Hi All,
Would like some opinions on the Tyronsea Elite 330 as a beginners board. I have read that this old board was used in some schools back in the day? According to a search the 295 isn't very beginner friendly but is the 330 any better?
This board is for sale on gumtree with everything besides a mast.
I have already had a lesson and for the price of another I can almost have a full set of gear to practice on. Is this a good idea?
I'm about 170cm, 65kg.

Depending on the price anything is worthwhile. If the sail is really old will hold back your progression as will the board after a about 10 sessions (in my opinion). Check out the freebie links on this site (each state should have one(?)) or rock on down to where other windsurfers are. You'll find that many will offer you gear for free!

Trick is to find nice calm water with a gentle breeze - and keep at it!!!!

At 65kg you should be able to handle anything around the 110 litre mark pretty quickly. It will also allow you to progress quicker.

Wish you all the best mate!

they are crap keep looking.

where are you living,i think a lot of people will teach you for free.i would but i am in townsville

Thanks for the replies.
A few websites suggested 160 litres for someone of my size as a beginner board. If down to 110 litres is suitable then this opens up my options.
How can you tell the gear is crap? Just age or is there something I should look out for?
I have just bought down in Inverloch, Victoria. Would happily buy / borrow gear if there are any locals here.

330 was what we used to put people on after a couple of hours on a Wally once they had the basics, static turn, sail close hauled and tack, they aren't the most stable platform and have an awkward deck shape, the ultimate learning platform is a starboard go if you can find and fund it imho.

Select to expand quote

slobberingant said..
Thanks for the replies.
A few websites suggested 160 litres for someone of my size as a beginner board. If down to 110 litres is suitable then this opens up my options.
How can you tell the gear is crap? Just age or is there something I should look out for?
I have just bought down in Inverloch, Victoria. Would happily buy / borrow gear if there are any locals here.

i would stay on at lease a 150 l board, something with a center board or removable center fin.be careful what you see on gum tree, best to use this sites buy and sell or a shop.ask questions on here if you find one. tyronseas are very old and quite brittle at the seams as well as a dog of a board to get going. no use buying something that will turn you off the sport i am a fan of old boards but tyronseas should be thrown in the dump or given away free

Hi. Havnt had any tyronsea experience,but i used a 1985 Mistral Malibu to teach my girlfriend n her teen daughters.$50 bought all the gear 2nd hand but very useable. Malibu is 355cm x 64cm 175 litres.

I painted n gripped to make it fun looking for the girls. Works well for learning.

Hey Slobberingant, save up ya slobber and spend as much as you can on the best learning board (160L and 85cm wide minimum) and best rig you can buy (this doesn't have to be beginner stuff if you can find something at the right price). Budget on $1.5k and if you get away with spending less then it's a bonus and you've got money to spend on more sails down the track. This will give you your best chance of being up and sailing straight away and you'll only get better from there

Same for me, I learned the basic with a Malibu. I learned light wind jibing, using the harness, beach starting , planing, slow tacking and most of all having fun time in the water. But my advise is to move to a short board earlier than you think if you want to progress.

/\

That depends what "progress" you want, where you sail and when you sail. If you live where many of us live and can only sail on a Sunday afternoon when there may only be five knots of wind, your progress will mainly be a slow slog downwind onto the lee shore.

Slobbering, I wouldn't go for the Tyronsea but for the best advice you'd be better off telling people where you want to sail, when you want to sail, and why you want to sail. The best beginner's boat for a 65 year old who sails on a light-wind lake once a fortnight is going to be very different from the best board for a 16 year old from the coast who wants to do nothing but sail until they become a pro.

Yep, what Chris ^ is saying is true.

The two real choices being:

- a general purpose windSUP style board (malibu board on steroids) with no footstraps that will be a 5-15kn cruiser that you can use in nice weather for the rest of your life
- a learner shortboard with footstraps (wide with high volume and maybe a retractable centreboard) that you will learn to plane on and then either keep it for light wind sailing for ever or trade up to a higher performance shortboard when you are ready

Either way, if you spend good money and don't buy old junk, you will be buying yourself the best chance of success in learning quickly.

Select to expand quote

slobberingant said..

I have just bought down in Inverloch, Victoria. Would happily buy / borrow gear if there are any locals here.

inverlochwindsurf.org.au/

Thanks for all the replies.
I am keen on going out a bit and progressing quickly. I guess this board won't help with that so I will give it a miss.
So 150 litre, short board with removable centerboard and straps is what I should look out for. Something like this is a good start?
https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/belmont/surfing/windsurfer-mistral/1147543367
$1500 budget seems steep for entry level stuff for a new sport. I can see prices of gear second hand gear (Starboard Go etc.) remain relatively consistent. Is there much risk in purchasing higher end stuff and then selling it off if the sport doesn't work out? As excited as I am about giving it a shot you never know if it will stick long term.

