Wellington Windsurfing Association


Only available to WWA members
The WWA simulator has been mentioned here before, and it's been getting some use recently, with members borrowing it to give friends an introduction, which is one of the reasons we bought it. I thought it would be useful to give a brief description of the simulator for those of you who thought it might be a cold shower equipped with blank cheques an a waterproof pen.

If you look at the rough diagram you'll get the idea, it's basically a cradle which holds a standard (largish) sailboard which sits on a wheel supported off the ground by four legs. The wheel allows the board to rotate (in the horizontal plane), the resistance to rotation is variable and controlled by a hydraulic damper, and simulates the normal "floating" resistance experienced during tacking and gybing (a knob on the damper is used for this setting). In addition the cradle can rock from side to side (this is set by knobs at each end of the cradle) to simulate the instability of a floating board. All you need to do is strap on the board, attach the rig, set the controls and off you go, you can teach/learn/practise uphauling, sailing, steering and turning (tacking and gybing). A few words of caution however...

The ground is hard, and learners can be hard on gear, use old gear if possible and protect the user ( a helmet is not a silly idea).
When released the mast does not fall it scythes in a high speed arc and can be dangerous to onlookers, keep everyone back at least 5m. If it's a busy area a rope barrier is a good idea.
The simulator breaks down into parts which can be stowed in most cars, the largest component is the cradle, about 1.2m long. To borrow the unit contact any WWA committee member

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