My FATHER used me as ballast for hiking out of his sailing dinghy sailboat while racing.
My dad saved a bunch of money doing small jobs as a teenager and built his own wood sailboat!

I was only 5 years old (with a lifejacket) and had to pull in the jib and adjust the centerboard angle
We did this at our sailing club once or twice a week for 4 years during spring/summer /fall

At age 10 he built me my own sailboat and sent me on my own to race at our club
Lots and lots of racing with him and against him as i got older

At 17 i got my original windsurfer one design and still also raced Lasers sailboats
At 24 i moved to Florida for windsurfing and landboarding year round
In 1999 i gave it all up for the new WIND-WATER sport called Kiteboarding / kitesurfing

So the PASSION KEEPS ON and the excitement has NEVER diminished over all the years !!!
And never will

.......................... very much DAD................. ...........................

Your mom- while you and your dad were out being fancy lads on the water

Ouch!

School did.
It was way more fun than school
Nico

Similar, my dad sailed in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race so wind/water sports were familiar to me.
I've skied since I was about 4 and scuba for about 10 years and was looking for a new summer sport. Started dating an IKO instructor and here I am now permanently chasing the wind!!
Jess





http://www.thekitesurfingcollective.com

At about age 5, I was living with my parents, baby sister and dog in a cottage on a tiny British Columbia coastal island. Home schooling, no roads, no power, no running water.

While we were visiting Vancouver, hurricane force winds brought down many trees on our island, one of which splintered our rowboat. Through the Buy & Sell newspaper, my parents found a replacement used rowboat, which happened to also come with a mast and sail. My parents reluctantly took the mast and sail because the seller wouldn't sell the boat without them. That rowboat/ sailboat was a Sabot, 8 feet long with transom bow.

Eventually, my parents stepped the mast, raised the sail, tried sailing, and loved it. They soon bought a Cal 20' sailboat, upgraded to a 27' Cal T2, moved to Vancouver to participate in the local PHRH racing fleet, and then upgraded again to a Santana 30.

We became an avid racing and cruising family. I went on to compete in various dinghy classes, including the District 6 Laser fleet (northwestern US and British Columbia) and various regional and national championships. I became certified and active as a sailing instructor, instructor evaluator, racing coach, navigation instructor and skipper of large power and sailing yachts.

I took up windsurfing, and then kiteboarding. I parted with my last sailboat, a Nacra Inter 20, several years ago but remain an avid kiteboarder.

All that because that !@#$%^&* tree fell on my family's rowboat. Life's interesting.

Cheers,
James

At first it was my dad who had a small fishing boat. Then my brother, who had started windsurfing. And, some years later, my wife, who dislikes wind and waves.

Ned are you suggesting you entered the water because your wife wont be there?

Me. I'm a man of wheels not water. I entered kiting to power my wheels along the beach. Then I wanted to still kite when the tide was in so relinquished the wheels on my board and entered the water.

So.... kiting is primary to me.... water... not essesntial. but it is fun. I'll take the water when conditons are prime. ... when they are prime for the land the wheels blaze.

Yes Plummet, deep water is a refuge from work and wife