So I've been out a half dozen times learning on an old Bic Rumba, and while I have made some progress, it is still a struggle. I am considering getting a Bic Beach 185D (293cm x 79cm, 185 liters, 35 lbs). I am 6' (183cm) tall, and weigh 185# (84kg), in halfway decent shape (I have gotten a lot stronger with all of the uphauling I have been doing lol).

Would I notice a significant improvement with the Bic Beach over what I have now, given my situation? Would I be able to progress into using a harness and planing with this board?

Thanks for your insights into this.

I'd skip it in favor of a 130-140L short board with a foil box. Fanatic Blast comes to mind although there are others.

Thanks Grant, I should mention that the Beach has a good price point (a little over $1000 with shipping), and it is available. I had the chance to get a Fanatic Viper 80 (190l, 280cm x 80cm) demo board last week for an extra couple of hundred, but the deal has since evaporated.

My concerns with the Beach are how much of an improvement it will be for me, and how far I will be able to advance with it.

If it were me I'd consider that $1000 wasted which could be spent on a board you'll be using in a year.

Think about a Bic beach 160 you will find that easier than your rumba and it will allow you to progress more. I would say a 130-140 might be a big jump and just slow the progress.

A Bic Beach will be a lot better - it just isn't fun falling off all the time. That said, it has an upper limit to what it can do performance wise. Maybe tell us a bit more about what your objectives are?

Grantmac's point is that foiling offers a way to enjoy higher speeds without spending too much time at the harness/footstrap stage. We use them in foiling but they certainly aren't mandatory.

If your long term goal is to glide around the dock in the summertime, the Beach is fine. If your imagination is captured by the speedier, windier side of the sport, it will likely be something you use for several months and then either pass down in the family or sell and get something different. I hesitate to say better because the Beach is good at what it does.

Pity you missed out on the viper it looks like a fantastic board. Not sure what the beach is but I imagine it is similar. Advancing to the smaller higher performance boards is great fun and great learning curve. I have 5 different boards ranging from 125L up and I still have my learners board and I also still use it a LOT (mistral prodigy 255L) its the jumbo jet of sail boards, so big it should not fly, but it does and it is also surprisingly manoeuvrable, sometimes I just really enjoy 3-4 hr sessions planing along at 25kt not expending too much energy and having a relaxing time when others are on the beach disappointed about the wind not being strong enough, cause these type of boards are at home rigged with a big sail and will plane in light winds and 3 metre long boards require little to no effort to keep tracking straight whilst planing. My point being, that for me any way, your learner boards are keepers and not a waste of money for stated reasons plus there good to have if friends/ family show an interest in the sport, then you have a board laying around to introduce new players into the sport. The more windsurfers the better I say. $1000 sounds cheap for a new board. If your interested in this kind of board I would check out Exocet Nano, JP Funster sport, Tabou coolrider (not sure if this one is still available) and of course the viper. All these boards retail for about $2200 or for something a bit more high performance look at Starboard phantom free 207L, this will cost significantly more $ though. If you get one make sure it has footstrap fixings that allow you to fit them right at the back and out on the rails for future light wind planing fun.

Where are you jonnycat? Is there a second hand market there? Best buy a beginning board second hand so you lose very minimal $s. By all means, if you know what you want & can commit buy a modern rig that you can keep & grow with. Cheap long board can be flipped for a shorter one in a short period without losing much money. Can you talk to some locals and the local shop?
Good luck and update your progress

First of all the Bic Rumba is a great board to advance your skills on. You can learn to waterstart, use the footstraps, get planing, and jibe on it. A LOT of learning before you need to get something else.

I learned shortboard skills on the F2 equivalent of the Rumba. The F2 Comet Slalom 315 (not the bigger 340) at 150 liters. It sailed fine with 4.0 to 8.5 sails.

Wring out your Rumba. Then you will see what kind of sailing you want to do in the future so you can make a good decision about gear.

Select to expand quote

Paducah said..
A Bic Beach will be a lot better - it just isn't fun falling off all the time. That said, it has an upper limit to what it can do performance wise. Maybe tell us a bit more about what your objectives are?

Grantmac's point is that foiling offers a way to enjoy higher speeds without spending too much time at the harness/footstrap stage. We use them in foiling but they certainly aren't mandatory.

If your long term goal is to glide around the dock in the summertime, the Beach is fine. If your imagination is captured by the speedier, windier side of the sport, it will likely be something you use for several months and then either pass down in the family or sell and get something different. I hesitate to say better because the Beach is good at what it does.

