Pretty general query and maybe too broad but am interested in getting back on the water again, sailed back in the 80's and 90's then life got in the way and I drifted off. Am in Perth and bulk of the sailing I did was in the river or sheltered ocean (got no ambition to be in any real surf), at my best ability would generously be described as average but short boards/sinkers/chop hopping/general blasting was were I was at. Been back on a few times over the years and still managed most of it complete with shakey jibes but long time between drinks. Started looking at some second hand gear but is plenty of sub-genres that don't mean a lot to me. Would like to start with something that will do most things okay and see how I go (and lets face it the bar probs won't have to be particularly high). Am `70kg still fit enough enough I think (road race motor bikes in the winter months) never had a sail over 6.5m before and probs won't come down the hill unless there is reasonable wind but maybe my old bones will say otherwise. Was looking at something around the 90-100lit in the free ride/free wave type category but am just confusing myself now with options. Cheers for any advice people can offer

Get in to foiling, you will get more time on the water and you won't need a sail over 6m most of the time.

Some would argue that foiling is more difficult and the crashes hurt more. As a general rule, try to get a more modern freeride board rather than the attractiveness of a cheaper, older model. The same with sails. Improved performance over the last decade or so make sailing so much easier and comfortable.

Try to visit some of the local places where people sail and have a look at the equipment they use. Any opinion I give will be based upon the conditions where I sail and they are quite different from your area. For interest, I am about 70kg and I often use a 6m sail in 15-20knt winds. The only time I would need a bigger sail would be on those light wind days.

Choose a good quality mast that matches your sail. The more graphite = a stiffer rig that gives better sail performance and a wider range of wind conditions.

I use a 107 L board and it has enough floatation for me to uphaul if I need to should the wind die off.

Good luck

Sinka: What wind speed are you going to sail ?

It's like riding a bike, you don't lose the muscle memory. The modern gear is really good. At 70kg, your the right size. You sound like a bump and jump guy. Your best bet is to visit your local shop and talk about your options with the owner. You could probably get away with one board (freeride about 95 to 105 litres) and two sails (5 and 6.5). That would cover 15 to 25kts. Second hand you would spend about 2 to 3 grand including boom, mast and accessories.

A two sail, foil board setup would get you on the water in 10 to 20kts. The technique is different but learnable. The board and rig costs are similar, but you would have to add a grand or so for a good freeride foil.

Welcome back

Go check out the Windsurfer LT racing at local sailing clubs. Mounts Bay Yacht club has a huge fleet. I'm sure someone would give you a blast on their kit. Contact details on www.windsurferclassaus.com website. A good all round board for Swan River and small surf. 5.7m sail is the sail they use and can be used easily in 2-20knots. Some of the guys have reached 23 knots speed over there on the river. They are hosting Australian Masters games there in October, Festival of Windsurfing in December and hopefully Windsurfer World Championships in Dec 2022. A great bunch of people who will help you on your journey back into the sport! Have fun!

Thanks for the advice and sounds like thinking is not far of mark, ideally wouldn't bother trecking down the hills unless it was 15knt+ but ability wise is a ways back and in that previous life was down the water at the merest hint of wind. Seems to be plenty of boards available but maybe less options with sails. Are sails less specialised with less options in the current market, assume a more current wave sale would still be okay messing around on the river? Cheers

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sinka64 said..
Thanks for the advice and sounds like thinking is not far of mark, ideally wouldn't bother trecking down the hills unless it was 15knt+ but ability wise is a ways back and in that previous life was down the water at the merest hint of wind. Seems to be plenty of boards available but maybe less options with sails. Are sails less specialised with less options in the current market, assume a more current wave sale would still be okay messing around on the river? Cheers

Like boards, sails are divided into rotational wave, crossover & freeride and cammed freerace and race sails. You should be looking at crossover or freeride sails like the Severne Gator and NCX.

I agree the memory comes back pretty well.
Get 5 y/o freeride board and similar age no-cam freeride sails.
Aim for 20kn day on your first try so you're up and planing in the harness.

Caution with new boards they can't be smashed around like u were used to, holes and water in them = bad bad.

The masts these days are either Standard or Reduced diameter.
You are likely to need 2 masts for a 5m and 6.5m sails.
You may save a few $$$ if you buy both masts of the same kind, so to use a single mast extension.
Also make sure the mast base matches your extension(s).

Either way, make sure your sails can be set on the diameter you pick.

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John340 said..

Like boards, sails are divided into rotational wave, crossover & freeride and cammed freerace and race sails. You should be looking at crossover or freeride sails like the Severne Gator and NCX.

The NCXs have a very high boom cutout. If Sinker is short, I think an NCX would be a bad choice.

Hey Sinka, welcome to life again...nothing wrong with keeping those sailing skills up.
Modern gear is so much more forgiving than the old stuff anyway. As Mark said go some freeride sails and board. If you think you might try the foiling thing (If you still race bikes, Im sure you got the kohunnas to ride the flying carpet if you want to !) there are some boards built to handle the foil load as well as normal sailing.
You'll be sailing better than the old days in no time if you get the right gear. Only problem nowdays is the quantity of choices.
Definitely go the expense of a carbon boom, imo.

I recently got back into sailing after 20+ years. Its definitely a bit of a minefield with all the different gear available now. In the end I decided I wouldn't find the perfect gear when I hadnt sailed for so long + I didnt want to spend too much incase i actually didn't like it. So i found someone selling a whole bunch of gear that was close to what I think I wanted for fairly cheap, 2k i got a 5 year old slalom board, carbon boom 3x 3 cam sails, mast, extension and uni. It was enough to we my appetite and have been upgrading and expanding what I have now that I know what I want. And that I do want to sail a lot, its worth investing in good gear.

Another good option if you have it in your area would be to hire some gear for the first couple of sessions.

Good luck, like others have said, if you were an ok sailor before the muscle memory will kick in, I was quite suprised how it all clicked into place. Now Im just kicking myself for having been away so long

Thanks all for the reply's and encouragement appreciate people taking the time to answer, re the foiling thing not sure I really understand the attraction but maybe I will change my mind. I will keep an eye on the for sales and am sure I will pick something to at least get my feet wet again and if it goes well it will probs only be the beginning.