I've got two young kids (6-9) that are looking on sadly as I sail away. I've got a fair sized learners board, so I'm thinking about putting together a kids rig of some sort. I assume the $500 complete kids rigs are probably the way to go, but I'm too poor and think there must be a decent, cheap or even DYI alternative?

Any ideas or is it simply a case of biting the bullet buying the pre-made Ezzy type kids rigs?

PS- Anyone selling a used kids rig pm me.

Cheers,

Phil

Would it be possible to use just half a mast, your normal base and cut the bottom off an old sail and put a new ring in for the clew and base ? You can get the steel or brass punch ring things in Spotlight, plus maybe a hardware store.

Take all the battens out to save some weight.

Then chop off the back of the arms of an old boom, drill some new holes for the clips and use the old tail piece.

Would it still be too heavy ?

I have an old sail and an old boom. I may give it go. If it works I'll let you know.

Look on the Chinook web site as well, they do kids rigs.

I posted this pic up a couple of years ago. Its the top half of one of my old wave sails cut to fit top half of mast. I cut out a boom cut-out and hand stitched a bit of trim around it. Had the local car trimming bloke pop an eyelet in for out-haul and down haul. Cut down an old boom. Rig is a bit heavy but lets them get a taste of it and it works good enough for the half dozen times we have used it.

I bought a fanatic 1.5mtr rig included mast, boom, mast base, and sail for about $150 a couple of years ago.

Just been out in the shed :

Take one ripped 5.3, cut the top off, fit the bottom of 400 mast, cut out a boom cut-out and - one kids rig.

Needs:
2 x eyelets stamped in (I am sure I have some but I can't find them)
Boom cut out stitched up (needle by hand should be OK)

Also needs more cut off the base. The boom is too steep and it needs 46cm extension. I cut it there to run up the window panel, but I'll cut the base higher (up to next batten pocket ?) when I find the eyelets. This should also cut out the rip.

Weighs 5.0kg on my scales, but the boom is 2.5kg. Could cut about 40cm off the boom arms and re-install the clips (easy job) to save some more weight. Boom is Aeron 26/29 so can't cut beyond the 29/26 diameter change, but 26 diameter is small-ish for small hands.

Boom at 135cm here, so could cut it down a bit more, but the sail gets pretty small. I would estimate 1.67 m2 sail.

Also could cut off the base padded protector from the old sail and re-sew by hand onto the new one for a bit of protection of legs, or maybe just buy a padded protector ?

There is a Ezzy sails kids package (1.5m+2m)...my kids (6yr and 8yrs) can pull these out of the water with 1 hand....easy = fun....

Are you in Sydney? I ask because there seems to be a bunch of us with kids this age learning to windsurf...we are thinking about getting all the kids together to sail . Cheers

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Carantoc said...
Just been out in the shed :

Take one ripped 5.3, cut the top off, fit the bottom of 400 mast, cut out a boom cut-out and - one kids rig.

Needs:
2 x eyelets stamped in (I am sure I have some but I can't find them)
Boom cut out stitched up (needle by hand should be OK)

Also needs more cut off the base. The boom is too steep and it needs 46cm extension. I cut it there to run up the window panel, but I'll cut the base higher (up to next batten pocket ?) when I find the eyelets. This should also cut out the rip.

Weighs 5.0kg on my scales, but the boom is 2.5kg. Could cut about 40cm off the boom arms and re-install the clips (easy job) to save some more weight. Boom is Aeron 26/29 so can't cut beyond the 29/26 diameter change, but 26 diameter is small-ish for small hands.

Boom at 135cm here, so could cut it down a bit more, but the sail gets pretty small. I would estimate 1.67 m2 sail.

Also could cut off the base padded protector from the old sail and re-sew by hand onto the new one for a bit of protection of legs, or maybe just buy a padded protector ?

Wow, you don't muck around Carantoc! Well done, I'm inspired!

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Brett Morris said...
There is a Ezzy sails kids package (1.5m+2m)...my kids (6yr and 8yrs) can pull these out of the water with 1 hand....easy = fun....

Are you in Sydney? I ask because there seems to be a bunch of us with kids this age learning to windsurf...we are thinking about getting all the kids together to sail . Cheers

Nah Brett, I'm up on the Mid North Coast. Good idea though!

