Old Bic Ad: How hard can it be?

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Old Bic Ad: How hard can it be?

Bic ad circa early 1980s.

"How hard can it be?"

Looking back, what a sales pitch. Lol

"It's easy." The thousands that ended up on CraigsList would say otherwise.
"One or two lessons and you've learned it." Yes, until the wind blows over 7.
"You can sailboard anywhere." And, that's why I drive an hour each way.
"In fact, you hardly even need any wind. Only about 2 knots." Technically true yet we worship at the altar of WeatherCat and know the nuances of every weather forecast model.

Fortunately, gear has improved and they do make the point to get lessons. And, Bic recently changed their name to Tahe.

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Re: Old Bic Ad: How hard can it be?

Before anyone gets all misty-eyed and nostalgic, here's a clip from an early 90's Warren Miller windsurf video talking about the frustrations of learning

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rgenet
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Re: Old Bic Ad: How hard can it be?

I remember trying to use a magazine ( Windsurf Mag ) to learn how to get in the straps, hook in, rake the sale back, etc. How hard was that from a magazine article?

Using that magazine was like reading an IRS instruction for filing corporate taxes and balance sheet.

Read it over and over and over until you think you finally have it, only to learn that you fall in the water most every attempt.

For me, this sport was the most frustrating thing I ever attempted but hearing that slosh sound from the back of the board while on a plane made it all worth while.

PeelSkid

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rgenet
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Re: Old Bic Ad: How hard can it be?

The middle of the lake is an F-bomb safe zone.

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Re: Old Bic Ad: How hard can it be?

Bic put out a nice "the Basics of Windsurfing" document (attached). I found it quite useful in my early days when I couldn't understand how you steered without having a rudder. Might be useful in the wiki section.

AttachmentSize
Microsoft Office document icon "The Basics of Windsurfing" (Bic)213.5 KB

Bill Herderich

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webguy
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Re: Old Bic Ad: How hard can it be?

The counter-intuitive part of all this is that windsurfing was more popular when the gear was terrible and really hard to learn. In the 90's the WS brands decided to make it easier to learn, but that didn't really revive the sport. It took the introduction of something possibly even more difficult (and more costly) to learn from scratch - foil to revive the sport. Maybe people attracted to this just want a challenge. The other odd part is that the pandemic seemed to help grow the sport as well.

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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rgenet
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Re: Old Bic Ad: How hard can it be?

Youngsters ... still ... totally missing out.

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toolman3336
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Re: Old Bic Ad: How hard can it be?

To MR Rgenet. Somehow I purchased kids gear with your name on it a couple years ago for my grandkids in florida. Funny thing is that it has never been rigged. Now I will see what that Starboard will do as a free ride board or maybe make a wing with two of the sails. Foils have revived WS. I hope young people will be able to try it to keep it progressing

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Re: Old Bic Ad: How hard can it be?
toolman3336 wrote:

To MR Rgenet. Somehow I purchased kids gear with your name on it a couple years ago for my grandkids in florida. Funny thing is that it has never been rigged. Now I will see what that Starboard will do as a free ride board or maybe make a wing with two of the sails. Foils have revived WS. I hope young people will be able to try it to keep it progressing

If those sails are the Hotsails micros or Sailworks Rippers, please reconsider making a wing out of them. They are excellent sails for smaller kids - the shape and rigging is identical to adult sails and they have a ton of range.

If they are something else, snip, snip.

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rgenet
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Re: Old Bic Ad: How hard can it be?

I don't think we should be too hard on kids for not taking up windsport. They have a lot constraints on their time, mobility and money. They can't just say things like:

"Hey it's nukin out there. I'm blowing off school. Glad we are still on virtual learning. The wardens will never know I'm gone."
"Mom, I'm taking up wingfoil. I'll need a 100% carbon foil, 2 boards, 2 wings, a pump, a wet suit and a drysuit, $8 grand should get me started. "
"Dad you can forget about golf Saturday, I need a ride to the lake. You can hang around for 3 or 4 hours and shoot video's of me. We need family together time. Right?"

