Yes, as this 1986 photo shows, there was a windsurfing shop at Lake Lanier named Sail n' Sport. The owner, Brian Sloggy, moved from Colorado to escape the cold winters. He needed instructors to teach the newly popular sport of windsurfing. My son displayed immediate talent from the first time he got on a board, so Brian hired him to teach through his shop. The one problem was Evan (in yellow shirt) was only 15 and only had his driver's learner's permit. So I bought a tow hitch for our Toyota van (in the background with windsurfer on top) and drove Evan to the Lake. The trailer, loaded with six windsurfers, is on the right side of the photo. The first year, we both taught on summer weekends, then in year two, Evan drove himself to the Lake and taught on his own. The money he made funded new gear purchases.
Barrett
Cool story, thanks for sharing.
I bought my very first new board from Laverne Sloggy but they were sharing a space with Weathermark Sailing at that time.
Did Browning make a windsurfing sail back then?
Alan
rgenet
I borrowed my hang gliding buddy's board in 1986. He said "You figure it out, 'cause I have no clue". It was a slab of foam that would not release from the water not matter how much wind there was. We called it The Nerf Board and, after a lot of trial & error, had some big fun that summer. That fall, Brian & Laverne sold me a Klepper 360 with NPU 6.4 sail... and so it began.
The Nerf Board
rgenet
I bought a mast from them circa 89 or so when I left a rig on a dock half in the water and the weight of the water snapped it. Pretty cool then to have parts near by. I bought my first okayish board from Weathermark in 91, a HiFly longboard. I owned a complete piece of crap Ten Cate (Dutch) that was a derivation of the original Windsurfer prior to that. It did plane once. I still remember that. I didn't know what exactly had happened but I needed it to happen again. A bit of irony that now planing is only an intermediate step to my getting off the water.
Great pics and stories. Alan, Browning used to do some interesting things. I remember they did a halfway decent bike during the 70s bike boom and a bike transmission. http://classiccycleus.com/home/browning-smartshift/
https://www.disraeligears.co.uk/site/browning_derailleurs.html
rgenet
My first board was the windglider 1985. I still have it, collecting dust back home in the attic.
Great sharing!