Beginner windsurf board advice please
ni...@albion-manufacturing.com
I am going to learn to windsurf at my local sailing lake and am going
to buy a board to learn on.
I have heard Starboard Rios recommended and have the chance to buy a
second hand one in small, 235cm 150L.
Given that I weigh approximately 154lb (70kg) and am 5' 8" would this
be a good size?
Also what size sail should I be looking for? I was thinking 5.5m.
Thanks for your help.
nikita
Have you tried it before? Have you taken any lessons? The best idea,
in my mind, is to take lessons and rent equipment for the first few
times you are out there. The learning curve in the beginning
(especially with a decent instructor) is very quick and the board you
would want to buy after sailing once may be very different from the
board you'd want after only 5 times out. Which also means that if you
buy a board right away, you may want to be selling it after a couple
of months. The amount of money you'd lose in such a transaction will
probably be comparable to what you'd pay to rent or take lessons.
There is also a chance you wouldn't like windsurfing and, again, it's
better to find that out on rental equipment.
If you have no opportunities to rent and/or take lessons, buying that
board may be fine for you. It's pretty wide, isn't it?
James
As for the Rio S, it has the right features for a beginner board
(width, center fin, soft deck) but it's a little small. In light
winds you may find that it bogs down and pushes water, and it could be
unstable when you stop to turn around. 200L would be better for your
weight.
5.5 would be a fine sail size for your first couple lessons, but if
you're buying a sail to last for a while you might want to get a 6.5.
6.5 is still a manageable size, but will give you more power to get
around the lake in light winds.
Good luck.
ni...@albion-manufacturing.com
I am hoping to learn myself as the sailing club I belong to does not
offer lessons or rental and is mostly used for dinghy sailing.
I have done a tiny bit of windsurfing with friend tuition.
The board is wide at around 80cm.
nikita
Well, if that's the only road, you should buy a board. It's better to
windsurf than not, even if the path to improvement may be somewhat
more difficult.
150 liters is near the lower limit of "doable" for somebody who has
never windsurfed before. But it's definitely doable if you have any
ambition at all. The conservative approach would be to get a 200L
board, but 150, especially 80cm wide, should work. It will also be a
better board for you if you do get through the first few days and
start enjoying the sailing.
I would recommend that you get someone (like that friend of yours) to
help you the first couple of times out. He/she can help you rig the
sail and set up the kit and also help you find your bearings on the
first couple of days. I would also suggest you get some instructional
video. Personally, I really like "Windsurfing FUNdamentals" by Peter
Hart.
On the sail front, anything in the 5.0-6.5 range will probably do for
learning in light winds. The differences in achievable speeds will be
minimal and a smaller sail is easier to uphaul. Once you get up to the
point of planing, the sail size will be a more critical consideration.
However, if you get hooked, you'll probably end up with a few
different sails anyway, so it almost doesn't matter which one you
start with.
G Wood
news:1189696446.5...@22g2000hsm.googlegroups.com...
beginner level, board size is important to give you a stable platform while
you learn the basics of uphauling the sail and getting the board to go where
you want it to safely. More specifically, a bigger, wider board allows you
to focus on sail handling while not being too concerned about balancing or
sinking on the board all the time.
These elementary sail handling skills usually come fairly quickly if you
have decent coordination and fitness, and of course, time to get out on the
water and practice ;-)
Once you become more adept with sail handling, you will want to go a little
faster or turn around a little quicker. At that point, an extra-large board
may become a handful, and many people wish for a slightly smaller board. So
as you progress with your skills, you would likely move to an "intermediate"
board, which would be a bit smaller and allow for sailing in more wind and
at higher speeds.
This is a simplification, of course, board size is often a reflection of the
sailing venue and preferred sailing style, but it leads me to the (elusive)
point of this posting:
Starting on a smaller board (smaller than a full sized beginner board) can
be a bit frustrating because it will add a bigger balance factor into your
learning curve. However, it might delay or remove the need to move to a
smaller board as your skills increase. The right "first" board for anyone
is a trade-off between these two types of board.
With all that said, if you decide to go with a 150 ltr board to start with,
a lesson or two in basic skills would really help avoid some frustrating
weekends as you get comfortable with it. Even a more experienced sailor
offering a few tips might save you several days of trial and error.
Good luck and have fun
Gary
Ugly Bird
<ni...@albion-manufacturing.com> wrote in message
news:1189696446.5...@22g2000hsm.googlegroups.com...
You should really listen to these guys and do not repeat my roadway. I've
started long time ago and
on a long board learning everything I could myself via a lot of frustration
at harsh conditions.
Last year, after deciding to switch to a shorter board, I asked similar
question here and received very
valuable info that helped me to make a choice. I continued to learn
everything myself though and guess that
with some lessons it could be much less pain.
Also keep in mind that on local (you didn't defined what is local in your
case) lakes the winds might be
mostly shifty and gusty like at my location on the North of NE. With that
you may need additional stability
provided by somewhat larger board. At least 160 L to 200L sounds like a
right volume and 6.0-6.6 a
reasonable sail size. Consider getting EZZY infinity in that range. The sail
is easily tunable for a relatively
broad variety of conditions. That should keep you busy for a while :-)
The Ugly Bird
ni...@albion-manufacturing.com
It's great to have access to such a wealth of knowledge and
experience!
Unfortunately my friend has now embarked on a round the world trip
(not windsurfing!) so will be unable to help, so I'll be relying
mostly on books and videos. I'm glad you recommended FUNdamentals film
as I bought a copy from a charity shop, I'm just hoping our video
recorder still works!
Are there any other instructional DVDs that anyone recommends?
I'll let you know what happens but it sounds like whatever I decide to
do will have it's pros and cons.
Best wishes to you all.
wind.sh@dow
wrote:
I have some advice I haven't see yet:
Take your cell phone to the beach along with phone numbers to a good
dealer and your sail's manufacturer. If you can't rig your sail,
you've got immediate help.
Charles Jutkins
at Sideoff Video . com you can call and get reccomendations from the owner
of sideoff.com
<ni...@albion-manufacturing.com> wrote in message
news:1189782600....@o80g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
ni...@albion-manufacturing.com
AndyNosp...@forteinc.com
>Thanks for that advice guys!
I bought a 130lts Bio Techno Evolution as a first board with a 5m (1.85m
84kg) having tried a friends boards a few times.
Big mistake, I spent so much time in the water I never even managed to hook
in though I could plane away almost immediately (for a few metres until I
fell in)
Gave up and bought a Starboard Rio (205L) and am now having a lot more fun,
able to hook in, concentrate on my stance, tack and maybe soon even gybe.
Basically I am now learning to windsurf instead of just catapult myself in
a straight line (Occasionally)
The Rio is taking a good hammering without showing any sign of wear, built
in nose protector, nice soft deck, IMHO recommended for us beginners.
Hope that helps
Andy