Low speed winds can be annoying for a very simple reason: if the wind isn't strong enough, you're stranded on the beach praying to the gods of wind for the wind to pick up.
High-speed winds can be annoying as well; perhaps bothersome is a better word.
In strong winds, 25 knots and upward, it can be difficult to control your board.
When the wind is strong enough it can turn your board into an airplane wing.
Let me explain what I mean by that.
As the wind flows over the top and bottom of the board, a low-pressure area forms above the board and a high-pressure area forms underneath the board which will result in the board lifting off.
This can occur while you're sailing at planning speed.
What will happen to you? You will spin out.
Things don't have to be that way.
You don't have to wipe out just because the wind is too strong.
To stop your board from taking off, you must make sure that the windward rail isn't higher than the leeward rail; if it is, your board will lift off.
Keep the windward rail lower and the wind will push the board down.
To keep the board in the water during gusts, press your heels down and lift your toes up (while in the foot straps of course).
Again, the wind will push the board down when you do this.
Sailing from point A to point B, then back to point A, may seem like a simple task, but for the novice rider it may seem like a big pain in the unmentionables.
Sure sailing downwind is a breeze, getting from point A to point B is a simple task.
But sailing upwind, from point B back to point A, may prove to be more difficult.
Whether you're going downwind or upwind, always keep your eyes on your target, keep your eyes on the road so to speak.
If you look at your feet, at your boom, and god knows where elsewhere, it can be easy to lose track of your direction.
Pay attention and watch where you're going.
To get going downwind, line your board across the wind.
Raise the clew off the water by tilting the mast upwind to go in a straight line.
The sail will feel light as it comes over the center of the board.
Sheet in gently on the boom to power up, and you are off to point B.
Windsurfing is not hard to learn and it is really fun.
To return to point A, you will have to sail upwind.
The first thing you must do is to lower the clew; to do this you have to tilt the mast away from the wind.
The sail will open slightly when you do this.
While the clew is lowered the board will turn upwind.
Keep turning until you're in the direction you want to go.
Be careful - the sail will loose power and the board will stall if the board goes too far upwind.
Lift the clew up by tilting the mast upwind if you feel the sail is losing power.
When raising the clew you have to pull in gently.
The board will turn away from the wind and will pick up speed when it regains power.
Sailing downwind and upwind is not very difficult.
To get them down perfectly all you have to do is practice.
Learning to sail upwind is a definitive must.
How else can you return to the point you started from? It's not like you will always have the wind behind you.