From a racer's perspective-- Lake sailors are some of the best in the world (in any type of boat). We used to travel to regattas a lot and it was pretty amusing sometimes to see the FL dudes who were deadly fast in a seabreeze come to Lanier and just didn't have a clue.... "wind shift, huh? hey how'd those guys get way up there".

It's hard to learn to WS in Atl and even harder to learn to sail well here, but a good many have and I think we can hold our own w/ anybody, anywhere. We sailed in the Mistral Worlds in San Francisco Bay in 1992. At first it was pretty intimidating... tales of great white sharks, HUGE boats, 7 knot tides, etc. But once we got dialed in it was actually easier in many ways than Lake Lanier. Same thing at the Gorge-- different scale but I 'got it' after a day or so and had a GREAT time. Ditto San Carlos. It's all just wind & water.

Fresh water. No fish that will eat you. Safe. Friendly. Beautiful. I love sailing here. Screw those idiots.

Homeboy out.

Lets get real guys -- Atlanta is not a great place for windsurfing. Ya, I love sailing here too, but I love sailing anywhere there is water and wind -- and in atlanta there is not a lot water and there is a heck of a lot less wind. You said it yourself Homeboy -- It's hard to learn to WS in Atl and even harder to learn to sail well here. There is a reason for that! There is also a saying that you will learn more in one week in Hatteras than you will one year of sailing in Atlanta. I believe it.

We do have our good days here, but they are way to rare for my tastes. If I had a normal job, I don't know if I would ever get windsurf here. If you love windsurfing, you will find a way to make it happen though-- and that is what we do. So yes you can can sail in Atlanta, but you have to be extremely motivated.

When I say 'screw those idiots' I only mean it in the kindest possible way ;-).

Atl is diffently not a 'great windsurfing location' but I've had some truly great days of sailing on Lanier and I sail about as much as I want to. I wish some of those good days were 'long 'bout now... but still the best time of year for us is not that far away.

What date do you guess will be the first good 5.5 day?

Homie

If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. We make a lot of lemonade.

Kudos to the windsurfing crowd in Atlanta area for the dedication to the sport, and when wind dials in - which is not very often to be sure - there isn't a better bunch of board heads anywhere to freeze your toes with.

Marek

After Condoleza gets the Mid-East squared away, maybe we can get her to help out here. I moved to the Carolina coast about a year ago and YES I do get more windy days, more consistent winds and the swells as a bonus. But after sailing at Lanier for 15+ years, I gotta tell you that the endorphins work the same. I'd probably see Lanier from a different perspective if I'd come there after living in Baja, Maui, the Gorge, Hatteras, etc - the Atlanta club has seen quite a few show up at Van Pugh with their 3.8s and 65L boards and then dissappear. We give thanks and praise NOT to be jaded and still able to enjoy the lemonade. As the Beatles said . . . Everybody had a good year. peace s tc

As I've told many people, Atlanta is where the wind comes to die. We have a permanent H on the weather map over N. GA. The wind doesn't blow, it s%cks.

All the same, ATL is home for a bunch of reasons - family, job, climate, high taxes (oops. wait a minute).

Bring on the lemonade. Like Marek says, we may not have that much wind but there's definitely a good vibe on the water and the beach. And, that's okay by me. tc, we miss you and your wacky verbiage. Condi says to say "hi".