WINDSURFING NEW ZEALAND The National Voice for Windsurfers

Contact Ways to contact Windsurfing New Zealand
Correspondence please write: Secretary, Windsurfing NZ, c/- P.O. Box 1355, Dunedin

Windsurfing New Zealand contacts on website

WINDSURFING NEW ZEALAND is a non-profit organisation set up to promote, administer to the needs of and represent windsurfing nation-wide. It was first formed in 1983, by a group of Auckland windsurfers and called the New Zealand Boardsailing Association for organising racing and rules etc..

In 1990, the Hillary Commission assisted in reforming the association so that all regions around the country were represented. By 1994, the New Zealand Windsurfing Association had finalised it's constitution, and recently changed its name to Windsurfing New Zealand not only in keeping with moves amongst other National organisations to use simple titles, but to project its progressive and pro-active image.

TODAY...Windsurfing New Zealand is a well structured, professionally run organisation. The office operates 24 hrs per day, with the help of a fax/answerphone, computer, modem and the latest Access 2.0 database with Windows 95. Nicola Taylor, chief administrator, works part time replying to mail and ensuring Windsurfing NZ is meeting the needs of the windsurfing community of NZ at many levels:

 

Introductory Level:

- distributes windsurfing information and publishes magazine articles
- ensures windsurfing schools meet a national level of safety
- trains new Windsurfing Instructors to an international level of skill

Recreational Windsurfers:

- ensures access and enjoyment for windsurfers is not restricted by laws or pollution
- provides information on where to sail (Windsurfers Guide to NZ booklet and home-page) and how to improve technique.
- produces and distributes its informative newsletter "Broad Reach" to every member

Competitive Windsurters:

- organises and promotes the National Racing Calendar
- monitors windsurfing rules and makes recommendations to improve the quality of racing
- provides information on race organisation, and racing skills
- assists and promotes our international competitors
- provides a communication network between members, clubs, shops, the media, sponsors, national authorities and other National and International Windsurfing Associations.......!
- provides information on how to set up and run windsurfing clubs
- organises the national register of sail numbers

New Projects Introduced in 1998

- Development of a Progressive Instructors Course, so existing WNZ Instructors can learn how to teach Water + Beach Starts, Carve Gybes, Sailing on the Plane, using Harness + Footstraps etc.
- Creation of a "Windsurf Safe" programme on CD-ROM including 'How to Windsurf' and the 'Windsurfers Guide to NZ' so you can learn all about how and where to windsurf on your computer!
- Funding from the NZ Water Safety Council of $17,000 is being used to set up this programme and then market it to every educational institution in the country - polytechs, universities, libraries, colleges....as well as windsurfing schools and shops.
- Developing further the membership drive begun in 1997, to increase members with the help of the windsurfing industry, who now sponsor membership for every customer who buys a board. Funds raised will be used to increase the profile of windsurfing/Windsurfing NZ by setting up regular media contact by email/fax from the central WNZ office.
- All members will receive four newsletters and a membership sticker.

Structure of Windsurfing New Zealand

At present there are 13 windsurfing clubs and a total of 450 club members - small numbers considering the circulation of the NZ Windsurfing Magazine is 5000 and there are perhaps three times more who read it also!Windsurfers are mostly free spirits who only belong to a club if they are interested in racing.

There are 25 Windsurfing Schools around the country, 14 of which are WNZ Certified.There are 50 shops/manufacturers/wholesalers in NZ. There are currently 72 WNZ Instructors, 25 of which are employed at windsurfing schools.There is a national committee of representatives of each of the 12 regions in NZ including the executive committee - president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer. Sub committees in our organisation include: Racing, Instruction, Publicity.

RACING By far the greatest work of Windsurfing NZ, is the fostering of the numerous competitions and the co-ordinating of them onto a National Events calendar.Administering NZL sail numbers is ongoing - we administer over 800 numbers at present. Setting racing rules according to overseas trends, producing event guidelines, scrutinising and sanctioning national status events are some of the more time consuming tasks we perform in this area.

Our "big brother" Yachting NZ assists with some racing functions specifically related to Olympic windsurfing by administering financial assistance for our elite including some great youth work recently initiated. They are able to do this because of their size and manpower, which also enables them to attract large sponsors.

Instruction

Aiming in particular for the beginner, instruction has been a focus of ours over the past few years. Setting standards for instructors for fostering sure and safe skills in the beginner, and creating Manuals and other information, have been achieved objectives.