Phil

If you want the cut up sail and the boom you can have them.

I'll still look for some eyelets and maybe do some stitching.

No mast or base, but they should fit whatever you have (so long as you have a two piece).

Collect from Coffs Harbour or I can drop them in SW Rocks next time there is a 5m swell and 30 knot South-Westerly.

PM me.





Condition as seen -
No income tax, no V.A.T.,
No money back, no guarantee,
Black or white, rich or poor,
We'll cut prices at a stroke......
God bless Hooky Street

(you could try hitting Severne up if anything goes wrong, but I doubt the warranty stands - check with CariS first).

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Carantoc said...
Phil

If you want the cut up sail and the boom you can have them.

I'll still look for some eyelets and maybe do some stitching.

No mast or base, but they should fit whatever you have (so long as you have a two piece).

Collect from Coffs Harbour or I can drop them in SW Rocks next time there is a 5m swell and 30 knot South-Westerly.

PM me.





Condition as seen -
No income tax, no V.A.T.,
No money back, no guarantee,
Black or white, rich or poor,
We'll cut prices at a stroke......
God bless Hooky Street

(you could try hitting Severne up if anything goes wrong, but I doubt the warranty stands - check with CariS first).

Too good Carantoc! Cheers for the offer mate. And it's your again when ever you want it.

Talk soon.

Cheers mate,

Phil

My eldest daughter Lola is 10 and uses a Hot Sails Maui 'Micro Freak' 1.7m. It's a great rig for kids, as it it super light weight, balanced, strong, and looks the goods. It even comes on narrow carbon mast and small diameter kids boom. She loves it, and I love seeing her out on it.

Photo here shows the rig being used on my Starboard 'Big Easy' SUP. The board is far too big for her, so it's really only straight line sailing at the moment, but I have a Futura 93 coming, which might work well for her (and me!).

I can highly recommend the Hot Sails Maui Micro Freak!

Another good way to get littler kids into the sport is to cut a second lower cutout in the luff sleeve, install a second lower eyelet in the tack and rig with 2 booms. The young ens can then stand inside you hold on and get a good taste for the sport.

Haven't seen one of these for years but gets the kids involved..

My 4-year-old just windsurfed for the first time 2 days ago using an old canvas sail and rig I made:

I cut a triangular section out around the window on the old canvas sail and then just gaffer-taped the edges. I've got an eyelet tool that I used for outhaul and downhaul and I used an old length of about 15mm diam aluminium tube for the mast, two lengths of PVC conduit for the sides of the boom, 90deg conduit joiner cable ties and an old boom end for each end of the boom and viola, an extremely cheap (all old bits lying in the shed) and light kiddie rig.

The small diameter aluminium tube mast slid straight inside an old mast foot/universal and is secured with a simple bolt (and a bit more gaffer tape).

Not the most aerodynamic, durable or professional rig, but it is good enough for her to sail for 50m at a time all the way up and down the beach at Safety Bay. Next time I'll put on a bit more downhaul.

(Please excuse the proud father's exclamations of surprise in the vid)


The gaffer tape seems to be holding up well, but I'll look at stitching a hem along the edges at some point for extra durability and sail shape.

The board she's on is one of our JP NewSchool 180 Windsurfing Camp boards, but she's got good balance standing on some of my old smaller boards as well.

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cammd said...
I bought a fanatic 1.5mtr rig included mast, boom, mast base, and sail for about $150 a couple of years ago.

I assume that was second hand? Bargin for a new rig otherwise.

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mrrt said...
My 4-year-old just windsurfed for the first time 2 days ago using an old canvas sail and rig I made:

I cut a triangular section out around the window on the old canvas sail and then just gaffer-taped the edges. I've got an eyelet tool that I used for outhaul and downhaul and I used an old length of about 15mm diam aluminium tube for the mast, two lengths of PVC conduit for the sides of the boom, 90deg conduit joiner cable ties and an old boom end for each end of the boom and viola, an extremely cheap (all old bits lying in the shed) and light kiddie rig.

The small diameter aluminium tube mast slid straight inside an old mast foot/universal and is secured with a simple bolt (and a bit more gaffer tape).

