Just started in this great sport and looking for entry level board

if any one has any recommendations anything would be great.

like every thing in life , $ money has a huge part in what i want to buy follow by ease of use and some thing that i can use for a while without out growing

i have had a look at SUP with sail and open to any ideas but would be using 90% to sail - not to paddle


Originally i was looking at starboard "start" but have been told then it better to get a starboard " Go"

have been told / research the following boards -

1. Starboard Go 155 ltr package ready to hit the water can be arranged for $2600.
2. Fanatic Viper 85 220 ltrs + Fanatic 5.5m kit complete for $2384.
3. Starboard Go 151L or 171L + Starboard Super 5.5m2 or 6.5m2: $2244
4.JP Funster 160L or 180L - Np Fusion 5.5m2 $3050 or North Natural 2011, 5.8m2 $3000

As a beginner, any of the above will be fine and you will not notice any difference worth caring about.

But you can get that down considerably as you can't break a Starboard Go for example. A secondhand one will be just fine.
If you have the money, new sail, mast, boom, extension and base is a good idea as you will still use it once you move to a smaller board.

be interested to know what sail etc is with the Starboard package though, if cheaper it may be a real ordinary sail that you won't want to use in 1-2 yrs time?

quality wise , are the starboard more bulletproof ?

i have been looking for a 2ndhand one but finding a lot of eBay stuff is like from 80's and is worst then my alpha board

i am thinking of buying new so i can learn faster ( my current board it taking ages to learn as it so unstable and old )

PS . when i say learning i am talking about 2 hours with a school ( was able to stand)
and a few day at home on a $50 sailboard deal of ebay ( lucky to hold the sail for 2 min) ..... i am a complete NOOB :)

Gday Billy,

I too have just started windsurfing.Ive been lucky as far as gear goes.One of the guys from this forum(Jerry your a legend) was generous enough to give me a ezzy 5.2 sail then I got an old board from a guy who runs a windsurfing school (thanks Mark) .Its a F2 pheniox 195lt which is good to float my 100kg's.I also got a 2nd hand mast for $200,mast base and extention for $50.I have 3 x SUP's and was thinking about wacking a sail track into one of these to get me going,but from the good advise from here decided not to do that.My undrstanding is that SUP's will have to much bottom curve,rails are all wrong and it woul only be good in light winds.
Have you tried to get an old board from a windsurfing school? as I feel like this old board was perfect to get me up and learning the basics,but after about 15-20 sessions am thinking I need to go to a short board of less volume.Hope this helps you as much as the great advice I have been given from the guys on here who really know their sh%t

Welcome to the world of sailboarding

Being a learner myself I can give you this tip. Don't buy a new beggingers type of board, unless you plan to hang onto it for quite a few years. Basically you should outgrow it pretty quick (like in months) and then if you go to sell it it wil be worth 1/3 the new cost. Try to find a second hand outfit that's around 150 lt to 200 lts, and is fairly wide. I've seen a few on Ebay recently from around a grand. Better than spending three! Save the rest for the next board.

Anyway, there's plenty of folks on here with loads of knowledge, I'm sure you'll get some helpful tips.

Enjoy the journey

Hi billy im begginer myself first time on forum. I bought a second hand go 155 in december and as a begginer have found this board great for learning quickly. great for getting up on the plane stable enough to uphaul and fun for just blasting around the bay have not regretted the purchase.

If you do go new, check out the rigs that let you use one mast for all sails.... could be Severne? 430 mast that can rig large sails and small sails....

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DASZIP said...

Hi billy im begginer myself first time on forum. I bought a second hand go 155 in december and as a begginer have found this board great for learning quickly. great for getting up on the plane stable enough to uphaul and fun for just blasting around the bay have not regretted the purchase.

If you can find a 2nd hand GO you will be lucky but then if you want to sell it will be easy. The bigger ones are always in demand. They arent slow either with the correct sails and fin.

If your looking to buy new check out www.sunshinecoastsailboards.com.au and have a look at their board specials they have listed a 2010 starboard go 155 tufskin for $1079.00 wish id saw that before i paid the same second hand but still am having a lot off fun with it and hard to put a price on that.

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DASZIP said...

If your looking to buy new check out www.sunshinecoastsailboards.com.au and have a look at their board specials they have listed a 2010 starboard go 155 tufskin for $1079.00 wish id saw that before i paid the same second hand but still am having a lot off fun with it and hard to put a price on that.

Look great but what rig should i get with it

It depends - are you a teenager who surfs Jaws, lives by the beach, has a trust funso you can sail 24/7 and have ambitions to win the World Cup in 7 years?

Or are you a father of 16, living in Woop Woop and only able to get out sailing on a farm dam for 10 minutes a month, just to chill?

The answer will affect the board you need. For example, I'm in inner-west Sydney and I'm pretty short of windsurfing time and it's not very flexible (because I have a family, do other sports and have other passions). Therefore I sail longboards and basically no longer use my shortboards, because I'm not going to spend my time hacking through traffic for 45 minutes to get to an area where the shortboards work well. I'd rather sail 2ks away and have the fun and challenge of racing my friends.