The Windsurfing NZ Instructors Courses have been streamlined to a very high standard and following the RYA methods tailored to NZ's needs.Courses run for 5 days, and cater to a maximum of 8 trainee instructors per course. Courses cost $350 which only covers costs, and all feedback has been positive.This season - 1998/1999, we have introduced a complete training scheme for Windsurfing NZ beginning with the existing Competence Instructors Certificate, leading on to the Progressive Coach Certificate - the first course of which we held in November 1998 and received very positive feedback.

The Progressive Coach can then choose to train as Wave Coach or Race Coach. These courses have yet to be developed.In 1996/97, we completed the introduction of National Standards of skill and safety for windsurfing schools with $16,000 funding from the NZ Water Safety Council to improve the quality and safety for beginners being attracted to windsurfing schools!

This included creating a handbook for windsurfing schools operators, and gaining information from every windsurfing school in the country by circulating questionnaires, and paying each school a personal visit. This information is now entered on our new Access 2.0 database system and is being used to monitor participation in the sport at entry level.

Publicy

The promotion of windsurfing is an ongoing primary focus of Windsurfing NZ. Often we lack the finance and manpower to carry out large promotions, but wherever there is an opportunity we are promoting the sport - from sending information to school kids who write to us, to helping arrange television coverage for overseas stations.

We are also continuously sending information to tourists wishing to visit and go windsurfing here, and maintain a home page on the internet. This is an area which we are now wishing to develop now that a high standard of training is available at windsurfing schools. By setting up contact with the media through either email or fax, we hope to begin a regular stream of information through Windsurfing NZ from the windsurfing community to national papers, radio and T.V.

Industry Marketing Arm

In 1994, we embarked on a bold initiative to include the industry by way of sponsorship in a promotional venture aimed at raising the profile of the sport to encourage new entrants to take lessons, showing them where to go and to look after them once they are on board.The nation-wide campaign to encouraged beginners to learn to windsurf at one of the 25 windsurfing schools in NZ using funds pooled together from the windsurfing industry.

"It's so Easy Now", the slogan used with the advertisement showing a couple windsurfing together, was inserted in several magazines such as More, and Boating NZ, was used to indicate the superior instruction techniques and beginners equipment available now since the introduction of windsurfing in NZ 15 years ago.

The following year (1995), we used the funding to set up an extensive database of all radio, newspapers and other media, and circulated windsurfing information packages to each one including the events calendar, background NZWA information, profiles of our top competitors and a general overview of the sport.

At the same time, we raised the profile of WNZ to generate interest in the recreational windsurfer - what the NZWA can do for them, and how to get involved.Both these projects were successful, but required more sponsorship, manpower and funding to continue and follow-up. Also, the industry is feeling the effects of the decline, and are not prepared to keep up their initial input when little tangible effects were felt after these promotions.

Summary - Where to Now?

Promoting the sport at recreational and spectator levels has not given the sport the surge of active participation which was hoped. Media interest seems to be quite good because the sport is exciting visually. Now, we need bigger fleets to attract attention.Our new approach: through competitive youth.

Those who have the desire to compete, are young and especially those who come from dinghy racing backgrounds, could be the answer to increasing our membership and our fleets. And presently we have the right people to promote the sport at this level.Windsurfing NZ will be doing all it can to support these people following guidelines administered by the Hillary Commission in their latest Strategic Plan. We will also be continuing to work alongside Yachting New Zealand in this field aiming to build our sport right from entry level.1998/1999 This season, we are developing the membership drive which we began last season.

Our membership increased to some of the best levels yet, but we are still not reaching many of the recreational windsurfers.This years membership drive involves the industry again. They will be sponsoring the membership of every customer who buys a board. We are also offering incentives to clubs and shops to sell membership and make a profit.

The extra funds generated from this drive will be used to develop a publicity centre here at the WNZ office. The work initiated by the Marketing Arm will now come to fruition, now that we have completed setting up electronic communication systems linked to our Access database. We aim to send regular press releases to generate interest from the media - and because windsurfing is an exciting visual sport, and now much easier to learn on the new equipment, and with properly trained WNZ Instructors everywhere, we hope that this will increase the popularity and participation of this exhilarating, environmentally friendly, healthy sport!

Famous nz windsurfers