The different types of windsurfing

Windsurfing has grown up. This is reflected on the one hand in its almost 60-year history, on the other hand in the degree of maturity of the material and the different types of windsurfing. Read this article to learn more about the history of windsurfing, as well as about the different windsurfing types: wave, freestyle, freestyle-wave, slalom race and freeride.

The History of Windsurfing

Windsurfing emerged in 1964 from surfing and sailing. The idea: with the help of the wind you can save yourself the strenuous paddling into the line-up. Initially windsurfing was only a thing for a small community in the USA, who still built their own boards and sails. Luckily for us today, the sport spread like wildfire and quickly evolved.

Windsurfing is now defined by differentiated subcategories such as wave, freestyle, freestyle wave, slalom race and freeride. In the following we guide you through the most important characteristics of these quite different windsurfing styles.

Waves

Several meters high, unbroken waves and white carpets of surf foam. Strong wind and strong currents. In short, difficult conditions which can be tackled by real experts only who combine windsurfing with surfing.

Freestyle

Freestyle is about doing as many tricks as possible in flat water. Typical are loops, slides and other jumps that require great skill. Speed ​​is absolutely secondary here.

Freestyle Wave

The supreme discipline of windsurfing is freestyle wave. This is about combining the wave and freestyle surfing described above. The result is meter-high jumps and spectacular maneuvers in the most difficult conditions. A real eye-catcher that is only reserved for great professionals.

Slalom Race

Slalom Race is just right for speed junkies. Because here it's all about one thing: top speed when driving straight ahead. Seen in this way, the word slalom is almost misleading here.

Freeride

We estimate the proportion of freeride surfers to be over 95%. Above all, freeride means what makes the sport so appealing to most windsurfers: gliding crisply over flat water and skilfully jibing. Freeride does not include any crazy maneuvers or tricks.

Off to the water

Reading is nice, windsurfing is better! Book the right windsurfing equipment and accessories such as trapeze or surfing suit here on Quipleon. Or learn more about the different windsurf board types in this article.