Windsurfing Hong Kong

The quiet golden achiever

Olympic gold medallist Tom Ashley's blue eyes trace the edge of the table back to an empty bottle of apple juice he has long since finished drinking.

The long fingers of his right hand rise up to meet his forehead. He runs those fingers across his brow and stares down at that bottle for a second more, before looking up and leaning forward.

Ashley, the reigning Olympic boardsailing champion, looks uncomfortable sitting in Devonport's Vauxhall Cafe. Geez, the guy looks almost pained.

Ashley has been thinking about that day in Beijing, August 20, 2008; the day he became the 36th Kiwi to get a Olympic gold medal slung around his neck.

"For the time immediately afterwards, even until quite recently, I couldn't actually think of it," he says, eyes focused straight ahead.

"I didn't enjoy thinking of it. It was pretty stressful and my overwhelming emotion afterwards was just relief, that nothing had gone wrong.

"So afterwards it wasn't a great joy, it was more like, `sh--, thank god it's over'. I still don't think about it that much."

Ashley is anonymous, pretty much ignored in the quiet North Shore cafe.

It's typical for a man who popped up, at the age of 24, won an Olympic gold, and fell back, almost seamlessly into life, a feat rare among Kiwi Olympic indivi-dual gold medallists.

The 27-year-old's discomfort talking about his 2008 victory is not surprising if you know him; a polite, almost quiet man who oozes intensity. As 2008 coach Grant Beck – who has coached seven Kiwi sailors to Olympic medals – says, Ashley's an "an unbelievable intellect and very, very, very intense".

It's an attribute as evident as his towering height, his receding hairline or his slightly lazy left eye.

He's an athlete driven not by the feeling of winning or of standing the highest on the podium, but by the processes that get him there, the confidence a perfect preparation gives him.

The location of his Olympic gold – "somewhere in a draw in our house, I don't know" – underlines how Ashley views sport, and life.

"If it wasn't, winning in Beijing would have felt a lot differently I guess," he says.

"People talk a lot in sport about mental strength and being able to deal with pressure and confidence and all of these things. That's psychology.

"For me, I get mental strength and confidence when I know I've prepared perfectly.

"When I've done everything I possibly could have done. If something's gone wrong in preparation, I can't get the confidence, and I can't talk myself into being mentally strong.

Buying Windsurfing Equipments and Gear

Windsurfing as a sport has witnessed great ups and downs throughout its history. Although it gained great popularity in the 1980s, people shied away from windsurfing during the 90s. This was mainly because it started involving increasingly complex equipments for practice. However, over the past few years windsurfing has again caught the attention of people worldwide. This is primarily due to the development of a range of user-friendly surfing equipments and gear.

Guide for Buying Windsurfing Equipments and Gear

The market now is flooded with windsurfing equipments and gear of different specifications and different makes.

Hence it becomes critical to choose the right windsurfing ensemble that suits your requirements and windsurfing conditions. Some of the basic tips to keep in mind while buying windsurfing gear and equipments are as follows: Your performance as a windsurfer greatly depends upon the type of equipment you choose. Beginners can get confused with the complexities of the equipments. Hence, it is always recommended to seek the help of an experienced windsurfer while making a purchase. While buying online, read the product details carefully to check whether they suit your requirements. Making a wrong choice can severely hamper your learning curve. To make the right choice, it is always a good idea to buy your first kit in a proper windsurfing store near you. Beginners can buy board that would last them even as they progress to the intermediate level of windsurfing. Hiring a windsurfing kit is a good idea if you want to indulge in windsurfing only on a recreational basis. Also, practicing windsurfing on rental equipment can give you a fair idea about your requirements, thereby making your purchase process much easier.

Keeping these few tips in mind can make shopping for windsurfing equipments and gear much easier and rewarding.

www.rsxclass.com – The RS was designed and produced by Neil Pryde Windsurfing in Hong Kong and selected by ISAF as the equipment to be used in the men’s windsurfing and women’s windsurfing events in the Olympic Sailing Regatta in 2008 and again in 2012. Neil Pryde supplies equipment to the Olympic Regatta and the ISAF Youth World Championhips.

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