50 employees to get this done. I don?t think there has ever been that type of effort put into schools in windsurfing, but that is what windsurfing really needs in order to grow.
You seem to exude an air of superiority ? implying that you are better than everyone who hasn?t converted from windsurfing to kiteboarding. Is that an accurate assessment? Absolutely not. I?m just stoked that I made the switch when I did. I give full respect to anyone who enjoys their time in the water no matter how they do it. ?Windsurfing Has Been Cancelled? was a slogan we came up with based on me saying windsurfing has been cancelled for me. We released a bumper sticker and T-shirt with the same slogan. It took off from there.
You don?t really hate windsurfing and windsurfers, do you? Windsurfing was my lifeblood from the age of 8 to the age of 32, so there is no way I could ever hate it or those involved in it. Windsurfing taught me a lot about the water, wind, waves, competition, equipment, business, the list goes on and on. Before I windsurfed, I raced small sailboats. After I windsurfed, I kiteboarded. Everything I learned from each of these sports has helped me with the next. Some of the best memories and friends I have in my life came from windsurfing.
Do you want windsurfing to disappear? Windsurfing has not been canceled for everybody, especially if the windsurfing industry refocuses its efforts on schools and making new riders for their sport. I don?t view the canceled slogan as stepping on the sport, but I guess some windsurfers misinterpreted it that way.
OK, so windsurfing has been cancelled for you. But how can
announcing that to the world be misinterpreted as a slap at windsurfing? Where exactly is the misunderstanding? The sticker and T-shirts with ?Windsurfing Has Been Cancelled? became popular because, as with me, people are genuinely stoked to be enjoying a new sport that allows them to take full advantage of the conditions in their home waters, rather than just Maui and the Gorge for windsurfing. And they?re having the time of their lives. The people who stick the stickers and rock the T's are stoked and are claiming it just like I did six years ago. The misunderstanding comes from people who view the sticker and see it as a dig on themselves or windsurfing rather than a statement of a personal celebration.
Be honest, do you ever want to go out for a sail? Every once in a while I?ll be hanging out with my old windsurfing friends, and we?ll get really fired up about going out and windsurfing, but it never seems to happen. (These thoughts always seem to be encouraged by some rum.) The two things I do miss in windsurfing are big, clean forwards and backs as well as solid aerial off-the-lips in the waves. The two things I will never miss are slogging and all the equipment.
One encouraging thing I see is how accessible windsurfing is to small children. My 6-year-old daughter saw windsurfing and instantly wanted to do it. At her age, she can pick up a kids rig and get some good windsurfing runs on a sunny afternoon, where she is still a few years out from being able to kiteboard.
You?ve been a top rider in both sports. Compare the thrills. The thrills at the peak of each sport are pretty similar. I made the switch because I got a heavier dose of these from kiteboarding because you can do it more often. But my personal choice aside, a good day on the water is way better than any day riding a desk!
So do you mind if we set up a forum online to handle all the reader letters this generates? Not a bit. I?m always happy to stir the pot.
Has This Trip Been Canceled?
The most hated man in windsurfing is a kiteboarder. But he hasn?t always been hated ? or a kiteboarder. Trip Forman was one of us. In fact, he was an esteemed leader of windsurfers, a manufacturer?s rep, an emcee at contests, a top sailor, a constant contributor to this very magazine. But then Forman switched to the dark side. Six years ago, he and his disciples started showing his infamous ?Windsurfing Has Been Cancelled? bumper stickers at all our launches. He even co-founded Real Kiteboarding in Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Looking back on it all now, we had to ask: What happened?
What, in your opinion, is wrong with windsurfing? Windsurfing lost its focus on the beginner in regard to equipment, schools and the sport. When the sport first exploded in the ?70s, windsurfing could be done by everybody. By the late ?90s windsurfing and the way it was portrayed to the public was reserved for those who had access to 30 knots of wind and/or 15-foot waves. Anything else seemed boring to those promoting the sport. Basically at the beginning, the entire world could windsurf, and by the ?end? almost nobody could.
Real Kiteboarding seems incredibly successful ? teaching several thousand kiters each year. Why has there never been something like a ?Real Windsurfing?? It?s funny you mention ?Real Windsurfing? because the idea has been brought up several times. Creating what we have at Real has taken a lot of hard work and a lot of time and resources, also factoring in that we have 50 employees to get this done. I don?t think there has ever been that type of effort put into schools in windsurfing, but that is what windsurfing really needs in order to grow.
You seem to exude an air of superiority ? implying that you are better than everyone who hasn?t converted from windsurfing to kiteboarding. Is that an accurate assessment? Absolutely not. I?m just stoked that I made the switch when I did. I give full respect to anyone who enjoys their time in the water no matter how they do it. ?Windsurfing Has Been Cancelled? was a slogan we came up with based on me saying windsurfing has been cancelled for me. We released a bumper sticker and T-shirt with the same slogan. It took off from there.
You don?t really hate windsurfing and windsurfers, do you? Windsurfing was my lifeblood from the age of 8 to the age of 32, so there is no way I could ever hate it or those involved in it. Windsurfing taught me a lot about the water, wind, waves, competition, equipment, business, the list goes on and on. Before I windsurfed, I raced small sailboats. After I windsurfed, I kiteboarded. Everything I learned from each of these sports has helped me with the next. Some of the best memories and friends I have in my life came from windsurfing.
Do you want windsurfing to disappear? Windsurfing has not been canceled for everybody, especially if the windsurfing industry refocuses its efforts on schools and making new riders for their sport. I don?t view the canceled slogan as stepping on the sport, but I guess some windsurfers misinterpreted it that way.
OK, so windsurfing has been cancelled for you. But how can
announcing that to the world be misinterpreted as a slap at windsurfing? Where exactly is the misunderstanding? The sticker and T-shirts with ?Windsurfing Has Been Cancelled? became popular because, as with me, people are genuinely stoked to be enjoying a new sport that allows them to take full advantage of the conditions in their home waters, rather than just Maui and the Gorge for windsurfing. And they?re having the time of their lives. The people who stick the stickers and rock the T's are stoked and are claiming it just like I did six years ago. The misunderstanding comes from people who view the sticker and see it as a dig on themselves or windsurfing rather than a statement of a personal celebration.
Be honest, do you ever want to go out for a sail? Every once in a while I?ll be hanging out with my old windsurfing friends, and we?ll get really fired up about going out and windsurfing, but it never seems to happen. (These thoughts always seem to be encouraged by some rum.) The two things I do miss in windsurfing are big, clean forwards and backs as well as solid aerial off-the-lips in the waves. The two things I will never miss are slogging and all the equipment.
One encouraging thing I see is how accessible windsurfing is to small children. My 6-year-old daughter saw windsurfing and instantly wanted to do it. At her age, she can pick up a kids rig and get some good windsurfing runs on a sunny afternoon, where she is still a few years out from being able to kiteboard.
You?ve been a top rider in both sports. Compare the thrills. The thrills at the peak of each sport are pretty similar. I made the switch because I got a heavier dose of these from kiteboarding because you can do it more often. But my personal choice aside, a good day on the water is way better than any day riding a desk!
So do you mind if we set up a forum online to handle all the reader letters this generates? Not a bit. I?m always happy to stir the pot.