If you live down at Gerroa and have flexible time, your situation would be so different that the ideal board would be different.

So to get good information from us, you'll have to give us some more information about what you want out of the sport and the time and place you can do it.

Starts etc can be great or they can be slow and hard to sail. Slalom boards can be great, or they can be slow and very hard to sail. Same with longboards. It just depends on where you are and what you are doing.

PS - I don't know what Alpha you have, but unless it's tiny you should be able to stand and sail within minutes and tack and gybe within a couple of hours, if the wind is right. We use old-style boards for training and where we are, they are fine; actually they are markedly better than Go-types (but the Gos are better in other situations).

If you're having trouble then something may be wrong with the sail (more of a problem than the board IMHO) or where or how you are learning, rather than the board.

i have notice every one say the "go " is the go , and not the "starts"

are the starts really that bad.

from my Ebay 80's sailboard i currently have
2 fiber glass mass 450 , 440
2 sail , 1 the plastic clear coat stuff is starting to come off the , and the other is ok

if some one can help with with the maths i think there 4.5m2
4500X3500X200

2 booms - they are the old and i have to loop the rope around to the mask and sail ( not clips)






could any of this gear be useful if i get the new board ?

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billyboy402 said...

could any of this gear be useful if i get the new board ?

Better than nothing, that's what most of us learned on, but a newer rig (boom, mast, sail) even ten years old, will be sooo much better.
The boom will be so much more stable and adjustable to the size of the sail, and the boom cutout will be at a more ergonomic height. Sail handling - so much more stable.
You can probably pick up a ten year old rig in good condition for a couple of hundred $ (or less?)

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Chris 249 said...

It depends - are you a teenager who surfs Jaws, lives by the beach, has a trust funso you can sail 24/7 and have ambitions to win the World Cup in 7 years?

Or are you a father of 16, living in Woop Woop and only able to get out sailing on a farm dam for 10 minutes a month, just to chill?

Neither , self employed 25 year with no kids ( too much time on my hands better to surf/sail then to spend $) 100kg , long jetty 2261 so i have the huge lake system 5 min to the west or any of the 15 beach wthin 10 min drive to the east

i have sail laser and hobbies for 5 years but want to get to the stage of wave sailing

my current board is sooo old there no sticker or paint left


it 3640 X 690 i can stand on it but is shake and rock and roll ( without sail) and also has a sliding dagga board and 200 fin on the back

i can see it has foot strap holes with plastic cover
-only readable paint is "alpha 230 A"

As a begginer to windsurfing the best advice i can give is to get into your local surf shop. I checked out seabreeze every day for months , but i couldn't decide what to get till i actually spoke to a fellow windsurfer face to face and handled the boards and sails in real life. Turned out what i thought i wanted was not right for a begginer and possibly i wouldve hated windsurfing before id really got into it.

Hi, everyone has told you what to get, im going to tell you my personal experience.
I learn on a 155l starboard go. i weight 60kg. Great bored, very easy to learn on and very tough. But you might want to look into borrowing one or something like that. I doesn't take long to get to the point when you can more to a more advanced board. Took me a month (give or take) and now im on a 90L board. Don't waste $3000 on a begginners board.
happy sailing

It really does depend on which direction you want to take your windsurfing. For the sailing my mates and i do a big board is great. My 155l with 6.6 race sail blasts past my mates with their smaller boards and seven metre sails in 30 to 35 km winds but stronger than i start to struggle and need to downsize sails. now my mates want bigger boards and theyve been at it longer tahn i have. It really isnt an easy choice for a begginer and can get expensive. but it s well worth it

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Aussiex said...


I learn on a 155l starboard go. i weight 60kg.
happy sailing

i am 100kg before breakfast so should i get the 175 :(

I have a JP Funster 160lt (I am 80kg) I have been learning on for a year now, I also have a smaller JP board 120lt. I will never sell the Funster as its so easy to sail also great for light cond.
Go the 175 plus.

not sure where you are located, but SHQ in Sandringham were selling off some of their JP learner boards. That one you have pictured looks too skinny for your size(weight) and status(beginner). There are good deals on Seabreeze on the JP funsters. Your weight plus 75 or so litres was what I was told recently.

As every thing made in china now, are there any good cheap chiness brands ,
I never buy billabong shoes when Kmart have $30 buck runner

just seam like starboard , jp , are the roll royce of windsurfing

Call the stores and speak with them about your needs.

You should be able to get a complete new beginners kit for about 2K. (sail boom mast board extension and uni) It works out at about 1K for the rig and 1K for the board.

If you are going to spend the money spend it on the stuff you want to keep rather than the stuff you will grow out of, and this will be mostly associated with the rig, because a smaller sail to learn may become a great strong wind sail down the track.

The board you will grow out of but if you get it with enough volume you will sell it to the next guy for just about the same money. Then you can get something you really want.

