Hi All

I am new to the forum but am certainly having fun reading the oldest and latest threads. Its all very educating for a newbie like me. A lot of the information appears to be very subjective and I would image confusing for other newbies around the country.

Someone needs to write a small modern book that is objective and injects some transparency and clarity into the science of the gear used in this sport. (JMTCW)

Anyway I started windsurfing this summer using some old gear and am now looking at buying a proper rig. I have a Starboard Go and am having a ball being a freerider. I came across this the other day and would like peoples expert opinion of the deals on offer. Are the rig packages good value or are they just so-so / rubbish

Obviously my knowledge is not great nor is my budget. I look forward to your comments................Thanks

http://bicsport.quivers.biz/m?c=14699/RigPackage

I think these sort or rig deals are fine for the occasional user. However, if you want to progress to more advanced windsurfing, I think you would be better off buying components from a name brand.

My recommendation is think about the sail sizes you are interested in and contact a few shops (either directly or on-line) to ask what sort of deal they can put together. Alternatively, there are plenty of bargains in the buy & sell section Seabreeze but this will require a bit more knowledge to work out the gear.

Those one design 6.8mtr rigs are a genuine bargain at that price the only reason they are so cheap is the graphics have changed on the latest ones.
They are the youth race sail and are very durable and tuneable. Fine for free ride or slalom or course racing. 10000 youth sailors use them and plenty of adults as well. I know one very knowledgeable and experienced windsurfer who bought two recently and couldn't believe the value.
In terms of a name brand BiC are one of the oldest in tne industry and currently enjoy the largest one design fleet in the world.

The 5m at $720 is definitely cheap if the size is not too small for you.I tried the 7.8 in 15 knts on a 110L starboard slalom board last time and it was all right.

The 5.8 should be good as well for freeriding in 20 knts if you are not too heavy.

Hi LMO, like you, I only started windsurfing last November so only have one summer under my belt but my mentors have made sure I have learned heaps. Agreed, most rig and sail information available is very subjective. My most objective rig advice so far has come from a guy in my local windsurf shop. He reckons if it looks good when you rig it, it'll be fine unless your a racer chasing those extra 10ths of a second per km. We rigged a 2nd hand sail he was selling on my 490 mast when it was supposed to be on a 460 with a 30 extension, anyway it rigged fine with the right downhaul/outhaul and sails great.

Those Techno and One Design rigs will be pretty good I reckon but you'll get way better bang for your buck buying something second hand. Match the IMCS rating of a mast with what the sail is supposed to have and you won't go wrong. I initially rig sails using the manufacturer's downhaul/outhaul settings but then move it around from there to get the sail looking how I want it to look (again my mentors have helped me heaps with showing me what to look for when rigging a sail). I've steered clear of cambered sails too at this stage of my learning so I don't have to mess around as much when rigging up and I don't have to lift 10kg of water when I'm uphauling.

Don't be afraid to buy second hand from a good shop either, they'll give great rigging advice if you get the right salesman.

Bic is a reputable brand I have used and can recommend them.
The rig deals are very good value. Particularly the ones on Special.
For beginner/intermediate, You won't go far wrong with one of these.

There is plenty of other second hand gear in the Buy and Sell section if you want to try to do better on price.
At lease the Rig pack gives you a reference point to compare with.

I picked up a bic 8.5 sail to use as a highwind sail for raceboard class.Cost me $399, rigs up well, for sail that wont get a heap of use I think its money well spent

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Paddles B'mere said..
... Match the IMCS rating of a mast with what the sail is supposed to have and you won't go wrong. ...

Actually the bend curve is just as important and masts aren't reliably marked for curve. If the sail is camless you have a bit more leeway for error than if you are dealing with cams.

The most important thing is to avoid using a hard top mast (Gaastra, Maui Sails) in a sail made for a flex top mast (Neil Pryde) and vice versa.
In most cases you can get away with a slight mismatch but it's not uncommon to have rotation problems if the mast is either too stiff in the bottom or too fat, and if it's too soft in the bottom you wont be able to set it with proper draft and loose leach.

Check the Unifiber compatibility chart if in doubt. www.unifiber.net/masts-selector

Yep NotWal, that's one of the things the guy at the shop showed me to look out for, if the mast bend isn't right it pushes the mast out tight towards the front of the luff pocket when the sail is downhauled and it doesn't rotate properly. I guess the point I was trying to make to LMO is that if you can learn a few basic things to look for when rigging a sail (luckily my mentors and the shop guy have showed me a couple of things) you can get away with mixing and matching a bit if you aren't looking for the absolute best possible performance from a rig and you can't afford new matching sails/rigs.

Package deals are great price-wise...if you're a little guy (<90kgs). I was a late starter and purchased a complete rig/board deal from a Melbourne shop. The board (JP Xcite Ride 165) and sail (Gaastra GTX 7.5) were great, however the mast & boom only lasted until I got into a harness and began to push my limits. A year after beginning, I snapped my mast - had it replaced under warranty (thanks to the support at the shop), 6 months later I snapped the boom and the new mast within a month so began to look at stronger options.

It took me a few (expensive) lessons of breaking gear before I realised that the cheapest is not necessarily the best option. My last boom was new from the shop (Chinook Alloy) and is great, whilst my masts are used Ezzy RDMs (can't afford/justify new).

I'm sure that a 50-80kg person would get great value from buying complete rigs, however if you're a big guy/gal - buy gear that is a little more robust.

Hi LMO,

Take a look at Windance Board shop. They have a great webpage on used windsurfing equipment at great prices. They rate their gear on an A, B, C quality basis. They get a lot of their gear from clinics held around the world, and that usually means great used prices on practically new gear. I have purchased many items from them. They are located in Hood River Oregon. They will ship merchandise to you as well. Give them a call as well. They will be helpful to you.

Good luck, this sport is mega fun and addicting as well!!