Not the most aerodynamic, durable or professional rig, but it is good enough for her to sail for 50m at a time all the way up and down the beach at Safety Bay. Next time I'll put on a bit more downhaul.

(Please excuse the proud father's exclamations of surprise in the vid)

The gaffer tape seems to be holding up well, but I'll look at stitching a hem along the edges at some point for extra durability and sail shape.

The board she's on is one of our JP NewSchool Windsurfing Camp boards, but she's got good balance standing on some of my old smaller boards as well.

I gotta get my 4yo daughter to like water again, She has developed a fear after getting itchy from sea lice swimming at Beachmere. She likes to watch me but gets bored very easily.

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mrrt said...
My 4-year-old just windsurfed for the first time 2 days ago using an old canvas sail and rig I made:

I cut a triangular section out around the window on the old canvas sail and then just gaffer-taped the edges. I've got an eyelet tool that I used for outhaul and downhaul and I used an old length of about 15mm diam aluminium tube for the mast, two lengths of PVC conduit for the sides of the boom, 90deg conduit joiner cable ties and an old boom end for each end of the boom and viola, an extremely cheap (all old bits lying in the shed) and light kiddie rig.

The small diameter aluminium tube mast slid straight inside an old mast foot/universal and is secured with a simple bolt (and a bit more gaffer tape).

Not the most aerodynamic, durable or professional rig, but it is good enough for her to sail for 50m at a time all the way up and down the beach at Safety Bay. Next time I'll put on a bit more downhaul.

(Please excuse the proud father's exclamations of surprise in the vid)

The gaffer tape seems to be holding up well, but I'll look at stitching a hem along the edges at some point for extra durability and sail shape.

The board she's on is one of our JP NewSchool Windsurfing Camp boards, but she's got good balance standing on some of my old smaller boards as well.

Classic!

Good to see it's possible to put together a cheap rig that works fine- and great to see the kids getting into it. Good on ya for being proud- who wouldn't be? I'll be the same next weekend once I get my tikes up and crusing the gin clear flats at Trial Bay. Pics to come if this post is still about.

PS- My kids have been hanging over my shoulder cheaking out every post, and getting all inspirired by the pics, so cheers for that.

Hey Phil, I've got a 400 or 430(?) SDM top if useful to you, also have an old beat up Ezzy 5.8(?) you can have too and hack up. I have also some really primitive booms which might have too large a diameter grip for kids though, but if you need 'em they're yours.

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nosinkanow said...
Hey Phil, I've got a 400 or 430(?) SDM top if useful to you, also have an old beat up Ezzy 5.8(?) you can have too and hack up. I have also some really primitive booms which might have too large a diameter grip for kids though, but if you need 'em they're yours.

Cheers Raf! Might be able to make up the ideal "next" rig for them, say a 2-3 meter rig with the sail you have, so thank heaps for that. I'm reckon my 3.70 mast (or atleast half of it) should be ok. I'm keen to give Carantocs mini rig a run and see how the kids go. knee deep flats shouldn't be too freaky for them. But you never know...

Ps-Don't give me anything you may want in the future though mate. Cheers heaps for the offer.

Ps- When ya feeling up to it, shoot up here for a lash. Cyclone swell starts tomorrow, so probably not the ideal week to hit the ocean again...lol

Thanks again for the offer, catch up shortly

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Aus06 said...

Wow for a 1.7m2 sail that clew reinforcing looks good for about 50knots, wish my slalom sails were build like that. Not so sure about the mast tho it looks like 10 is all it could take.

3.1 SERVERN COMPLETE KIDS RIG
PERFECT FOR LEARNING AND UPTO 25 KNTS
SMALL BOOM GRIP
Harness lines have been put on ,no problems
130L BOARD and he just blasts around in 0 to 25knots in harness ,now ready for a smaller board after total of 20 to 30 sessions
I have been able to sail with him or i should be saying he sails around me ,planning in the harness and straps looking constantly for air time.
12 yo

We have tried a few rigs out over the years with our daughter,

The most success we have had is with the Ezzy Kids Rig, simply because of how light it is.