That stuff that you got on ebay, may be cheap but you may as well throw it away or resell it. Its no good if you really want to progress, becuase todays gear is so much better and easier to use. Been there done that.

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littlefeet said...

not sure where you are located, but SHQ in Sandringham were selling off some of their JP learner boards. That one you have pictured looks too skinny for your size(weight) and status(beginner). There are good deals on Seabreeze on the JP funsters. Your weight plus 75 or so litres was what I was told recently.

Good tip to remember weight + 75
Thx

How does the fanatic viper have 220l were most over have 170

There all around the same size


Would this mean I would be standing higher on the water

The bigger board will make learning easier. Basically it will give you more room for error incase your weight is in the wrong position or you don't have the sail correctly trimmed for example. So you will spend more time on the board and less in the water.

There is a friendly crew of windsurfers who sail at Canton Beach in westerliy and southerly winds. It is a beginner friendly place with shallow water and consistent wind. The windsurfers will be able to give advice and may have decent second hand equipment they want to sell for a reasonable price. However weed is a real issue there. Upright fins don't work there.

My wife has a RRD Easyrider Large which is an example of a beginner board. It's pretty easy to windsurf. Keeping upwind and getting forward momentum is very easy on this board as it has a fixed centerboard. Keeping upwind and going forward, not sideways is a challenge for new windsurfers. I don't mind sailing it in lighter winds as it's fun to do light wind freestyle.

Your Alpha doesn't look too bad. Perhaps you could keep the board and invest in a better rig to make sailing easier, especially the boom. Of course it all depends on your budget.

I started out on the Viper 80, At 190L it was more than enough float for me at 90kgs. It was a good board that helped me progress quickly, I only needed it for one season before upgrading to a fanatic shark 145L. I was able to sell it and get most of my money back to buy my next board, I really wish I'd kept it now for a light wind cruiser/teach the family board. Brands are just down to personal preference, See if you can get to some demo days to try some beginners kit and see what you like. You will need a number of sails, you will get away with 1 but 2 or three will expand your time on water without getting punished or just bobbing around. I had a 5.0, 5.8 and 6.7 all of which only required 1 mast and boom. I ride JP, Fanatic and customs all of which have good and bad points. Overall I really like the Fanatics for comfort and performance, the Vipers a good choice.

Good luck with it all.

welcome to your new obsession.

my mate is 100kegs and sails a 155lt Starboard Go. he's been on it for a season and a half now. he takes out either a 6.7m or a 7.2m sail with it and can ride it comfortably in any winds up to the low twenties. only when the water state really chops up does he have problems with the board.

it's a good board to learn on, absolutely bombproof and the softer deck is kind on beginners.

completely agree with the other posts about not buying it new if you can find a second-hander.

good luck mate - keep us posted.

some one told me that if i get a fusion pack i can future proof myself for new sail later
told me that i can get sail from 4.9 up to 7.2 so later i would only need to upgrade sail and board only


Do any other pack offer have the same befits ?
does this limit me to only buying fusion brand sail or do all sail fit on any mast ?

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littlefeet said...

not sure where you are located, but SHQ in Sandringham were selling off some of their JP learner boards. That one you have pictured looks too skinny for your size(weight) and status(beginner). There are good deals on Seabreeze on the JP funsters. Your weight plus 75 or so litres was what I was told recently.

there none left , how long ago did you hear this

I am 95kg and 198cm and learnt on a 135 litre fanatic Shark. I had done two lessons on big boards in light winds. When I started I wished the board was bigger but now I have progressed I am happy with the board.

I am not very good at balance sports, skate boarding etc. So if you can skate or surf etc you have an advantage over me. Dont go too big on the board. 150 litre will be plenty. Dont go too small in the sails either. I have a 6 and 7.5 but am looking for something bigger. Light wind sailing with less waves is easier to learn.

And I recommend a seat harnes when you get around to harneses. Other people say waist harness but I struggles to get my feat in the straps for ages with a waist harness, switched to a seat harness and one the 2nd day had it sorted.

Don't be afraid of moving to a harness. It makes it easier to learn.

I would get yourself a decent modern rig, it will make learning much easier and it's something you can hang on to as you progress. Something like a 6 to 7m free ride camless sail to start with (you have the weight to handle a bigger sail). Most of the gear in the last 5 or 6 years is pretty good.

For boards, bigger is better to start with. If you get a wide modern free ride board like a GO, JP, Fanatic, 150-200L it will make learning quicker and you can sell it as you progress (you wont lose much) or keep it as a light air cruiser.

You mention you're young and have plenty of time so I think that with the real learner boards, start / funster you will grow out of quickly as they are very learner and sub planing oriented.

Best bet maybe to go to a store with a lot of used gear, eg. WSS, in Sydney is not far from cental coast. Get them to recommend a used package for you and then rent it for a couple of weekends and see how you go. Maybe you could talk them into converting your rental cost towards a purchase.