Hey thanks Paducah. I should have mentioned that I am limited to inland lakes here in North Texas (US). Winds lately have been between 5 knots to 15 knots; when it is windier it means gusts. For now it would be fun to be able to just move around the lake, but when I was younger and went skiing I couldn't avoid the thrill of bombing a nice straight run to get my adrenaline pumping, and I am going to assume that the same will be true once I get my windsurfing legs underneath me.

As far as my goals to achieve with a new board would be first to be able to be more proficient in sailing around, but it would ideal if I was able to advance to using straps and a harness and get planing with that board. I came across a video on youtube where a fellow was riding a Fanatic Viper with a harness and planing, and going at a pretty good speed. If I was able to do that with the Beach I would be happy with that.

Select to expand quote

mob dog said..
Pity you missed out on the viper it looks like a fantastic board. Not sure what the beach is but I imagine it is similar. Advancing to the smaller higher performance boards is great fun and great learning curve. I have 5 different boards ranging from 125L up and I still have my learners board and I also still use it a LOT (mistral prodigy 255L) its the jumbo jet of sail boards, so big it should not fly, but it does and it is also surprisingly manoeuvrable, sometimes I just really enjoy 3-4 hr sessions planing along at 25kt not expending too much energy and having a relaxing time when others are on the beach disappointed about the wind not being strong enough, cause these type of boards are at home rigged with a big sail and will plane in light winds and 3 metre long boards require little to no effort to keep tracking straight whilst planing. My point being, that for me any way, your learner boards are keepers and not a waste of money for stated reasons plus there good to have if friends/ family show an interest in the sport, then you have a board laying around to introduce new players into the sport. The more windsurfers the better I say. $1000 sounds cheap for a new board. If your interested in this kind of board I would check out Exocet Nano, JP Funster sport, Tabou coolrider (not sure if this one is still available) and of course the viper. All these boards retail for about $2200 or for something a bit more high performance look at Starboard phantom free 207L, this will cost significantly more $ though. If you get one make sure it has footstrap fixings that allow you to fit them right at the back and out on the rails for future light wind planing fun.

Thanks Mob, yeah the Viper would have been a good board, but the Beach has specs that are pretty close.

Select to expand quote

BSN101 said..
Where are you jonnycat? Is there a second hand market there? Best buy a beginning board second hand so you lose very minimal $s. By all means, if you know what you want & can commit buy a modern rig that you can keep & grow with. Cheap long board can be flipped for a shorter one in a short period without losing much money. Can you talk to some locals and the local shop?
Good luck and update your progress

Hi BSN, North Texas (US), DFW area. There is a small group of windsurfers here (they have a FB group), but I missed out on a couple of the beginner boards that showed up last month. Other than that, not a whole lot available; the only boards I can find new would be by mail order (Isthmus Sailboards has $99 shipping for all boards).

Select to expand quote

segler said..
First of all the Bic Rumba is a great board to advance your skills on. You can learn to waterstart, use the footstraps, get planing, and jibe on it. A LOT of learning before you need to get something else.

I learned shortboard skills on the F2 equivalent of the Rumba. The F2 Comet Slalom 315 (not the bigger 340) at 150 liters. It sailed fine with 4.0 to 8.5 sails.

Wring out your Rumba. Then you will see what kind of sailing you want to do in the future so you can make a good decision about gear.

Thanks Segler, I appreciate it. I think if I was a little farther along I would enjoy the Rumba more, I am able to get up and sail every once in awhile, but I want to be able to do more sailing and not struggle so much. Who knows, maybe everything will just click the next time I go out and I'll be off to the races.

I'm 200lbs and my first board was 155L and 85cm wide, no centerboard. It definitely didn't hold me back in any way.
No reason you can't make a 140L 75-80cm wide board work for you and start foiling on it as well.

I'm not sure what you mean by progress onto the harness. It's not really something that takes any particular skill to start using. Just putt it on and use it, then you'll be able to at least double your time on the water if not 4x as much.

jonnycat, the problem is that true beginner boards have very limited use - they are great for schools that look after the first dozen hours, after that they have limited appeal. A couple of options I would suggest are the big freeride like a Patrik 155 if you are going for planing conditions, or maybe something like an RRD Longrider if you are going to have some portion of non planing conditions.

Select to expand quote

jonnycat said..

Paducah said..
A Bic Beach will be a lot better - it just isn't fun falling off all the time. That said, it has an upper limit to what it can do performance wise. Maybe tell us a bit more about what your objectives are?

