Water Wings

Boardsailing is a little like riding a bicycle. It's hard to learn, but easier to do once you can pick up a little speed and use momentum to your advantage. It's easier if you have some strength and good balance. But, with instruction, almost anyone can learn.

On Memorial Day weekend, I joined Al Peterson at Otter Pond in New Hampshire for a boardsailing (also called windsurfing and sailboarding) lesson. I was hoping for a steady wind, good instruction and a chance to learn in manageable increments.

Got all three.

Al Peterson  is a born instructor. The Sunapee man has been a public school music teacher for 30 years. He's blessed with infinite patience, good humor, and enthusiasm, all necessary for teaching a complex sport like boardsailing (also called windsurfing and sailboarding).

He came prepared with a miniature sailboard as a teaching aid, and two sailboards, one with interchangeable "baby" and "mama" sails. The bigger the sail, the faster you go, the harder it is to handle. The other sailboard was equipped with a "Big Daddy" sail. It was very fast, but too much for beginners.

Normally, you'd just wear a bathing suit and a shirt for sun protection. Because the water was still only 50 degrees, Al wore a wetsuit while I wore the Kokatat dry suit I got for cold-water kayaking. Though a personal flotation device isn't required, I wore a paddling PFD -- added safety and no disadvantage.

Boardsailing is exercise, especially for beginners. You start with a dry-land test run of raising the sail and getting your hands and feet into the proper position, learning to maneuver the sail to steer the board.

Then it's into the water.

First discovery: Pulling the sail upright from the water is a good upper body workout. It's one of the reasons you want to use a small sail to learn and get good fast.

Second discovery: The only solid connection between the wind on the sail and the board is you. All the energy transfers through your arms, down your back and legs to the board. While holding all that force, you are also trying to maintain balance, often in a variable wind. Once you graduate to a bigger sail, you can use a harness which transfers some of the force directly to your hips to save your arms. But until then, every muscle in your body gets a workout. Especially the ones you use to smile.

In the second hour of the lesson, I finally got a taste of the good things to come. I made one long, cross-wind glide with the "mama" sail. The board picked up some speed, and I could feel the waves slapping under my feet. Balance problems disappeared, and I felt like I could fly forever. Then, of course, I had to turn to avoid the shore.

All my elation disappeared as I got unceremoniously dumped into cold water. Face it, you're going to get wet while leaning how to sailboard. That's part of the fun.

I'm hooked. This is the perfect sport for a breezy, bright summer day, and I can't wait to get out and get better. I want to experience that feeling of flying again.

Hey, instead of baking on the beach with a book this summer, try boardsailing. You'll get some exercise and have more fun., guaranteed.

Learning curve

Having tried it both ways, I can tell you with certainty that you are better off taking boardsailing lessons than tackling it on your own. Like snowboarding or riding a bike, it can be very, very frustrating until that first moment that it "clicks." From then on it's all pleasure.

Al Peterson is a master windsurfing instructor. He has a perfect place to teach, all the equipment you need, plus the skill, enthusiasm and patience. He can be reached at 603-763 5456 or by e-mail. He charges $60 for a two-hour lesson. It's worth every penny.

If you're on Cape Cod this summer, Cape Cod Windsurfing gives lessons, rents boards you can practice with, and sells both new and used sailboards. They are located on Old Silver Beach at the Sea Crest Hotel in, North Falmouth.

Renaissance sport?

Boardsailing was all the rage about 20 years ago. Lots of places offered lessons. Then it gradually disappeared from the radar screens.

As near as I can tell, it got into trouble for the simple reason that it forgot about beginners. Apparently, boards kept getting shorter and lighter with larger and larger sails. This configuration was better for doing tricks, but impossible to learn on.

But there is good news for those of us just taking up the sport now. The people left teaching the sport really love it and are very good at it. Also, there's lots and lots of used equipment that's perfectly suited for an afternoon on a pond or lake. Some of it can be had at bargain prices.

So you've got a sport that gets you outdoors, gives you a terrific workout, is great fun, and the equipment is cheap.