We have some of the very best windsailing waters in the world...
Windsailing has been around for a long time and may well have been invented by Polynesians who used a sail on a board, not to play in the waves, but to travel from island to island and over long distances on the open sea. Today's" windsurfers" use modern equipment made from materials unknown to the ancients and they do things on the water that are unbelievable. Flips and jumps that stagger the imagination and boggle the mind require a working knowledge of sailing theory and great physical dexterity - not to mention brute strength. Neophytes at the sport require smooth sailing conditions, gentle breezes, and a good teacher. Experts in the sport seek strong winds and relish challenging weather conditions. Our part of the world has both! It is a windsurfing paradise! Just north of Port Orford, Floras Lake offers perfect conditions to learn the sport and just south of Gold Beach, the waters off of Myers Beach offer the challenging conditions that the experts seek. Aficiandos of the sport come from all over the world to test their skills at Meyers Beach and not a few world championships have been decided there.
Where one finds windsurfing one will also frequently find kiteboarding (also called kitesurfing). Like windsailing this method of travel has been around for a long time. It is believed that the Chinese used kites to propel vehicles centuries ago. In many ways the two sports are similar in that both use wind in their "sails" to provide their locomotion. While the windsurfer's sail is connected to a universal joint in the board, the kiteboarder's kite is hooked onto long cables. It is amazing to watch kiteboarders turn on a dime and work thier way back into the wind in exactly the same way that a sailing vessel of yore managed the manuever. And that is the easy move - wait until you see someone do "the double grabbed front mobe five" or one of the other tricks that these folks are constantly inventing. One would think that they are skate or snowboarders! How these atheletes keep from crashing into each other is known only to them. From the beach it looks as if it would be impossible, particularly at the speeds that these men and women travel! For the kiteboarder and windsurfer though it is all pure adrenaline and a crash is just part of the sport.
