Lookout!, I wanna get back into windsurfing!

I haven't windsurfed for over 10 years but I've just badly got the bug.
My last board was an F2 Axxis 278 and a 258 custom B&J/wave board, with the latter being my favourite as it was a nice loose board that could do a bit of wave riding.

I'm probably going to just buy a job lot of 2nd hand gear so I can get going with minimal cost, but looking at all these new board shapes, multi fins, cut-away tails, foils and I'm wondering, what are the most important advancements that will make the biggest difference for having fun out on the bay and small waves?

Cheers!

Totally depends on where your sailing.

Boards have become more specific for sure, wave boards especially, some are better for on shore winds, some for more down the line.

Freeride boards have become faster and are more forgiving than years ago.

Bigger sails have more wind range so you need fewer sails in your quiver and they all use shorter booms because of the boom cut away system by the bottom batten.

Race boards are more tricky to gybe and fins are far more critical and more expensive...... Masts are heavier and thinner than ever, although the newer masts are lighter and everyone uses SDM masts for bigger sails.

Get it right and the gear can be better than ever.

Hope that helps.

What do you mean by small waves? Jumping and proper riding or do u mean ocean bay sailing and sometimes waves?

For the bay B&J a freestylewave for sure, but not a stubby one maybe. A 2-3 y/o FSW say 10L above your weight and a quad waveboard same size would cover 16-30kn B&J and waves really well.
Addition of a freeride about 20-30L above your weight would mean a lot of sailing.

$3500+ for a new board

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choco said..
$3500+ for a new board

You forgot to add the cost of a foil for that new board.

Everyone is buying wingsails.

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Sparky said..
Everyone is buying wingsails.

behave

Hi Kelpo

I just got back into it since moving over to kiting in 2000. Must say that I rode pretty good wave kit back then and it all feels pretty much the same to me right now. The slalom gear is incredible, light and the sails have huge range and responsiveness, but I do feel that the boards are maybe a bit too fragile where the production boards skimp a bit on reinforcement in order to achieve a super-light product. I am no pro but just my 2 cents.

Foiling obviously is a huge jump and direction in the sport.... no experience (yet) so no comment.

The biggest change for me was the fitness aspect..... windsurfing is WAAAAYYY more physically demanding than kiting.

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Dar said..
Hi Kelpo

I just got back into it since moving over to kiting in 2000. Must say that I rode pretty good wave kit back then and it all feels pretty much the same to me right now. The slalom gear is incredible, light and the sails have huge range and responsiveness, but I do feel that the boards are maybe a bit too fragile where the production boards skimp a bit on reinforcement in order to achieve a super-light product. I am no pro but just my 2 cents.

Foiling obviously is a huge jump and direction in the sport.... no experience (yet) so no comment.

The biggest change for me was the fitness aspect..... windsurfing is WAAAAYYY more physically demanding than kiting.

You don't think multi-fins are a big change?

^^^^ agreed
the worst waveboards now are 100x better than the best waveboards in 2000

I have not had any chance to use them..... so maybe I should not comment on wave boards. We had twinzers and thrusters back then and they were pretty loose but had their place with dedicated wave sailors.

Mark, would you say the materials makes them 100x better or the shape or fin setup or combo of all?

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Faff said..

Dar said..
Hi Kelpo

I just got back into it since moving over to kiting in 2000. Must say that I rode pretty good wave kit back then and it all feels pretty much the same to me right now. The slalom gear is incredible, light and the sails have huge range and responsiveness, but I do feel that the boards are maybe a bit too fragile where the production boards skimp a bit on reinforcement in order to achieve a super-light product. I am no pro but just my 2 cents.

Foiling obviously is a huge jump and direction in the sport.... no experience (yet) so no comment.

The biggest change for me was the fitness aspect..... windsurfing is WAAAAYYY more physically demanding than kiting.

You don't think multi-fins are a big change?

My first "short board" was fiberglass and had three fins. That was in 1986.

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NCUSAGUY said..

Faff said..

Dar said..
Hi Kelpo

I just got back into it since moving over to kiting in 2000. Must say that I rode pretty good wave kit back then and it all feels pretty much the same to me right now. The slalom gear is incredible, light and the sails have huge range and responsiveness, but I do feel that the boards are maybe a bit too fragile where the production boards skimp a bit on reinforcement in order to achieve a super-light product. I am no pro but just my 2 cents.

Foiling obviously is a huge jump and direction in the sport.... no experience (yet) so no comment.

The biggest change for me was the fitness aspect..... windsurfing is WAAAAYYY more physically demanding than kiting.

You don't think multi-fins are a big change?

My first "short board" was fiberglass and had three fins. That was in 1986.

Cool story

Biggest improvement I see is wave oriented FSW boards like the Fanatic Stubby FSW that make sailing with a 6.5 in 1-2 foot waves fun and exciting. Back in the day I would have needed enough wind for a 5.3 and at least 4 foot waves to have an equivalent amount of fun.