One of the first things you’ll notice when you visit the Shell Point Sailboard Club (SPSC) website is that it offers free windsurfing lessons.  While it’s not the most prominent feature on the website, it’s arguably one of the most important aspects of the club.  Not only are the lessons free, but you also don’t need your own board—they supply one for you to learn on! 

After you’ve signed up, just show up on your lesson day in a bathing suit, some water-shoes (the neoprene slip-on booties like Dick’s and scuba shops sell), and maybe a hat, water, sunglasses, and sunscreen.  If you haven’t been to Shell Point Beach lately, it’s nice, with a pretty little beach, good rinse-off shower and bathroom facilities.

When you arrive at the beachfront area, the SPSC training trailer is on the east end of the public beach.  It’s a small gray wooden structure situated right on the beach, and is where all the club’s boards, rigged sails, and other equipment are stored.  It’s the meeting place and main gathering area for members and guests for lessons as well as various club events. 

When you walk over to the shed, a club instructor will meet you, and after some basic introductions, you’ll walk down to the water’s edge where a learner sailboard will be laying.  The instructor will point out the basic parts of the sailboard—board, mast base, mast, boom (the part you hold while you’re sailing), centerboard, and sail--and then you’ll both step into the water and down the gradually sloping bottom until you’re both about waist deep.

Then, the teaching commences.  Despite how complicated windsurfing may look at first, it really isn’t.  The wind acts upon the sail in predictable ways, and the sail acts on the board in predictable ways, and the board moves through the water in predictable ways.  The instructor essentially explains the basics of how these three variables work together, giving continual input as the student learns, and before long something in the student “clicks,” where the brain-body-sailboard experiences a sort of revelation in understanding how everything works together.  From that point on, it’s basically just refinement through continued experience.  It’s much like learning to ride a bicycle in this respect, though learning to ride a bicycle is probably a lot harder.

“But I’m not athletic.”  “I’m not a strong person.”  “I’m too fat.”  “I’m too skinny.”  “I’m uncoordinated.”  “I don’t have a good sense of balance.”  Rest assured that everyone who first considered windsurfing thought and believed at least one of those things before they tried it.  They’re all meritless excuses.  Need proof?  Just look at the club members!  There are little kids, and people of all shapes and sizes.  It’s not about strength, coordination, or having good balance.  Virtually anyone can learn to sail a sailboard.

Once you’ve learned to sail, and you enjoy the freedom, thrill, and relaxation it offers, and you like the camaraderie of hanging out with club members on the beach, you can join the ranks of the club for only $30, or $45 for two or more family members.  If you’re a member, you still don’t have to have your own board to be able to go windsurfing.  From April to October the club has “practice days” about every other weekend where you can just show up and use one of the club’s sailboards and sail around the beach area and channel.  There are always people who are about at your own level of skill that you can have fun sailing around with—beginners, intermediate sailors, and experts.  The club also holds races and other events throughout the year, all of which are a blast.

If you, or someone you know, has even the slightest interest in learning to windsurf, sign up for a free lesson and come on down!