The Big Winds Weblog

It was a great week to be a windsurfer/kiteboarder in the Gorge! After a chilly spring and spotty wind, things cranked up in a big way this past week, with the full range of conditions offered up. After my latest start to the season in memory, I was committed to make up for lost time, [...]

Rider: Daryl Gender: Female Height: 5’2″ Weight: 120 lbs Skill Level: Expert windsurfer Board Tested: 2008 Naish Pro Wave 65L Sails Used: 2008 Naish Session 3.4 – 4.7 Dates: Winter 2008 and Spring 2008 Location: Kanaha, Maui, Hawaii and the Columbia River Gorge Conditions: High-wind wave and swell riding A great board for smaller riders [...]

Rider: Jodie Gender: Female Height: 5’2″ Weight: 115 lbs Skill Level: Advanced windsurfer Board Tested: 2008 Starboard Kombat 79 Wood Sail Used: 2008 Naish Session 4.7 Date: May 27, 2008 Location: Event Site, Columbia River Gorge Conditions: 15-25 mph, flatwater, medium chop, small swell Two nights ago, Jodie had an opportunity to ride the Starboard [...]

Board Tested: 2008 Naish Global Wave 78 Sails Used: 2008 Naish Force 4.2 – 4.7 Dates: Fall 2007, Spring 2008 Location: Columbia River Gorge Conditions: “Fully powered-up to light and funky.” Rider: Steve Gender: Male Height: 5’10″ Weight: 150 lbs Skill Level: Expert windsurfer Steve is a lighter guy than Joe, and he wants to [...]

Board Tested: 2008 Naish Global Wave 78 Sail Used: 2008 Naish All Terrain 4.0 Date: May 6, 2008 Location: Rowena, Columbia River Gorge Conditions: 26-39 mph winds, swell riding Rider: Joe Gender: Male Height: 6’2″ Weight: 185 lbs Skill Level: Expert windsurfer Joe tested the 2008 Naish Global Wave 78 the other day, and I [...]

Board Tested: 2008 Naish 10’6″ Stand Up Paddle Used: 80″ Werner Spanker Dates: May, 2008 Location: Event Site, Columbia River Gorge Paddling Conditions: glassy flatwater, and 10-15 mph wind chop Windsurfing Conditions: swell riding in 10-30 mph winds, 4.7 meter sail Rider: David Gender: Male Height: 6’0″ Weight: 170 lbs Skill Level: Expert stand up [...]

Board Tested: 2008 Naish All Terrain 95 Sail Used: 2008 Naish All Terrain 5.0 Fin Used: Stock Naish All Terrain 28 cm fin Date: May 5, 2008 Location: Rowena, Columbia River Gorge Conditions: 8-21 mph winds, swell riding (marginal conditions) Rider: Joe Gender: Male Height: 6’2″ Weight: 185 lbs Skill Level: Expert windsurfer Joe is [...]

It’s no secret that baggage handlers can be rather unforgiving when it comes to the proper care and feeding of your precious windsurf board. International travel can be an especially trying endeavor, and it’s wise to do everything in your power to give your gear the upper hand in any mistreatment scenario. Sailing a remote [...]

We love helping people find the best gear for their needs, and we know that shopping for a rig can be an overwhelming experience. For instance, in our current 2008 lineup we have more than 30 types of boards from six manufacturers. Each of those 30 boards includes numerous sizes and constructions, such that we [...]

Board Tested: 2008 Aquaglide Amundson 11’3″ Stand Up Paddle Used: 80″ Werner Spanker Dates: Winter/Spring 2008 Location: Baja California Sur, Sea of Cortez Conditions: Surf, small wind chop, and lightwind windsurfing Rider: David Gender: Male Height: 6’0″ Weight: 170 lbs Skill Level: Expert stand up paddler, expert windsurfer, expert kiteboarder In small on-shore wind chop, [...]

Every summer in Hood River, Windfest proves to be the ultimate opportunity for visiting the Gorge and trying out the latest technology in windsurfing. With free clinics and lessons, anyone from beginner to advanced can swing by and have some fun! Last year, even Robby Naish himself couldn’t resist the pull of Windfest! Windfest takes [...]

One of the advantages of being located in Hood River is that many of the windsport distributors for all of North America are located right here on our doorstep. Thanks to this incredible proximity we now have the 2008 Mistral Pacifico Wave in our hands, before anyone else has even had a chance to see [...]

While we still have some of our closeout Naish sails left, the big news today is that we have now acquired a number of beautiful 2007 sails from Neil Pryde! We’ve slashed the prices on these guys by $200 or more, which means you can now pick a new Neil Pryde sail for as little [...]

The trees are budding, the snow is melting and the Hood River is flowing strong, and as a result we’re suffering from an extreme case of spring fever over here at Big Winds! We know you want to hit the water as much as we do, which is why we’ve slashed up to $600 off [...]

Big Winds has teamed up with O’Neill to bring back the FLX smoothskin wetsuit! The FLX is the most popular wetsuit we’ve seen in the last decade, and it’s built from super-stretchy wind-blocking neoprene. O’Neill stopped official production of the FLX wetsuit a few years ago, but for 2008 we partnered with them to build [...]

Big Winds is now stocked with the hottest 2008 gear from Dakine! We carry their full lineup of windsurfing products, from harnesses to travel bags to accessories, and this year it all looks as beautiful as ever. Not only that, we’re offering free shipping on all Dakine orders over $100. Some restrictions apply, but they’re [...]

Phew! It’s taken us awhile to recover from another whirlwind summer here in Hood River, but it looks like we’ve finally gotten our wits back amongst us. Thusly armed with such concentration and a laser-like focus, we’ve now added our entire 2007 windsurfing demo fleet to our website. This used gear saw one season of [...]

Thanksgiving may be more than a month away for most of us, but fortunately Canadian Thanksgiving happened just yesterday! In celebrating with our kind neighbors to the north, we’d like to share some of our holiday revelries with all of you. We just couldn’t wait! Right now, our entire selection of 2007 windsurf boards, windsurf [...]

Midwest, East Coast, a vacation to Hawaii, or three months in Baja… no matter where you are or where you’re going, you need sails! And we’ve got good news because our entire stock of 2007 windsurfing sails are currently 20-30% off, which means you can save up to $200 per sail. That’s $200 you can [...]

Geez, is it August already? In two weeks it seems our season here in the Gorge will start wrapping up, but that’s just in time for those of you in the Midwest and on the East Coast to get your autumn blast! And hey, you might be planning a windsurfing trip this winter, or maybe [...]