Looking for a few pointers on returning to windsurfing after a gap that appears to have spanned a great deal of innovation and development. My last board was a Windrush Storm 8 (about which i found a forum on Seabreeze) purchased sometime in the early 90's. I used to sail with a single 5.5m sail which I could hang on to up to about 25knots. I've borrowed an old fibreglass wave board with a bit of volume, but it only has a useable 4.5m sail, which needs a fairly stiff consistent (25knt?) wind to be usable. I'm getting smashed by shore break whenever a lull occurs (not to mention hanging on like a sea anchor waiting for a water start).

My reading over the past few weeks leads me to think that a "freewave" might be the board type for me to play in the smaller shorebreak and swell on the North West Coast of Tassie where I'm lucky enough to live by the beach (predominantly cross/onshore NW winds).

In terms of board size, I'm thinking something in the 95-105L range (I'm 83kg these days) would seem to be reasonable (there's a 94L Starboard Kode for sale locally which would seem to fit the bill on paper).

I'm also not sure of how modern sails translate into usable range compared with older sails. There seem to be a lot of large >6m sails around. Initially I'd like to be able to get out in 18-20 knots with a bit of useable range to handle the gusty local conditions.

I'm still getting my head around bump'n'jump, pop, SDM, RDM, fin selection and the rest of the jargon that has grown around what used to be a pretty straightforward pastime!

Any guidance appreciated.
Cheers

Mort, great move, welcome back, you are going to wonder why you stayed away so long

I'm similar weight to you and got back into it in 2006 after a 23 year break. The gear just keeps on getting better! I remember Fred Haywood trying to crack 30 kts, now I can crack this on regular, middle of the road gear, with middle of the road talent My 70+ year old team member has cracked 35 kts!!

One big difference is that board volume is no longer the definitive guide to wind strength. I have a 125L freeride board that I can sail on the Swan River in 20-25 kts. Plenty of guys our weight are wave sailing with 90-100 L waveboards that get them going early but still carve it up on waves.

Consider a spectrum with maneuverability on the left and speed on the right and the marketing terms are
Radical wave
Onshore wave
Freestyle wave
Freemove
Freeride
Freerace
Slalom
Speed

Then you have some other types such as freestyle and all-rounders which don't quite fit that spectrum.

Sails follow a similar pattern.

For onshore conditions around 18-20 @ 83 kegs, you seem to be on the money. Start with a floaty, onshore oriented board with a 5.3-5.6ish sail. There's a huge variety of wave sails from 3 batten to 5 batten. Typically the onshore sailors favour 5 batten for range and stability, whereas the down-the-line cross-off conditions may favour a lighter 3-4 batten sail.

The great things is that you are VERY unlikely to find bad boards or bad sails post 2010. It will all come down to personal preference.

Enjoy!!!

I have found that over the years (I never quit, 30+ years) that sail quivers have gotten smaller.
If you rig yourself with sails for all ranges of wind power, it now takes quite a few less, sails have so much more range and efficiency than before.
And it's a good thing because they are so damn expensive.

Thanks for the responses. It confirms that I'm at least in the ball park with style & size (ie not at either of the extremes). I'm keeping my eye out for some reasonable second hand gear to get set up, its just taken a little while to get a feel for all the different types & terminology.

When I look at the old Windrush pictures at www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/General/What-happened-to-Windrush/ I'm pretty sure any of the new boards will be an improved experience.

Cheers

There are a lot of people out there like you. I was one of them last year from a 10+ year break. The people in these forums are great. The gear these days even stuff that is 5+ years old is so much easier to rig and use. Although the science remains...perhaps even more so.... subtly.

I suggest go to the beach were windsurfers go and look at their gear and ask a ****load of questions. and do random searches in these forums to see what newbies have been discussing and the advice on sails, board sizes etc. One thing though, if you're buying all new (secondhand) stuff, be mindful of mast and sail matching. Some sails will rig on different masts but others, like Neil Pryde sails will only rig on Neil Pryde mast so that could kinda prevent you from having a wider quiver range. I don't mean the number of sails more so the size if you can't get the same make. Try to find a mast that will rig on a few sail brands. See what your locals use and rig and listen to their experiences.

Windsurfing is a drug, be prepared to become addicted

enjoy

Hey Mort67,

i only started windsurfing about 18 months ago and I'm loving it have my second trip to Maui booked.
I'm 92kg and I'm about to buy a JP magic ride 118L, i started on xclite ride 135l then dropped to 125L and moving to the magic ride as its meant to make jibing very easy I'm also sailing a jp 111 freestyle wave.
as for sails I'm running 5.4 and 6.2 atlas and a 7.2 and 7.7 hellcat which gives me a great arrange of sails for all wind ranges. hope that helps

Hi guys
same deal here too.
15 years off and getting going again
I never sailed in the surf ... so it used to be a slalom board for me .... got a newish slalom board and wow are they quick .... actually too quick for me! And the footstrap are difficult.
I just want have fun ... and survive 12-25 kts
I've sold the slalom board .... got a pair of North Natural (5.4 6.2) and a new North Mast.
So similar situation for me .... thinking Starboard Carve or futura, fanatic Gecko or hawk, or Tabou Rocket .... 115-125
I'm 75kg .... am I looking in the right range?

Hi Mort,

Similar to myself. After a 14 year sabbatical, I bought a 101 litre Starboard Futura with (very quickly) a number of sails. The new boards (okay mine is about four - five years old) are super light and amazingly fast. So fast in fact that I fell at high speed last week whilst attempting a gybe, resulting in some badly bruised ribs (see below photo). The sails (again, two - three years old) are nice and cheap if you can find some second hand ones that are still in good condition. They are also amazingly forgiving with hardly any backwinding that I used to experience in the big gusts.

The accessories including the downhaul winch are a brilliant - makes achieving the required tension easy...

In short, I have had an absolute ball finding my feet back on a board. The rush is hard to explain. What's even better is the amount of kids involved in our local area. Driven by a key family, they truly are promoting growth and sustainment in the sport for the NSW South Coast and beyond. Kudos Arkim!



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The words "oh *@$k" come to mind...

Thanks all for the responses. Had a good day with some of the Windsurfing Tas group up at Low Head on Sunday and had the chance to try out a modern board (thanks to Al Planet) and that has pretty much sealed the deal. I'm looking at a Starboard Kode 103L with a Severne 5.7m S1 wave sail as a starter hoping to get out in 15-20 knots and look at getting a smaller sail in winter when the wind gets a bit hairier.
What a difference from what I've been using the past few weeks...

Select to expand quote

Mort67 said..
Thanks all for the responses. Had a good day with some of the Windsurfing Tas group up at Low Head on Sunday and had the chance to try out a modern board (thanks to Al Planet) and that has pretty much sealed the deal. I'm looking at a Starboard Kode 103L with a Severne 5.7m S1 wave sail as a starter hoping to get out in 15-20 knots and look at getting a smaller sail in winter when the wind gets a bit hairier.
What a difference from what I've been using the past few weeks...

Good choices - you'll kill it.