Formula Windsurfing

Historically, board designers used to increase the length and volume of the boards in order to allow for sailing in lighter winds, but during the late 90s, some brands like AHD, Berky, Drops, ML, Pro-Tech, Roberts and Starboard started to work on alternative solutions.

They came up with designs that widened and shortened the board length whilst retaining high volume, and used larger fins to get into planing earlier.

They also moved the fins further back, which prompted newer concepts with different solutions around the tail of the board to free the nose and decrease drag.

To avoid ventilation in the fin area, flaps or steeped bottoms were used, the latter becoming the more widely adopted due to its durability and ease of use.

During the four days of competition the top 20 French funboard sailors raced ten eliminations in winds of 6 to 12 knots.

This prompted the designers to create boards with a very wide wind range coupled with excellent upwind and downwind performance.

Recently it has sprung up in events held in Hood River, Oregon and San Francisco, California.