Wellington Windsurfing Assn.

09/10 season final round - check http://wwa.org.nz/ for details

Check out 'Four Dimensions, some local footage and some nostalgia. See http://wwa.org.nz/ for details

This is a short story about a southerly front. Wellington is well known for its windy weather - and I recently found some graphic illustrations of how quickly and dramatically the conditions can change. From a northerly of less than 5 knots to a southerly of 50+ knots in less than 3 minutes! Years ago (20), when I was single and obsessed with windsurfing I was one of the keen windsurfers who used to park at the bottom of the harbour on the Petone foreshore and wait for the predicted 'southerly buster' to arrive. When it did there would be a black wall appear at the harbour entrance which would rapidly advance towards us over a period of a few minutes, and the only question was 'which sail should I rig, 3.5 or 3.0?'.

Windsurfing New Zealand trains windsurfing instructors, publishes guidelines for windsurfing schools and certifies schools that meet WNZ requirements.