I started windsurfing at 30, as a mother of two children aged 4 and 8. Windsurfing has changed my life into a fantasy of dreamlike experiences which only keeps on getting better and better. I found the article “10 reasons why every girl should start kiting” on http://www.thespinoffproject, and adapted it to windsurfing.
Here are the reasons that you really really really should give windsurfing a try!
1. TRANSFORM YOUR BODY. Windsurfing is like a crossfit workout – only more fun! You won’t even realise that you have been working out until after the session. Your body will turn into the body you’ve always dreamt of in a season or two.
2. EAT ANYTHING YOU WANT. When you windsurf you burn close to a 1000 calories per hour. My biggest challenge when I windsurf more than three days in a row, is to eat enough! In the picture I am eating Focaccia con lardo, focaccia covered with pure lard!
3. FORGET YOUR WORRIES. The minute you step onto the board, everything but the moment you are in is gone! Blast away into the sunlight, feel the wind through the hair, and I swear you will never feel happier in your life.
4. SURROUND YOURSELF WITH HAPPY PEOPLE. You’ll meet people who have already discovered the benefits of windsurfing – they are all happy, of course 🙂
5. TRAVEL THE WORLD. When you windsurf, traveling to the most amazing places on the face of the earth comes natural! You enjoy these places even more when you windsurf as you interact with the scenery, the waves and the wind, instead of passively watching. 
6. LOOK LIKE A BEACH BABE. Smooth skin, golden tan, wavy beach hair and sexy beach clothes – need I say more? 
7. MEN LOVE WINDSURFING GIRLS. There is something irresistible about a girl who’s windsurfing for most men. If your boyfriend’s a windsurfer he will love you even more – instead of creating conflicts when he is going out, you go together and share this fantastic way of life!
8. ITS FOREVER. Windsurfing has no age limit – some of the best windsurfers in the world are closer to 40 than they are to 20. The windsurfers in the picture below are all between 60 and 78 – and they live to windsurf! It is never to late to start – you are in for decades of fun almost no matter how old you are. 
9. NEVER GET BORED. Enjoy the versatility of windsurfing – ride waves, blast over flat waters on your slalom gear, to do some freestyle tricks. No session is the same, but the experience is always great! 
10. BUILD YOUR SELF-RESPECT. If you learn to windsurf, I can guarantee that you gradually will change into a cooler, more confident, more relaxed person. No one can take the fact that you master windsurfing away from you, and thereby you base your perception of yourself on something very real. Once you achieve this you will never look back!
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Miriam Rasmussen 
Great writing about the sport and how it affects you. Once hooked, you cannot get it out of your system, as all you want todo is get back on the water.
Great story Miriam
so truly real 🙂
My wife, Annabel has said from the beginning of her windsurfing career, ” I don’t understand why there are not more women involved in this activity, it is healthy, and the male/female ratio is awesome, and most of the guys are in pretty good shape to boot!!”.
Excactly! 😀
Spot On!!
Windsurfing make to you fantastic feelings and after you drink thats poison thats be for you one new way of living.I start in age in them my friends sit in sofas and watch TV,but also meet some guys older than me they windsurf with great pasion.I’m be on the board until I can walk.Can say at least from last year I start to windsurf seriously. And enjoj is enormous. We only need the wind.
Well done!
It’s completly true what you write. I’am starting with windsurf when I was 44. I’am now 68 years and in all that years I had a lot of fun on my board. Now I have problems with my back and hips so I stopped but I have a lot of very good memories!
yea, if you can afford it
Unfortunately this is true – windsurfing is when you reach a certain level a very expensive sport. I started off buying used gear, the fun is the same, and you don’t need a van to bring the gear to the beach! 😀
With the point of the mast to the wind, your feet to the board, the heart and hands become a wing to the wind. Nothing better than to relax and fly like a bird effortlessly, less is more. Your eyes, ears, and every sensation is tuned to nature. At the end of the day, you’re imprinted with the sun in your heart and golden light on your face!
Exactly how I feel after windsurfing!
Great article and wise words. Love the sport and the friendships which I have made over the years. Sure beats the office and keeps me sane…!
