With all the modern day gear how long does it take to learn the basics like gybing ect. ? and what type of wind ranges do you get out of your sails. Thanks for any constructive info , would love to have a crack at wave sailing one day

Took me about 40-50 sessions to get the gybe down well with confidence. That's one whole season where I live. Freeride and wave sails seem to have about a 5-7 MPH range to them before you have to come in and change out the sail size again. Depending on the sail shape some may get more range. For example, I have 3 sails, and they get me out from 12 to about 30 MPH winds. I have a 5.3, 6.0 and a 6.8 sail. I seem to have the best range in my 6.8 and 5.3 sail. My 6.0 has a lot less range due to Its shape.

That's much better than what I had been led to believe, those Wond ranges are pretty good, what type of L board would you recommend for someone knew to windsurfing, to be an alloy d board until you had the basics nailed ?

I was told that you need nearly every size increment lol

Depends how committed and persistent You are of course .you need to know most of the basics before hitting the waves .
nothing like screaming down a wave on a windsurfer .
rough guess 12 months to 24 months .
sooner you start the better ...it's not easy ,but the rewards are huge ,no other sport like it .
we are super talented freaks

Windsurfing is a lot harder to master than Kitesurfing.
And arguably more rewarding.
With your skill set it would be easier.
As to how long it will take to handle waves is hard to say.
If your young and fit and have help and get on the water two days a week , Mabee one year.
If your old and fat like me , only small waves.
Im happy to go blasting too fast in heavy chop , that's more than enough for this old duck.

PS,
Buy a big fat ,80cm wide board or wider. Around 5 to 6 meter sail.
But most importantly , cheap as u can.
People are going to disagree with me and tell u to buy a board to grow into. Don't do it , big and cheap.
You will learn faster and wreck the old gear ( that's what will happen )
When u get the basics happening buy newer flasher gear.
Also lessons wouldn't hurt , if u can get it.
Welcome

The carve gybe is basically a surf maneuver. If you're a good surfer you will nail it within a season. In the waves you need to tack anyway.

Good luck Prawn dog, we have yet to find anyone who has started out as a kite surfer and later learned to gybe a windsurfer. I'm pretty sure our previous searches for someone fitting this bill came up blank. Hands up, anyone? Plenty gone the other way and back again of course.

I once taught a young surfer, he was carve gybing in his first season, and had broken an old board learning to jump. I taught him the quick hard way, bypassed the huge board uphaul bit. And started him off on a light wind wave board, first lesson was how to waterstart on the coming back to shore tack.
But I think he was a "natural", so I guess it all depends on your own ability and dedication, and who is teaching you.
Learning the short hard way is not intuitive, try it without some sort of instruction and you'll give up out of frustration.

I basically use 2 sails (a 5.3 and a 4.7) and 2 boards in the waves, a floaty for sub 15kts and a semi sinker for >15kts.
But I spend more time on the estuary these days, and I use 6 sails and 5 boards for the GTC divisions. This covers 10kts to 40kts, with sails and boards close together to optimise, results for the 6 divisions we compete under.

So it all depends what you want to do, and how often you want to get in the water.

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MrCranky said..
The carve gybe is basically a surf maneuver. If you're a good surfer you will nail it within a season. In the waves you need to tack anyway.

I question this, in fact I disagree yes, the tack will get you back to the take off a little quicker, but a slam gybe isn't far behind.
And I've never seen anybody tack while riding a wave.
For the last 30 years I've had loads of fun in the waves without being able to tack a short board.





And this is my 5.3 on the semi sinker

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Ian K said..
Good luck Prawn dog, we have yet to find anyone who has started out as a kite surfer and later learned to gybe a windsurfer. I'm pretty sure our previous searches for someone fitting this bill came up blank. Hands up, anyone? Plenty gone the other way and back again of course.

Cos they run away like panseys

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decrepit said..

MrCranky said..
The carve gybe is basically a surf maneuver. If you're a good surfer you will nail it within a season. In the waves you need to tack anyway.

I question this, in fact I disagree yes, the tack will get you back to the take off a little quicker, but a slam gybe isn't far behind.
And I've never seen anybody tack while riding a wave.
For the last 30 years I've had loads of fun in the waves without being able to tack a short board.





