Sent from the ether
| Prince Charles, the British Royal windsurfer |
| Wednesday, 30 March 2011 10:15 | |
|
Prince Charles was once known as the "Action Man". As a young bachelor, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales used to take on challenging sports and radical activities. The late 70's saw a boom in the windsurfing participation. Europe was surrendered to the easiest way to sail in a river, lake or ocean. Windsurfing was a mobile new sailing craft. You could easily transport windsurf gear in a car. The man formerly known as Charles Philip Arthur George was one of the first Royal members in the world to discover windsurfing. In this "Life" magazine photography, Prince Charles shows his great physical shape and a matchless style. The photo was taken in August 1978, in Australia, and was published in the local press. It looks like Prince Charles is sailing in Windsurfer One Design equipment. These were the days when HRH thought Australia should be an autonomous Republic. Meanwhile, the winds of change blew many ways. The Windsurfer One Design class almost disappeared, but it is now being recaptured in a retro flashback. The British Prince is a water sports fan. He enjoyed polo, scuba diving and sailing. Prince Charles would certainly be a great windsurfing and kitesurfing ambassador in the greatly needed support for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. |
| The world's longest downwind race hits the British Virgin Islands |
| Friday, 01 April 2011 10:12 |
|
The world's longest downwind windsurfing race is going to take place between Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands and San Juan, in Puerto Rico. The event is being organized by the Formula Windsurfing World Championships and the Highland Spring HIHO 2011. "For safety reasons we will ask the racers to keep Culebra to starboard", explained FW Worlds organizer and HIHO veteran Arturo 'Tito' Gallardo. The drag race will be 160 kilometres (100 miles) long. Long downwind races are nothing new to the Highland Spring HIHO organizers, who once sent a fleet of windsurfers from Sopers Hole to Sapphire Beach, St. Thomas, in the US Virgin Islands. The Highland Spring HIHO 2011 returns to the British Virgin Islands, a true watersports playground, from June 26th. Deserted white sand beaches, beautiful collections of rocks and clear water makes it an amazing windsurfing destination. The event attracts racers and participants from all over the World. There will be two windsurfing classes competing for the best results: Techno 293 and Open. Beach finishes are a HIHO exclusive and see competitors running up the beach to tag a mast flying a flag. Boat finishes may also be used. The race director will confirm the position finishes that may be discarded. A record number of participants have already pre-registered for the Highland Spring HIHO 2011. Individuals and teams from Hawaii, California, Florida, France, Poland, South Africa and Brazil will be heading to the BVI for the event. "We are on-track for a sell-out year", reports Sarah Butler, the registration coordinator at Highland Spring HIHO headquarters. in Tortola, BVI. "Racers are more or less equally divided between the SUP and Techno 2 windsurfing fleets, and we have a lot of families joining the event," she added. |
|
|
| Finian gybing on the inside |
|
|
| Findog takes the last race |