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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Re: Old Bic Ad: How hard can it be?

Agree, Randy.

Biggest thing for us was it's a winter sport here which requires neoprene. Getting really good neoprene is a) expensive and b) almost impossible to find in the correct size plus they outgrow it in a season or two. I was happy to let him loose in OBX as a pre-teen but no way wanted to do that at Van Pugh in the winter here and have him wash up downwind with hypothermia.

Add to that - like you said, the other activities, school, etc. Heck, I didn't even really windsurf much for about seven- eight years in there.

In Florida, where it can be a warm weather sport, it's a different take.

I know Optis and Lasers frostbite here but it's a big difference sitting on a boat where there's a 5-10% chance of getting wet and a rescue boat handy vs a 99% chance and no rescue boat.

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rgenet
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Re: Old Bic Ad: How hard can it be?

There is also stiff competition from other activities - baseball and soccer seem to be the most popular and for a good reason: it's not expensive (except for the many kids who parents think they are future pro-athletes), there is plenty of existing infrastructure, and it is pretty convenient, and schedules are predictable and not based on the wind. Even in warmer and windier locations the stick and ball sports still have a huge advantage.

Back to the "what is the purpose of this" question - I've many people tell me how cool they think windskating. A lot of people ask "what is that called" - which is sort of difficult to answer. It might seem insulting to say "it's a wing." If they asked "what is the purpose" I'd probably be dumbfounded but now at least I have time to think of an answer.

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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Re: Old Bic Ad: How hard can it be?

Randy, your comments have made me rethink it a bit. I previously post, "Because it's there."

I think it's simpler than that. It should have been, "Because it's fun." It's simply play. Kids get that. A lot of adults, like everyone in this room, do. Some adults, however, think things need a purpose to have meaning. Winging on a sidewalk has the same meaning as a walk in the woods, bike ride on a trail, windsport session in deep winter. It's fun, it has movement, it stimulates both our physical self and psyche.

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rgenet
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Re: Old Bic Ad: How hard can it be?

Sorry Webguy I think you had it right the first time and this is something we've discussed before.

https://windsportatlanta.com/content/when-does-foiling-become-fun-42720

“FUN” is not the goal of windsport, and most particularly not the goal of foilsport. The goal is much higher, and costs a lot more. Fun is really too easy. Anybody can have fun eating chocolate cake, or watching reruns of “The Big Bang Theory.” Not everybody can do foilsport. It is in doing it for its challenge that we do it – fun is not any part in it. Think of it this way – when they asked Sir Edmund Hilary* why he climbed Mount Everest, he didn’t say “because it is FUN”, no he said “because it is THERE.” He knew FUN comes and goes, but the mountain will always be THERE. If President Kennedy said “We chose to go to the moon, not because it is easy, but because it is FUN” we would have never gotten there. We would have quit the first time something that was not fun happened. Captain Ahab never said to the white whale “From hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee. Ye damned whale when I kill thee it will be so effing FUN.” We do foilsport because it is THERE, not because it is fun."

*Ok so I gave the wrong guy credit. But I'm sure about everything else.....

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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Re: Old Bic Ad: How hard can it be?

Randy on foil (and wind) sport. Originally posted in the older thread.

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rgenet
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Re: Old Bic Ad: How hard can it be?

What's golf?

Time w/ own kids better than not Smile

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rgenet
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Re: Old Bic Ad: How hard can it be?

BTW the example I think of on youngsters not being in the water is when I was in Hilton Head kiting while Tim Carter was windsurfing and the college kids had no clue / interest in what we were doing ... if I had seen Tim and the gang I would have been like "can I try!?" :-).

Atl does sort of suck compared to Hawaii, for example, for just enjoying the wind and sea.
Even in hawaii thought, we were too poor for a windsurf board. But old surfboards were cheap.

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