And this is my 5.3 on the semi sinker

I could only dream

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Ian K said...
Good luck Prawn dog, we have yet to find anyone who has started out as a kite surfer and later learned to gybe a windsurfer. I'm pretty sure our previous searches for someone fitting this bill came up blank. Hands up, anyone? Plenty gone the other way and back again of course.

I love kiting in the waves to, but it seems in certain conditions wave sailing looks to be more flowing

Will have to look into it doesn't seem to be much second hand gear floating around for entry level boards .

Hey prawndog if you are in perth get some lessons, either pelican point or melville water. Those guys have big fat learner boards like starboard start or go and if its a calm day you can be sailing, tacking and gybing in a day or two if you have sailed boats or kites before. You could get into nice friendly waves in the first season if you sail a lot, but pick the spot carefully, you dont want to go out at gnarloo or margaret river first time. Good luck

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PRAWNDOG said..
With all the modern day gear how long does it take to learn the basics like gybing ect. ? and what type of wind ranges do you get out of your sails. Thanks for any constructive info , would love to have a crack at wave sailing one day

I wouldn't say gybing is a basic technique. I've been windsurfing for about 1.5 years, roughly once a week. I can manage beachstarting, planing, waterstarting, tacking reasonably well, but gybing is still a problem. Just can't crack it. I probably need a smaller board.
I have a 6.5 sail for 12-20 knots and a 5.5 for 20-30 knots winds.

Yeah I taught myself how to windsurf, so it took me about 3-4 years to get the basics down and 5-7 years to feel very confident, and at my 9th year I was at an advanced level. I'm in my 13th year now. I learned to gybe at the very end of the basics, and was tacking before I learned to gybe. I started jumping and wave riding 2 years ago. But if I would have taken lessons, I would have picked this all up in half the time. Also the conditions where I learned were not very good most of the time. It's not until I moved to Oregon 6 years ago when I really improved fast, and the conditions were way better, with much more days on the water. I get about 53 good sessions per year now in Oregon, where as in California I only had about 15 good sessions per year.

Surfsailing, totally depends if you can really surf and understand the waves.
I know several guys who surf sailed at Ocean Beach, San Francisco, within a week of their beginner windsurfing lessons. Surf was small, maybe head high, winds cross onshore, maybe 12-20mph, beachbreak.
But those guys surfed at the expert level, had surfed there at least 1,000 days, and understood what it took to get a 95 liter board out thru the waves using a 5.5 sized sail.
Everyone learns at a different rate, which has no bearing on the final outcome.

Good timing Prawndog, hopefully we'll start getting the daily sea-breezes here in WA soon and meanwhile you can sort up the gear.

Most has already been said, and yeah, the learning curve can vary a lot depending on your inherent ability. I've always recommended to start with a big floaty (>80 cm wide, >200 L) and a comfortably small sail (5 m2), this allows you to focus on the basics without having to worry about keeping yourself on the board. I know this is a controversial topic, as some have managed to learn straight from smaller boards, but in my experience these are more the exception rather than the norm.

If you already have kiting or surfing background you will definitely find it easier, and may be able to start getting a taste of the windsurf-awesomeness right this season.

I windsurf all year round and I cover my sail needs 98% of the time with 4.7, 5.2 and 5.6, combined with 100 L and 85 L boards (3 sails + 2 boards). The other 2% of the time I may use the 4.2 or 3.5m2 sails for the wild winter storms.

You may also want to check the new-school freestyle windsurf, it is a mind-blowing discipline... still focus first on the basics!!

If you kite on a board rather than a twin tip, then you will have some idea on what a windsurfer feels like. Once you learn the basic skills: uphaul, waterstart and planning in the straps and harness, your on your way. There are two schools of thought of how you get to this point, learning on either big or small gear. I'd have some lessons on some big gear (50 litres more than your body weight) to get used to getting going, manoeuvring the board with a sail in 10 to 15 kts and getting on the plane in the harness & footstraps. Once you have successfully planned in the straps and harness, I'd then try a board with volume 10 to 20 litre more than your body weight, find some knee to mid thigh deep flatish water and consistent 15kt breeze and have a go. The niceties like planning gybes, high wind sailing, waves etc will come with practice and time on water. A couple of years ago a good wave SUP rider went to Maui with some windsurfing mates for 2 weeks and was happily planning back and forth at Spreaksville by the end of the trip, so it can be done if you have the right sailing conditions, persistence and time.