This rig comes with everything, 2.0 2.5 sails, as well as mast and base and boom, as well as a cool bag. Super easy to rig. great in light wind and maybe a 12 knot gusty day as well. Do not use in waves, we broke a mast one day in the shore break, it is only aluminium, so is fragile.

Phoebe has also sailed Hotsails Maui sails (microfreak and super freak), these are great sails, especially when they get into the 2.5, 3.0 sizes. The micro freaks are colourful, fun and also come with everything included. These sails are super strong and can take a pounding.



Phoebe has now graduated to a Severne S1. Ben makes some great smaller sails, which are the same construction I believe as the adult S1's. We were helped out with a boom and a mast, as these are harder to source. Phoebe is loving this sail, and is now looking at the harness (with some reservation as she is scared of catapulting) as she is planning around most days there is wind,

We also grabbed a second hand board, a 115 young gun, soft deck and good placed foot straps, this board is great to get on the plane quickly and is very comfortable, can also drift around when conditions are light, I reckon I could sail on it as well in the right conditions.
Phoebe also uses a starby SUP when its light and just wants to cruise around,





Phil, keep an eye out for the kids rigs, coz they do come up from time to time, from memory the ezzy kids rig was $380?

The NP Fly kids rigs are pretty cool too

What's the view/experience on using Starboards iDO gadget to help kids in the early stages avoid uphaul burnout?

When I first saw it I had it penciled in as a definite for teaching my kids, but I haven't seen many references to it in the success stories to date.

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divaldo said...
We have tried a few rigs out over the years with our daughter,

The most success we have had is with the Ezzy Kids Rig, simply because of how light it is.



This rig comes with everything, 2.0 2.5 sails, as well as mast and base and boom, as well as a cool bag. Super easy to rig. great in light wind and maybe a 12 knot gusty day as well. Do not use in waves, we broke a mast one day in the shore break, it is only aluminium, so is fragile.

Phoebe has also sailed Hotsails Maui sails (microfreak and super freak), these are great sails, especially when they get into the 2.5, 3.0 sizes. The micro freaks are colourful, fun and also come with everything included. These sails are super strong and can take a pounding.



Phoebe has now graduated to a Severne S1. Ben makes some great smaller sails, which are the same construction I believe as the adult S1's. We were helped out with a boom and a mast, as these are harder to source. Phoebe is loving this sail, and is now looking at the harness (with some reservation as she is scared of catapulting) as she is planning around most days there is wind,

We also grabbed a second hand board, a 115 young gun, soft deck and good placed foot straps, this board is great to get on the plane quickly and is very comfortable, can also drift around when conditions are light, I reckon I could sail on it as well in the right conditions.
Phoebe also uses a starby SUP when its light and just wants to cruise around,





Phil, keep an eye out for the kids rigs, coz they do come up from time to time, from memory the ezzy kids rig was $380?

The NP Fly kids rigs are pretty cool too

+1 for the Ezzy kids rig. Have the same set up for my daughter and it works really well. Light and easy.

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under finned said...
What's the view/experience on using Starboards iDO gadget to help kids in the early stages avoid uphaul burnout?

When I first saw it I had it penciled in as a definite for teaching my kids, but I haven't seen many references to it in the success stories to date.

IMO it would help initially as the rig wouldn't fall in the water, but in any real wind, I reckon it would be a hinderance (hard to keep upright etc)

I have never seen one of these iDO's in action,

Just picked up one of these so hope it works ok for the littlies.
Cheers
Marty

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MartinF2 said...
Just picked up one of these so hope it works ok for the littlies.
Cheers
Marty

Did you buy the rig as a whole?
If so, brand new or second hand?

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MartinF2 said...
Just picked up one of these so hope it works ok for the littlies.
Cheers
Marty

Sweet looking rig! I want one. And I may even let the kids use it If you don't mind me asking, how much was it?

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MartinF2 said...
It is second hand but you might as well say it's brand new. Not a mark anywhere and it looks so cute all being a "mini version" of the real deal.

Just picked it up tonight.

Here is the ad where I bought it: http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/norman-park/surfing/neil-pryde-3-0-m-kids-rig/1009981493#

Cheers
Marty

Good score Marty! I usually check Gumtree, so your lucky you beat me...lol Hope your kids get some use out of it and are hooked. If not, email me..