Select to expand quote

slobberingant said..
Thanks for all the replies.
I am keen on going out a bit and progressing quickly. I guess this board won't help with that so I will give it a miss.
So 150 litre, short board with removable centerboard and straps is what I should look out for. Something like this is a good start?
https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/belmont/surfing/windsurfer-mistral/1147543367
$1500 budget seems steep for entry level stuff for a new sport. I can see prices of gear second hand gear (Starboard Go etc.) remain relatively consistent. Is there much risk in purchasing higher end stuff and then selling it off if the sport doesn't work out? As excited as I am about giving it a shot you never know if it will stick long term.

that would be a good start, just make sure it has no soft deck or holes in the hull and every thing fits

Select to expand quote

grich62 said..

slobberingant said..
Thanks for all the replies.
I am keen on going out a bit and progressing quickly. I guess this board won't help with that so I will give it a miss.
So 150 litre, short board with removable centerboard and straps is what I should look out for. Something like this is a good start?
https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/belmont/surfing/windsurfer-mistral/1147543367
$1500 budget seems steep for entry level stuff for a new sport. I can see prices of gear second hand gear (Starboard Go etc.) remain relatively consistent. Is there much risk in purchasing higher end stuff and then selling it off if the sport doesn't work out? As excited as I am about giving it a shot you never know if it will stick long term.

that would be a good start, just make sure it has no soft deck or holes in the hull and every thing fits

you will be able to organise a rig for it pretty easily.

Select to expand quote

slobberingant said..
Thanks for the replies.
A few websites suggested 160 litres for someone of my size as a beginner board. If down to 110 litres is suitable then this opens up my options.
How can you tell the gear is crap? Just age or is there something I should look out for?
I have just bought down in Inverloch, Victoria. Would happily buy / borrow gear if there are any locals here.

I'm 65kgs and I think 110 for a beginner is a bit optimistic. If you get a larger beginner board you can keep it for light days and progress to the 110 once you have the basics.

I'm about your size and I learned on a Tyronsea 330 in the mid 90s.
It was a good learner board, wide enough to be forgivingly stable, long enough to allow slow tacking, centreboard for getting upwind with small sails, almost indestructable and well resistant to newby errors like dropping it in the car park or riding it onto rocks. It also has a closed cell foam core so it doesn't soak up water like a modern EPS core.

In fact for the first few sessions there isn't a better board. All the proper learning boards are relatively expensive and I very much doubt that any of them are any tougher or get upwind better.

You can easily keep learing stuff on one of those for half a season or more - beach start, planing, basic tack and gybe, water start. You'll probably want to move on to something more nimble about when water starting becomes important and once you get onto a lighter board you wont want to sail it again (except for first forays into heli-tacks and sail tricks), because it's a bit slow off the mark, but for cheapo learning kit it will do the job.

Select to expand quote

slobberingant said..
Thanks for the replies.
A few websites suggested 160 litres for someone of my size as a beginner board. If down to 110 litres is suitable then this opens up my options.
How can you tell the gear is crap? Just age or is there something I should look out for?
I have just bought down in Inverloch, Victoria. Would happily buy / borrow gear if there are any locals here.

Well, people say "crap" about all sorts of stuff. In the olden days "crap" was what was available and what people learned on and HAD FUN WITH. And for example, old sails without battens were better learning sails as you could tell immediately when you lost power or moved rig in a less sailory way.
Faster mastery will be more fun. Calmer conditions and bigger, more stable boards are better for mastery. You will have to swap gear as you progress in any case.

Depends on your budget really.
I think an old board like an old Tyronsea is fine to see if you like the sport, if it is cheap and in good nick. Chuck it on Gumtree if you don't like it, or have decided you want to progress further. You won't lose much if anything.
They are heavy, but glide quite well in light wind, pretty much what Paddles was saying about his SUP board. Fine for learning on, or for the kids to muck around on.

But if you have the spare cash and are pretty sure the sport is for you, spend some more. You will do better on a more modern learner board as your skills progress.
Something like a big Go is not a bad light wind option as you progress, until you are ready to spend big bucks for something really light and fragile.

I certainly would not have gotten into the sport if I had had to shell out big bucks initially.

A Tyronsea 360 bought new by my girlfriends dad at the time was worth more than my Ford Escort.
But my 150 buck Trigger brothers glass board with Bombora sail and donkey dick fin was faster

Get one of those wide boards where balance is not needed
thousands and thousands and thousands of people have learnt on them

^^^
yep

Hey Slobber, if you seriously want to give yourself the best opportunity to get into windsurfing long term and experience the stoke, forget about the Tyronsea, it'll be like buying an original IBM PC with a 20mb hard drive, you'll struggle to get any enjoyment out of it because you'll spend all your time battling with the limitations of the equipment. Sure, it's cheap, but if you can spend more $ on a modern wider board the benefits for your enjoyment of the sport will be exponential. Just my opinion, but good luck and hope you end up mastering this great sport