Exactly.
Surfer's, especially good ones, can adapt very quickly, being used to standing on a 6' long, 30 liter board, and using smaller boards a lot of the time.
I rode waves at San Francisco's Ocean Beach within 5 days of my first windsurfing lesson. Rode 10 actually, before getting in trouble as the wind died, and my rig got stuck at the old Sloat Pier. Marker111, with a 6.1 sail.
By the end of the season, one and a half months into windsurfing, I was jibing around 90% on a 9' poly glass board of around 90 liters, and bought a 8'10" 80 liter board during the winter months of no windsurfing. I did try some duck jibes, but they were hopeless until the following Spring.

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LeeD said..
Exactly.
Surfer's, especially good ones, can adapt very quickly, being used to standing on a 6' long, 30 liter board, and using smaller boards a lot of the time.
I rode waves at San Francisco's Ocean Beach within 5 days of my first windsurfing lesson. Rode 10 actually, before getting in trouble as the wind died, and my rig got stuck at the old Sloat Pier. Marker111, with a 6.1 sail.
By the end of the season, one and a half months into windsurfing, I was jibing around 90% on a 9' poly glass board of around 90 liters, and bought a 8'10" 80 liter board during the winter months of no windsurfing. I did try some duck jibes, but they were hopeless until the following Spring.

You are obviously a super talented windsurfer

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Ian K said..
Good luck Prawn dog, we have yet to find anyone who has started out as a kite surfer and later learned to gybe a windsurfer. I'm pretty sure our previous searches for someone fitting this bill came up blank. Hands up, anyone? Plenty gone the other way and back again of course.

I know one ! Was a long time surfer. Then got into kitesurfing for a few years.Then windsurfing.

Looking at the online tutorials with the big board and small sail make the learning curve seem much easier than what my mate described when he learnt. I'll go get a few lessons when I get home

I'm in a similar boat. Would love to get into windsurfing.

The friggen gear seems so complex though.

*Edit I am a tad slow though

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PRAWNDOG said..
Looking at the online tutorials with the big board and small sail make the learning curve seem much easier than what my mate described when he learnt. I'll go get a few lessons when I get home

Yep..I learn on a big board and a 4.0 metre sail at pelican point ..I could go both ways and got planing in 3-4 days ..
i was hooked once I planned .
living in west oz is a windsurfers paradise.

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NR said..

Ian K said..
Good luck Prawn dog, we have yet to find anyone who has started out as a kite surfer and later learned to gybe a windsurfer. I'm pretty sure our previous searches for someone fitting this bill came up blank. Hands up, anyone? Plenty gone the other way and back again of course.

I know one ! Was a long time surfer. Then got into kitesurfing for a few years.Then windsurfing.

We'll count that. The exception that proves the rule. Unless there's another?

No I"m not.
Several of my surfing friends were riding 9'6" x 22.5" poly glass boards by their 3rd day total, and didn't have any problems tacking it and a few of the smaller guys could actually jibe 50% within the first week.
Almost all of them could jibe 9' boards within one month, and all tried surfsailing within 3 weeks of their initial windsurfing lesson, on boards around 9' long and 90 liters.
Surfer's are different than most normal folk. We learned to ride 5'6" x 19" twin fins, could stand up on a boogie board on a wave, and the thought of actually using a 9' 90 liter windsurf board is an assault on our senses.
One of my friends was making quad duck jibes at Lake Lopez in the water with George Greenough within 3 months of windsurfing. I could only do doubles my second season, and not a very high percentage.

Next question........ When wave sailing how much does the sail impede your vision going down the line ?

I could only imagine going down the line would be a vibe over vision thing
But hey I'm plenty alcohol speaking now
Ill shut up now
Bed time

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PRAWNDOG said..
With all the modern day gear how long does it take to learn the basics like gybing ect. ? and what type of wind ranges do you get out of your sails. Thanks for any constructive info , would love to have a crack at wave sailing one day

I sail from 18kn to nuclear. 455K sessions and still flaff most of my gybes ....getting better though. But if you can water start, don't sweat it. Watch videos, lots of them and chat do anyone on the beach who sails for some tips. Practice practice practice. Shorten your runs so you need to turn more often. The bigger the board the better....more float and dance floor. As for waves, talk to anyone and just go for it and feel good about whatever you do.