Oooh yes, I can relate. I have been windsurfing since 1978. I’m 50 now, most people can’t believe I’m 40 never mind 50. This is how it works, all the time you spend windsurfing gets added on to the end of your life!! Yeeha go, go, go!! ps, almost forgot, I still totally love windsurfing.
First time I went to Rondeau Bay here in Ontario Canada I thought they were filming a new segment fro Cocoon!! everyone there was way older than myself, now thirty five years later I am the old man!
Performance in every sports and in windsurfing are improved by a correct nutrition plan. It’s dangerous to say people “you can eat anything you want”, strictly speaking… You could say better: “you can eat high-carbs also after windsurfing…”, or similar, to restore muscular and liver glicogen and improve muscular ipertrophy or efficiency (mytochondrial, for example), but a windsurfer who eats incorrectly may reduce 25-30 % performance and after just 2 hour of activity have signs of “central fatigue” and sudden loss of concentration with high risk of injuries.
Absolutely true – every single part of it. And my wife Dorte windsurfs… 😉
Go Dorte! 🙂
I totally agree! I’m a 70 year old lady who LOVES windsurfing, the excitement, the freedom of the wind and the lovely friends I have made. I intend to carry on for ever – (or as long as I am able!) Besides that, my grown up sons who also windsurf think I’m cool (and sometimes help me rig up). That’s the advantage of being ‘old’.
Thanks for sharing! ❤ Windsurfing makes me look forward to the years to come rather than regretting the years that have passed!
now that’s what i call a great attitude towards life..!!! well done my lady 🙂
Pure Passion, Energie for life, wings to fly…..at 14 I got already drunk of this fantastic sport! At 48 still totaly in love ❤
Also 10 reasons why guys should start windsurf i guess🏄 Point 2 does not work for me – dammit😊
thats ok – as long as you are comfortable with point 6, I don’t mind! 😀
Sounds like an awesome sport/ hobby. Much too cold to do it out here near San Francisco though. LOL.
SF sounds like a summer breeze to me! I windsurf the waters of Norway all year. 1/3 of my hours of sailing every year is done in temperatures below 50 fahrenheit! 🙂 I draw the limit at 32F – its getting both complicated and dangerous then.
Whoah! Yeah, Norway sounds much colder !
San Francisco area is one of the best venue of the world to windsurf. Strong wind almost every day from May to October, plenty of different spots to choose from the coast down to the valley, georgous city, awesome outdoor scenery and activities, a real treat if you really want to do it. Plenty of a wetsuit+hood+booties for cold water to choose from nowadays, both for women and men.
I windsurf the waters of Switzerland or southern France almost all year. When ice starts to build up over my sail or my board, it’s time to go home and enjoy another sport 😉
My life’s motto after nearly 40 years of windsurfing… you shred or you dead.
Por que tiene que ser la verdad? Toda mi vida apasionado al windsurfing o tablavela y nunca he encontrado o tal vez no se me ha cruzado una chica que me fleche con un mástil el corazón.
Beautiful photos and nice post about how the sport has changed you! The sheer upper body strength required for windsurfing just scares me off 🙂
So true! “Scared” is exactly the feeling I had my two first seasons! no strength and poor technique made a rubbish combination. 🙂 I felt the wind slapped me around at will, and I had nothing to put up with. I started working out, and gradually this changed. In the beginning of this season I could take more hours sailing, and thus my technique improved immensely. Maybe I should make a list over the things every girl have to endure to start windsurfing to level this out! 😀
yes, pls, could u do it? my husband, for who the windsurfing is a real passion, just sent me this article as “the best article ever”! 🙂 I like windsurfing, but just watching… :-)) i tried it maybe 4 times when we went for holidays, but im just not good at it. After an hour Im already tired and loose all motivation… But I wish I could learn windsurfing at least up to the level when I can already enjoy it.
Hm – I think I must make a follow-up update – it’s not you who isn’t any good – its just that windsurfing has a really high threshold to learn! Thats the reason you feel so good about yourself when you have learnt it!
Same is true for kids. It’s a long process to learn between balancing the sail size with the wind force and your body weight. Best advice is to get the correct gear that best fits the skills and abilities for yourself only, not for your male partner or advanced buddies. In general, women and kids want a larger board for better stability and a smaller and lighter sail for longer stamina. Just listen to them.
