I went for a spin on my old man's board (hasn't been touched in a few years) and felt a buzz I haven't felt in a while. I'm looking my advice on what sort of gear to hunt down so that I get on the water more often. I'm 75kg, 175cm.

I have 430 and 460 masts, an '03ish Hot 5.5 and an '04ish NP Expression 6.5 and a super old 3.3 wavesail. The board is a JP Xcite 120L with a 35cm 'Carve' fin.

I'm in the harness and straps. I can tack but basic gybing seem to elude me. The board seems perfect at the moment. So what's next should I get a 4.5ish sail to round out the quiver, or are the gaps too big? What about fins? Also, what can I do to make my hands tougher?

I don't go back to uni for another 8 weeks (and I don't have kids haha), so heaps of time to get on the water after work this summer.

Tim

I'm not familiar with those sails, but new freeride gear, you can have large gaps as the sails have large wind ranges. My quiver for freeride is 6.5 and 5.5 and there is a big overlap with these sails (I could easily go 7.0 and a 5.0 if I wanted to, but a 7.0 is too much sail for me). Wave/B&J: 4.7 and 4.0.

I think a 4.5 on a 120L would work, but it would be no fun.

I would pick your conditions (8-25 knots) and practice with what you have for the time being. In general, bigger gear is easier to experiment and learn new skills.

If you are able to borrow a fellow locals rig/board/fins for a few runs, this will help you decide what to save up for next season.

Welcome back


PS/ I'm 72kg at the moment. (75kg in winter )

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7tim said..

I went for a spin on my old man's board (hasn't been touched in a few years) and felt a buzz I haven't felt in a while. I'm looking my advice on what sort of gear to hunt down so that I get on the water more often. I'm 75kg, 175cm.

I have 430 and 460 masts, an '03ish Hot 5.5 and an '04ish NP Expression 6.5 and a super old 3.3 wavesail. The board is a JP Xcite 120L with a 35cm 'Carve' fin.

I'm in the harness and straps. I can tack but basic gybing seem to elude me. The board seems perfect at the moment. So what's next should I get a 4.5ish sail to round out the quiver, or are the gaps too big? What about fins? Also, what can I do to make my hands tougher?

I don't go back to uni for another 8 weeks (and I don't have kids haha), so heaps of time to get on the water after work this summer.

I suppose that the question needed to be asked is about what sort of wind range you want to sail in. The JP board is made for sails between 5.5m and 8.5 m. This info I found on their website...albeit for a later model 122, but probably reasonably close to your board. Larger sails are heavier, especially if they have cams, but are good for lighter winds. Smaller sails are user friendly but no fun if they can't get you on the plane. Learning how to tune a sail is a bonus because you can make it work in a wider wind range. Their are some good articles on the web for this. Good luck with your sailing.

I've got the same board and fin as you and am the same weight and a similar height. I had my third sail on it today in as many weeks or so (4th sail in 20 years). I am sailing on freshwater with a 6.5m Ezzy sail (a freeride one I think). The conditions are typically gusty. Today it varied from say 5knts to say 20knts in the gusts. Had full downhaul on the sail and it handled everything well. Lots of planing time in between the lulls.

The board and sail size are starting to work really well for me. It can gybe well. I did a really "sharp" one today and fluked the sail flip. I haven't tacked on it yet.

I have a 5.2m wave sail that I haven't used yet. If I lived at the coast I might use a smaller sail.

Don't know if this helps but you never know.

IMO, if you're in harness and straps, tacking and almost gybing. Don't worry about extra sails at this point. Get a 100ltr board as you'll out grow the 120 quickly and then you can really enjoy the bay waves on the sea breezes!! 6.5 and 5.5 are prime sizes for PPB breezes...
.
...Then next season, update everything!!!

to get hands tougher... Keep sailing!!!

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7tim said..

I went for a spin on my old man's board (hasn't been touched in a few years) and felt a buzz I haven't felt in a while. I'm looking my advice on what sort of gear to hunt down so that I get on the water more often. I'm 75kg, 175cm.

I have 430 and 460 masts, an '03ish Hot 5.5 and an '04ish NP Expression 6.5 and a super old 3.3 wavesail. The board is a JP Xcite 120L with a 35cm 'Carve' fin.

I'm in the harness and straps. I can tack but basic gybing seem to elude me. The board seems perfect at the moment. So what's next should I get a 4.5ish sail to round out the quiver, or are the gaps too big? What about fins? Also, what can I do to make my hands tougher?

I don't go back to uni for another 8 weeks (and I don't have kids haha), so heaps of time to get on the water after work this summer.

Get sailing gloves..The boys will howl me down but I find them great! Still get a bit calloused if overpowered a lot.

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sboardcrazy said..

7tim said..

I went for a spin on my old man's board (hasn't been touched in a few years) and felt a buzz I haven't felt in a while. I'm looking my advice on what sort of gear to hunt down so that I get on the water more often. I'm 75kg, 175cm.

I have 430 and 460 masts, an '03ish Hot 5.5 and an '04ish NP Expression 6.5 and a super old 3.3 wavesail. The board is a JP Xcite 120L with a 35cm 'Carve' fin.

I'm in the harness and straps. I can tack but basic gybing seem to elude me. The board seems perfect at the moment. So what's next should I get a 4.5ish sail to round out the quiver, or are the gaps too big? What about fins? Also, what can I do to make my hands tougher?

I don't go back to uni for another 8 weeks (and I don't have kids haha), so heaps of time to get on the water after work this summer.

Get sailing gloves..The boys will howl me down but I find them great! Still get a bit calloused if overpowered a lot.

Same, get gloves and you will sail longer. Take the ones with open fingers! As light as possible, not heavy boat sailing gloves, pryde and Ion are doing some good ones. I am using this since 25years and it keeps my sailing time a pleasure and long days after days...your skin might rip off some times anyhow, use compeed or else second skin plasters, it helps.
for the rest....get some advice to rig the sails to their best and sail sail sail...

enjoy!

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7tim said..

Also, what can I do to make my hands tougher?

A good way to toughen your hands up or at least relieve some of the pain, is at the end of a session repeatedly immerse your hands into a cold eski while retrieving beers for you and your mates.
Also, High-Fives work well too. The more the better.

I've become somewhat of an expert on blisters and hand care.

Use rubbing alcohol 3 times a day.

Don't moisturise.

If you are sailing three days in a row use fingerless gloves, strapping tape and new skin.

Hang from a bar for a couple minutes every day

Thanks heaps for the recommendations!

Yuppy, you certainly have a bit of cred with a profile pic like that. Yeah, my hands haven't recovered from last weekend.

DanP, pretty soon I'm gonna need a van...

So the big freeride board is really a stepping stone on the way to a smaller freeride or something more specific to wavesailing or speed?

It depends on the conditions you get, how much sailing you do and what type of sailing you prefer to do, as to where your windsurfing should go eventually.

The 6.5 sail should work best with that board and the 5.5 could do with a smaller fin about 25 to 27cm.

Make use of the board to improve your waterstarts, gybes and fast tacks. That will make the transition to a smaller board easier. Once you can do all those well, you will have a better idea of what type of windsurfing you want to do.

I seem to long for the good ol days of blisters.
Blisters on hands! Luxury!

Seriously an old speedway bike trick for stopping blisters and arm pump was make what you grip to as narrow as possible. Maybe the only upgrade you need is a narrow diameter boom.