About #H
About The Author
Send questions or comments to Scott Haas
The first question I get asked by the non-windsurfing people is how long have I been windsurfing. Now days I cringe at answering that question as it’s been more than two decades ago since I first stepped on a board. My first board was an O’Brien Sensation in 1986. In 1989 I bought my first race board a Mistral Equipe and never looked back. Probably my best year of racing was in 1993 when I placed 3rd nationally in the National Tudor Mistral Series Master’s Class competing in eighteen events that year. Now I’m heading into a second life after the day job and will be getting in top shape, giving lessons, selling a bit of equipment and hopefully winning races consistently again!
My day job of 30 years involved maintaining computer servers and server applications and in the early 90′s I started working with Web servers. It was in 1993 I started Amoka Windsurfing with a Web site. I never had a desire to stand behind a counter or by a phone all day long thus I decided long ago my little windsurf venture would always be a hobby business.
In 2002 I became a US Sailing Certified Level I Windsurfing Instructor. That was the best thing windsurfing wise I ever did. Since then I’ve given around two dozen lessons a year which translates into about one hundred and twenty lessons. 2007 was the first year I was able to give lessons during week days which has worked out well. Being retired from the day job I’m now attending more windsurf racing events which of course cancels out giving lessons on the weekends. But luckily around the North Coast there are not many events scheduled during July and August as the winds are not so great that time of year. But for giving lessons low winds are just the ticket.
2007 Calema Mid-Winters – Racing the Prodigy
In 2006 I finally sold my old longboard and purchased a new Prodigy. My only regret is that I had not bought a Prodigy four years earlier. The Prodigy is so stable you just can’t fall off it and it’s really a fun board to race on. The Prodigy is giving me more fun time on the water enabling me to enjoy windsurfing again even in marginal wind conditions. I’m very into promoting Prodigy One Design racing. Much of the WTNC blog will be about racing so hook in and hang on!
In 2010 I decided to scale back the windsurfing business by eliminating the my windsurfing lesson service. I’ll still be dealing in some gear but as time progresses I’ll probably be dealing only Hybrid type boards. My lesson trailer is converting back to a regular windsurfing trailer starting the 2010 season. This will allow me to carry demo boards and used gear to the beach I’m looking to sell.
Scott US-H ”Searching for the Amoka gust”