Progress

I've added new material to the Learners guide to windsurfing. If you're a regular reader of the Windsport website, then you probably already follow Matt Pritchard's Monday technique series. If you missed it, catch up at Matt's new page on the Learners guide. There's more of Matt's technique series referenced on the Waves page.

Another new page is Hatteras and surrounding region. Please take a look and help me get the information right, especially what I missed. In researching the information for this page, one fact became all too obvious: many windsurfing websites are out of date.

I'm working on adding more community pages.

My other project, DaNews continues a slow crawl from the obscure to the sublime. A windsurfing viral sensation it's not. Any hopeful ambition that this would catch fire has been tempered by the reality that making friends takes time. Maybe there is some stigma because DaNews is on Facebook. Is Facebook not cool anymore? Was Facebook never cool?



Or maybe this is how you feel about anything related to Facebook.

A proper introduction

DaNews | Facebook started in late January 2010, is a daily windsurfing news digest with a North American focus.

Why locate DaNews on Facebook? For one, it's free to use. Membership in Facebook is not required to view Fan Page content. FB probably does the best job of "scraping the essentials" of a link's content so you get an idea of what's there before you click. It makes embedding videos, windsurfing's coin of the media realm, simple.  DaNews is RSS feed enabled which allows it to be viewed on another website, a valuable feature for community websites that want to offer current content for almost no effort. The best reason last: for a reporter, FB makes it so dang easy; I spend almost all my time gathering news and not rewriting it. 

DaNews believes in this simple truth: Tell the story...grow the sport. Windsurfers are an experience based group. TOW, time on the water, is more important than telling the story about it. Somehow, we do find the time for both. The second guiding principle for DaNews: A rising tide floats all boats. DaNews is a news digest. The reporting is done by inspired windsurfers who have something to share. DaNews' aim is to promote their reporting. Hopefully, by bringing  more attention to the news and it's makers, the sport will strengthen and prosper.

Want to know where to find windsurfing news? Maybe you don't like the idea of a digest and want to visit as many news sources as your time allows. A list of windsurfing news sources is located on the Learners guide to windsurfing page, DaNews.  

The Learners guide to windsurfing will help all who have an interest to learn. Started in late May, 2009, the website is a resource for learning. Currently, the Learners guide is the online instructional material for  U.S. Windsurfing Association and  U.K. Windsurfing Association.

April Foolery

All the time I spent to concoct the "changing jobs hoax" was laid to waste when i got a phone call from Josh Sampiero to please remove the story from this blog. Bummer. I pleaded but got no explanation why someone other than Josh wanted the story removed. Because Josh is a friend, I agreed to the request. Heck in a few hours April Foolery would be over anyway. But still, why the urgency to remove the story....
  
Meanwhile, April Fools pranks rolled through windsurfing's online media. First up this morning was an email from the Highland Spring HiHo touting that members from Alinghi, losing syndicate of the just completed America's Cup, would now be skippering the yachts used to house the HiHo competitors during the cruise/race. Windsurfjournal ran a story about Antoine Albeau leaving windsurfing to take up a new career as a SUP racer. The Beach Telegraph linked a report about the new fin less Starboard creation. WindSurfing ran the next issue cover of Giampaola Cammarota: Ho'okipa Rock Star. Boardseeker introduced the new freestyle move: the Trengrouse. Newly launched DaNews ran the story of WindSuring Mag's editor moving up to a new job.

All were made up stories in honor of the April Fools tradition. If you got fooled don't worry, just get ready for next year.