From the Starboard Forum, a very interesting post--
Out of interest, I'm trying to build up a picture of what people are actually racing. It seems that the reality is different from the hype. Here's some results; further info would be very interesting.
British national circuit - Techno 293 (junior hybrid) =145 entries, Formula Windsurfer =84 entries, Raceboard = 80 entries, RSX hybrid =59 entries, Kona One = 11 entries (new class)
British Team 15 (for kids 15 years and under -requires centreboard for zone racing, aims to develop kids to sail Techno hybrid) = about 80 clubs. Each team can put up to 15 kids into a zone-level race. That's something like 800 kids on boards with centreboards.
US Nationals 08 - 17 FW entries, 2 FE entries, Raceboards 25 entries, Hybrid 5 entries, Sports Fleet 12 entries.
US ranking list 07 - FW 85, Open (inc. raceboard, Kona, etc) 80; Kona One Design 48; Hybrid 29; FE 24.
Australian national titles, average fleet last 2 seasons; Windsurfer One Design 32; Raceboard - 31.5; FW - 25; RSX= 6?; Junior One NSW titles (biggest kid's titles as nationals were cancelled due to algal bloom) = 15. Note FW is usually bigger.
French national ranking lists:
Techno 293 - 525 boys, 168 girls
Raceboard - 206 men, 82 women
Funboard - 108 men, 18 women
Formula - 106 men, 11 women.
Kona One - 401 (I think a lot of these people just borrowed a Kona for a regatta)
German windsurfing association rankings
Raceboard (longboard) = 130 sailors
Junior Longboard = 95 sailors
DWC Slalom/Formula/wave/freestyle = 70 sailors including 8 under 20 years.
Kona One = 64
Techno 293 OD = 25 sailors (growing)
RSX = 25 sailors
IMCO = 15 sailors
Mistral Junior = 5 to 10 sailors
JUNIOR WORLDS ENTRIES
2007 Techno 293 OD hybrid worlds (under 17)= 166 entries (I think that the entries were restricted due to demand exceeding the available spots).
2007 FE Junior Worlds = 10 entries.
2007 FW Junior Worlds = 12 entries
YOUTH WORLDS
2007 FE Youth worlds = 5 entries.
2007 FW Youth Worlds = 48 entries.
2007 RSX Youth Worlds = 65 entries
2007 Raceboard Youth Euros = 34 entries. (no Youth worlds as the Worlds were in South America)
Obviously South America, Asia and much of Europe are not included.
It's interesting to see the classes that people are actually racing, rather than the classes that get hyped. Roughly totalling the above, we see;
1029 junior hybrid sailors (Techno 293)
625 junior Longboard sailors (assuming 500 T-15 sailors on longboards)
556 Kona One/Windsurfer One sailors (as noted, many probably borrowed boards).
405 FW sailors (an underestimate, one assumes, although the class does not list more than 100 sailors in any country)
320 adult Raceboard sailors (not counting the French as they may be RSX sailors, but assuming 50% of all US Open sailors are raceboarders)
195 adult hybrid sailors (not counting the French RSX/Raceboard sailors)
100 Youth Hybrid sailors (an underestimate as the national rankings are not broken down)
68 FW Youth/Junior
41 FE Youth/Junior (assuming all US FE sailors are Juniors or Youth)
I don't actually personally like the Techno as it doesn't suit local requirements, but it seems to be doing very well so it certainly does work. The Kona One is being heavily promoted which may distort the figures, but then again so are most of the other classes. This list ignores the Raceboard and FW open, masters and womens championships.
