10 COLUMN ZARA & PETE DAVIS
DAVIS
LOWDOWN
WINDSURFING ACCORDING
TO PETE AND ZARA DAVIS
Pete:
Running the risk of
sounding like a grumpy old
man (I know…if the cap
fits) one thing that does
really annoy me though, is
people knocking
windsurfing. You know the
ones, “Windsurfing has
had its day!” “No one
windsurfs anymore” and so
on. These people don’t see
the great work and
enthusiasm that I see. The
very successful RYA T15 program that I am proud to be
part of as an instructor does amazing things with kids
from as young as eight all over the country.
Teaching skills that we now take for granted seeing these
Playstation generation kids improve is a joy to see. It’s
sometimes hard for them as windsurfing is not available as
an app; they are from a group used to mastering
something in 30 minutes and moving up to the next level.
But with the right encouragement these little ones stick at
it and do so without complaint. It’s huge smiles and a
massive sense of achievement all round.
I was even more impressed recently having just returned
from Fuerteventura’s World Speed Championships where
they had the biggest fleet of under 17s ever and the
youngest was only nine! These boys and girls did the same
amount of hour long heats as the men, in the same 40
plus knot winds and a few were putting the men to shame
with speeds over 35 knots!
These kids are the future of our sport and need to be
recognised and applauded. We have some great
emerging talent in the UK. Scotty Stallman in slalom,
Emma Wilson in RS:X and many, many more. So, we all
know someone who wants to take up windsurfing or did it
before and gave it up for some reason they can’t
remember. If we want our sport to develop we all need to
do our bit to promote it and encourage participation
rather than be down on it.
Windsurfing is not easy. If you see a windsurfer out planing
and gybing you know they have put in about two years of
uk
WIND
SURFING
Pete Davis is an
accomplished windsurfer
who works hard behind the
scenes, promoting teaching
and encouraging. Zara is a
world champion speed
sailor and also does her bit
to help develop and grow
windsurfing
hard work over weekends and holidays to get to that
standard. Let’s be honest if it was easy, kitesurfers would
be doing it too (joke)!
Zara:
Speedsailors are just nice people, it’s true! As Pete has
said we have just come back from the Speed World
Championships hosted by the Dunkerbeck GPS Speed
event. These guys and girls are just a joy to spend time
with. Don’t get me wrong there are arseholes in the world. I
can go into Bristol and bump into a dozen in one day but at
a speed event it is rare to find one.
I was having this discussion while we were away, in a mixed
group from around the world, including some who were
attending a speed event for the first time. The first timers
were a bit daunted before they arrived and could not
believe how friendly everyone was. I think it’s down to the
fact that we are not necessarily competing with each other
as you would in a race but against a clock against yourself
and against the conditions and if you’re not fast enough…
Well, you only have yourself to blame.
This is from the everyday weekend speed warriors to the
top flight guys. Where else would you see the likes of
Antoine Albeau helping tune the sails of his rival Anders
Bringdal at the Speed World Record attempt at Luderitz? If
you want to see this camaraderie first-hand the best place
is Weymouth Speed Week coming up this and every
October. For the past 40 plus years these speed freaks
meet help and support each other to go faster. If you have
never tried it give it a go.