Ahh windsurfing♥♥♥ you should trying it in Indonesian beach 😀
Thanks to Miriam! Great Job! When i starten to windsurf i was a heartbroken Woman in the age of 27. now i run with my boyfriend our own surfschool in Sri Lanka! We Build it up 3 years ago with less Money. In my homecountry, Austria, i work in pharmaceutical Industry. Every Day i See all the ill People with less Expression in their Face, Working for Bills, Never have the real feeling of absolut Freedom! Luckily I’m a Windsurfing Girl, giving me the strengh to manage my life with all ups and downs in this unbelievable World! So all the ladies Outside: LEARN WINDSURF! 😍
great story – thanks for sharing!
yes, i totally agree! i moved to the philippines (from austria) with my 2 year old just before i turned 40 and felt like i need a new career, a new language, a new sport …basically a new life. i started windsurfing and everything changed. now my son speaks 3 languages, i surf in one of the most challenging areas (the wind “channel” of batangas bay – to learn surfing here is like learning how to drive a car in new delhi:)) and i have found my new dream-profession: i am an online coach on a tropical island. thank you windsurfing-godess and thank you miriam for the great article:) eWa
Yes – this is for real! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Wow, so right on!
Never met a grumpy windsurfer (unless he just ripped his sail),this lifestyle is awesome, sharing this post. Keep on keepin´on 🙂
/J
Will do! 😉
Great article! I can’t agree more…
Yes, all true! I am 57, windsurf since 35 years, travel over the world, know only happy people. Rightnow in Barbados to windsurf! With my husband who I met on the water in Tarifa In ´85. .
Ulli
thats what I’m talking about! 🙂 I look so much forward to the rest of my life!
Totally agree. I recommend windsurfing to everybody. It is the greatest pleasure I have ever discovered. I was 19 when I saw the light, high wind and some windsurfers making jibs in front of me. Their eyes expression, energy, and enthusiasm were like a virus to me. Since then I did not stop to think be one of them. And it s true, girls who practice are really attractive.
It is true- never too late to start and it tweaks every muscle in one’s body. It is not an upper body sport, it is an all body sport. Otherwise so many women would not be doing it- would they?
I am 70 and started when I was 25 and still ride when it is happening. Why not?
Bruce Matlack- 1st National and World Windsurfing Champion
Whyyy not! 😀 Great to hear you’re still hanging in there, Bruce – you’re a great inspiration to us all!
Windsurfing is such good clean fun and the health benefits, mentally as well as physically, cannot be disputed. I love it. It makes me laugh when people say they tried it a couple of times but gave it up because they couldn’t do it. I’ve been waves sailing for 24 years now and am still learning. I think windsurfing is one of the hardest sports and you never stop learning. But once past the initial frustrations, that for some may last a week or two and some just a day, it’s so much pure enjoyment. It’s a lifetime sport and I know plenty of people who didn’t start till their 50’s. Thanks for a great article. I hope this encourages more women out on the water, young and old. Welcome to a new passion, new friends, new places 🙂
Whoop, 24 years should read 14!
My boyfriend sent me the link to this post because he’s trying to get me into windsurfing. 🙂 I want to try – just haven’t given it a go yet! We live near Hood River, OR though and go there often, so I’m hoping to take a lesson there this summer. Thanks for the push!! I hope I’ll look half as bangin’ as you do! 😉
heeeey – whats happening here?? This blog has been dead for almost two years now, but here you are, bringing it back to life! It was so nice to read this update again – even though two years has passed, i stand 100% behind every thing I wrote back then! To balance things a little I wrote a follow up to this update, giving girls who actually went out there to try a reality check. you see – windsurfing isnt all fun and games the first times you try – its actually a little scary and intimidating. Hood river is considered to be one of the best spots in the world, so youll find rental gear and tuition there, so you can give it a good try. Remember before you go – the reward will be equal to the challenge, so hang in there and give it shot as often as you can for a year or two, and then you can decide whether to stop or keep going 🙂 Keep me posted on your progress – i’m cheering for you!