Grantmac's point is that foiling offers a way to enjoy higher speeds without spending too much time at the harness/footstrap stage. We use them in foiling but they certainly aren't mandatory.

If your long term goal is to glide around the dock in the summertime, the Beach is fine. If your imagination is captured by the speedier, windier side of the sport, it will likely be something you use for several months and then either pass down in the family or sell and get something different. I hesitate to say better because the Beach is good at what it does.

Hey thanks Paducah. I should have mentioned that I am limited to inland lakes here in North Texas (US). Winds lately have been between 5 knots to 15 knots; when it is windier it means gusts. For now it would be fun to be able to just move around the lake, but when I was younger and went skiing I couldn't avoid the thrill of bombing a nice straight run to get my adrenaline pumping, and I am going to assume that the same will be true once I get my windsurfing legs underneath me.

As far as my goals to achieve with a new board would be first to be able to be more proficient in sailing around, but it would ideal if I was able to advance to using straps and a harness and get planing with that board. I came across a video on youtube where a fellow was riding a Fanatic Viper with a harness and planing, and going at a pretty good speed. If I was able to do that with the Beach I would be happy with that.

mob dog said..
Pity you missed out on the viper it looks like a fantastic board. Not sure what the beach is but I imagine it is similar. Advancing to the smaller higher performance boards is great fun and great learning curve. I have 5 different boards ranging from 125L up and I still have my learners board and I also still use it a LOT (mistral prodigy 255L) its the jumbo jet of sail boards, so big it should not fly, but it does and it is also surprisingly manoeuvrable, sometimes I just really enjoy 3-4 hr sessions planing along at 25kt not expending too much energy and having a relaxing time when others are on the beach disappointed about the wind not being strong enough, cause these type of boards are at home rigged with a big sail and will plane in light winds and 3 metre long boards require little to no effort to keep tracking straight whilst planing. My point being, that for me any way, your learner boards are keepers and not a waste of money for stated reasons plus there good to have if friends/ family show an interest in the sport, then you have a board laying around to introduce new players into the sport. The more windsurfers the better I say. $1000 sounds cheap for a new board. If your interested in this kind of board I would check out Exocet Nano, JP Funster sport, Tabou coolrider (not sure if this one is still available) and of course the viper. All these boards retail for about $2200 or for something a bit more high performance look at Starboard phantom free 207L, this will cost significantly more $ though. If you get one make sure it has footstrap fixings that allow you to fit them right at the back and out on the rails for future light wind planing fun.

Thanks Mob, yeah the Viper would have been a good board, but the Beach has specs that are pretty close.

BSN101 said..
Where are you jonnycat? Is there a second hand market there? Best buy a beginning board second hand so you lose very minimal $s. By all means, if you know what you want & can commit buy a modern rig that you can keep & grow with. Cheap long board can be flipped for a shorter one in a short period without losing much money. Can you talk to some locals and the local shop?
Good luck and update your progress

Hi BSN, North Texas (US), DFW area. There is a small group of windsurfers here (they have a FB group), but I missed out on a couple of the beginner boards that showed up last month. Other than that, not a whole lot available; the only boards I can find new would be by mail order (Isthmus Sailboards has $99 shipping for all boards).

segler said..
First of all the Bic Rumba is a great board to advance your skills on. You can learn to waterstart, use the footstraps, get planing, and jibe on it. A LOT of learning before you need to get something else.

I learned shortboard skills on the F2 equivalent of the Rumba. The F2 Comet Slalom 315 (not the bigger 340) at 150 liters. It sailed fine with 4.0 to 8.5 sails.

Wring out your Rumba. Then you will see what kind of sailing you want to do in the future so you can make a good decision about gear.

Thanks Segler, I appreciate it. I think if I was a little farther along I would enjoy the Rumba more, I am able to get up and sail every once in awhile, but I want to be able to do more sailing and not struggle so much. Who knows, maybe everything will just click the next time I go out and I'll be off to the races.

Jonnycat,

Suggest contact Dean from Core Adventure Sports on Lake Ray Hubbard.
coreadventuresports.com

Dean posts in the wind foiling section of seabreeze as Coreas, am sure he knows of someone in DFW area with an old large board for you to learn on, then when you have that covered, get yourself a foil.

Beach is $1000 very good price but does not compare to anything else in Bic range for weight. i would pay a bit more and save a few kgs and get a better quality construction with one of the techno boards . still only $1700 odd rrp