Windsurfing - a male dominated sport?

The Danish windsurfer Sara Sommer spent her winter windsurf training in Western Australia, mainly around Geraldton and was happy to meet many girls on the water. Sara is sure, that the girls on the water are getting more and more. Read her story from Western Australia.

Windsurfer girls ripping in Australia – Watch out boys!
A story by Sara Sommer

When I started windsurfing I believed my sister and I were among the only girls in my area who windsurfed. I rarely saw another girl on the water. It was for sure a male dominated sport, but is this still the case? In my surf club there were at least 10 boys for every one girl. Now almost 1/3 of the windsurfers on the water are girls. I like sailing with boys, but sailing with girls gives something to compare my level to and it motivates me more into trying new moves when I see a girl ripping on the water, than a guy that’s way above my level.

During many of my earlier travels I used to get comments from guys saying that they rarely see girls on the water. But watch out boys, the girls are going strong on the water!!! Now I am in Australia for my winter training. The beaches don’t generally get that busy, especially not with girls, but arriving at Coronation Beach I counted 16 girls on the water on a random day, not bad considering there was a maximum of 40 people out! The first day I arrived I met a group of 5 Dutch girls living the windsurfing dream and travelling all the windsurfing spots of WA.

On one of the less windy days I went around the Coronation Beach car park and campsite to collect all the windsurfing girls for a sunset picture.

Group pic by Justan Gregson & Alisa Grever Sørensen by Justin Stuart

Here are some comments from the girls I met that really impressed me, and I found worth sharing. One of the older ladies told me she was 64 years old and still going strong on the water, I would love to be sailing when I get to that age, full respect to her. Another lady told me she first got into windsurfing when she was 40 years old, she said “no matter your age, windsurfing is still a sport you can learn”, so, to all the windsurfing widows out there, there’s no reason to sit on the beach get out there and have fun! The youngest girl I met, was only 9 years old and just had her first lesson, she was stoked!!!

Also the boys love the girls on the water and feel it pushing their own limits when they see a girl doing something they themselves can’t do or are too scared to try! Some of the boys told me why they love to see more girls on the water. Windsurfing might still be a male dominated sport, but we are getting there! Thanks to light and more user-friendly gear, warm flexible wetsuits; and of course the girls already sailing, spreading the word about the sport they love and being an example on the water.