In the late 70’s and early 80’s, windsurfing became popular in Maui, the Columbia River Gorge and also on the Bay around Berkeley and San Francisco. These areas became focal points for the sport. Berkeley was the perfect place to learn windsurfing skills and to test and develop equipment.
Left to right: Ben Bamer, Mike Percey, Dave Hop testing the Hansen “flex panel” sail at Treasure Island.
Performance Windsails Return to Bay Roots
By Jane Morson
Published: October, 2006
In 1982, Bill Hansen, a UC Berkeley research physicist, pilot and dedicated sailboat-racing champion, embraced the sport as an escape from the rigors of yacht sailing.
Hansen’s interest was sails and rigs and, with a lifelong technical knowledge of aerodynamics, he challenged the conventional with high-aspect, fully battened sails made on a hobbyist basis in a small backroom workspace at 1803 Eastshore Highway (directly across 1-80 from Berkeley Marina). Interest grew in the new rig style. Windsurfing notables such as Bard Chrisman, Jim J. D. Davis, Larry Herbig, Kevin Mitchell and Steve Sylvester took note. And Hansen, along with Phil Scott (windsurfer, rock climber, tent designer for North Face and Sierra Design), created a business.
Scott, being very busy in the mountaineering industry, had little free-time to devote to the new venture, so Hansen teamed with local sail maker and sailor, Bill Sistek and founded Windwing Designs, Inc., in 1983 with the purpose of building high-performance windsurfing sails.
Windwing grew rapidly and became the largest producer of windsurfing sails in North America, making an average of 120 sails a week during peak production.
By the late 80’s and early 90’s, the sport was entirely mainstream, internationally. Low production costs from major companies in China and Sri Lanka pushed production abroad, too. Smaller custom lofts struggled for survival but one-by-one they folded. Windwing survived, though by the mid-90’s the cost of USA production became unprofitable. Hansen, then the major owner of Windwing, moved the business to Hood River, OR in the Columbia River Gorge, a popular high-wind, windsurfing destination resort.
Birth of Hansen Sails
In December 2005, Hansen and Windwing parted ways, leaving a dedicated group without a company to further its design program for race and performance sails. So, Hansen got together with Mike Percey, Devon Boulon and Doug Beaman. These friends, committed to the sport of windsurfing and a dream to produce sails that would be, Wind Motivated – Performance Orientated – Quality Driven, formed Hansen Sails.
Things have come full-circle in 2006, with the former founder of Windwing Sails back to the San Francisco Bay Area to design and produce sails. A dream has come true for the people involved with this young company — to forge new ideas to make the sport of windsurfing the highest expression of performance sailing. And, they have the best test area in the world right on their doorstep.
Almost any day of the week when the wind blows, this team is testing Hansen products, launching from locations such as Berkeley, Treasure Island, or Crissy Fields. If you are out on the Bay, you just might be lucky enough to see the team whizzing past, as they test their formula windsurfing equipment.
The Berkeley Boys are back at it again with hands-on experimentation of a new idea unheard of in the sailing world, the Flex Panel. Performance sailing has returned home to the San Francisco Bay.
