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DO IT STANDING UP: BOARDSAILING FOR BEGINNERS.

Gould, Bill.

Kanata (Ont.), Epix Electronic Publishing. 1988. 112pp. paper, $15.00, ISBN 0-921246-01-3. Distributed by P.J. Koss. 42 Largo Crescent, Nepean. Ont. K2C 3C7.

Grades 9 and up
Reviewed by Fred Leicester

Volume 16 Number 6
1988 November


Anyone who is contemplating taking up the sport of boardsailing (a.k.a. windsurfing a.k.a. sailboarding) or who has recently bought a sailboard but is spending as much time swimming as sailing should read this book.

Author Bill Gould, a qualified boardsail instructor with the Canadian Yachting Association since 1982, set out to write a concise, easy-to-follow book for beginning boardsailors, a book concentrating on the problems typically faced by those new to the sport. He has succeeded admirably in this purpose.

The page lay-out is clean and uncluttered and the text is easy to read. Eight diagrams and numerous crisp black-and-white photographs illustrate techniques and key concepts. The book is arranged in three parts, with each part logically subdivided. Under "Preparation" one learns the nomenclature of sailboarding, what to wear, rigging the board and launching, among other things; in part B one learns about rope turns, backhand and fronthand sailing methods, stopping and turning; part C gives advice on sailing upwind and downwind, steering, self-rescue and traffic laws.

The novice boardsailor, upon reading this book, will thus be armed with all the theoretical knowledge necessary to rig the board and go sailing. Apart from the few grammatical errors and the dubious main title, my only real complaint is with the binding. This reviewer's copy fell to pieces after only one reading. This is a pity because this is the best boardsailing book for beginners that the reviewer has seen in bookshops to date.


Fred Leicester, Golden School District, Golden, B.C.
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