“There’s nothing stopping individuals either, who windsurf in the same area regularly, to set up a group, posting where and when they are sailing. This could encourage others to sign up and go out with them. Remember from a single person a new group/community can be formed”, continued Gillian.
One of the really interesting features of the site is the fact that fledgling groups who don’t yet have their own website can actually use a templating tool allowing them to create their own website and in a way forge their own identity within the Project Windsurf-UK website. This provides the potential for new groups to have a lot of fun.
Project Windsurf-UK was launched at the National Windsurf Festival in September and has made a very strong start. There already over 50 groups, 1,000 members and a plethora of blogs, pictures and footage up on the site.
What sets the Project Windsurf-UK website apart from other online websites/forums is that is group based encouraging windsurfers in to local groups or communities to chat online. This online chat then translates in to on water action as part of the same group, while at the same time allows chat across groups and with other windsurfers around the country. The beauty of this means that if you live in one part of the country, for example the North East, and you want to go on holiday windsurfing in the South West, you can chat with a group in the area before you go, find out the best places for given conditions and have a few new friends to go windsurfing with when you get there; making it a whole lot more social.
One club to discover the benefits of the project are Queen Mary Sailing club who have set up a profile to engage with their own members as well as communicating with other local windsurfers.
“We are really looking forward to using Project Windsurf-UK to publicise our trips to the coast and hopefully gain a few of extra members. It’s a fantastic way for us to put our club on the map and to reach other local windsurfers” said Mike Fairrie club windsurfing captain.
Ian Round from Southampton Water Raceboard Association agrees that the project helps him to communicate with local windsurfers: “I think Project Windsurf-UK is a great success. I would never have reached as many people without it!”
Basically, this is a great social tool for the windsurfing community, which is completely free to use and the more people who sign up to it, the better it will be.
So how do you get involved? It couldn’t be easier; go to www.projectwindsurfuk.org.uk and click on register. If you want to get your club online, you’ll need to register yourself and then the website talks you through the process step by step.
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