You'll have to bear with me, I am a newbie! I am still doing my research.

I am a girl and I am very interested in windsurfing and I need some advice/tips on how to get started. My man is into Kitesurfing but I am put off by the potential danger kitesurfing can put you in so I think windsurfing is more for me. I want to get a couple of lessons, where is the best place? I live in Seaford VIC. Also I have been looking into second hand sails and boards; does anyone have any recommendations on what is the best setup for a learner?

Also are there any fellow windsurfing girls out there?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Whatever you do go and get lessons first.

Both SHQ and RPS do em but as your in Seaford - SHQ would be the closest. I started with lessons that ran over Sat/Sun all morning for each - was really great to get the confidence going - with the gear and your skills.
Shq used to have hire gear too and it was great to use for the first half dozen times out...

If you are still keen buy a big wide board with a small sail from a shop.... second hand gear is great but buy at the store - they want to get go going with the right stuff so you get hooked - but put the money into the sails as they will go on but the board will change as you progress.

I'm no expert but getting lessons put me on the right road and most other people i know who just got the gear and had a go got frustrated and gave up.

Thanks Fletch, I am on my last week of holidays so I'll head to SHQ tomorrow for a lesson. Thanks for your advice

Probably not tomorrow (friday) is a good idea, with the it being so windy!

Definately drop down on a sunday, as its ment to be sunny, and just take one of the boards for a hire!

Cheers Steve

Hi,
I know that Windsurfing Victoria and SHQ ran a couple of "Chicks on Water" days last year. I reckon you should have a yak with SHQ.
Once you get into it, probably your closest good "learner" beach would be Safety Beach/ Rye- the chop around Seaford can make it hard when you are first learning.
Good luck.

BLONDSY84 YOU NEED A PROFILE PIC!! GETTING STARTED IS THE HARDEST THING IN WINDSURFING I GOT MY BOARD AGES AGO AT THE GARAGE SALE AT SHQ $80 180 LITRE PLASTIC NUMBER PERFECT FOR STARTING EVEN BIGGER WOULD BE GOOD IF YOU HAVE NO BALLANCE,IT WAS AN EASY 12 MONTHES LATER TILL I GOT MY SAIL FROM SHQ $350 NEAL PRIDE WAVE SAIL ITS REALLY STRONG AND SHOULD NOT RIP TOO EASY BEING A WAVE SAIL. IVE BORROWED THE MAST COUPLING AND BOOM OF MY FRIEND(CHECK OUT HIS PICS ON JAVA. PROFILE) I HAD MY FIRST SAIL AT TORQUE I GOT UP AND GOING FOR ABOUT 40 METERS OR SO A FEW TIMES IT WAS THE HARDEST MOST FRUSTRATING THING EVER TRIED THE NEXT 2 TIMES I WENT IN THE LAKE AT THE CORNER OF SOUTH RD AND WARRIGAL RD GOT GOING BOTH WAYS THAT ENDED QUICKLY THE PARK RANGER WAS CHASING ME FOR 45 MINS FUNNY AS, I WAS STILL CUSRSING AND NOT ENJOYING IT, MY FOURTH SAIL WAS AT SANDY JUST BEFORE HAMPTON BEACH BROKE MY FIN THERE TOO SHALLOW. SO I WENT OUT AT HAMPTON BEACH NEXT WHICH IS THE BEST SPOT FOR PRACTCING IN MY AREA, I CAN GET GOING BOTH WAYS NEARLY AS QUICK AS ANYONE ELSE BUT I CANT TACK OR JIBE OR DO A PROPER WATER START YEAT BUT THERE MY NEXT THINGS I NEED TO DO AND USE A HARNESS. I CANT WEIGHT TO BE ABLE TO TURN AROUND ON IT IM HOPEING IN THE NEXT 2 SAILS I CAN TACK AND JIBE IVE SPENT ABOUT 8HOURS WINDSURFING ALL UP TRUST ME THE FIRST 4 WERE HELL IT SUCKED WAS NOT FUN AT ALL. SO THATS A COOKS PROSPECTIVE WHO HAS JUST STARTED, MY GOAL IS TO BE WAVE SAILING TORQUE POINT BUSTING AIRS ALL DAY LONG MY OTHER MATE RECONS ITS GOING TO TAKE ME 3 YEARS TO SHRED WAVES UP AFTER HE SAW MY FIRST SAIL, BUT I THINK AS SOON AS I CAN TACK AND JIBE IM JUST GOING TO HIT IT CANT WEIGHT IM GOING TO GET POUNDED!!

why are you yelling at us!!!

Caps lock is high speed for the cool ones didn't you know

As for your lessons business, definately get them first and avoid windy days at the start.

I did a trial day last year on holidays in Perth and got hooked, came back here to Geelong, bought almost 2K worth of gear from Stonkers at Torquay. I also got my arse kicked coz I bit off more than I could chew and tried it in 30knott winds the next day. I took a small gash out of my leg from the fin when I tangled myself up and have a scar to show for my stupidity.

After religating myself to really calm days to start with and some lessons from Stonkers own qualified instructor, my next session out on the water really cemented my addiction to the sport.

From someone who jumped in the deep end, those lessons to start are the best thing you'll do.

If you join Windsurfing Victoria (not ,much) you may well be able to get free beginners board hire from Sailboard Headquarters. They have a deal for members that allows free hire of beginner gear for friends at the moment. And last year I think they were doing free lessons for females interested in joining the sport. Get in touch with them. There also used to be a Victorian sub-group called 'women on windsurfers' - don't know what happened to them.

For what it's worth, 'they' say kiteboarding is easier to learn than sailboarding (though statistically a lot more dangerous). This means, as long as you get up and going on the windsurfer, you can give the BF a hard time for taking the 'easy' low skill option. Sailboarding can take several attempts before you feel like you are getting somewhere, but when you do get going it is a great buzz. In my view, sailboarding can be a strangely intoxicating mix of sublime relaxation and high adrenaline. Same with sailing and probably true of kiteboarding too for that matter. For me the equation since 10 years old has been wind + water = heaven.

One tip - try learning at beaches that stay shallow for a while before getting deep. And a cross-shore breeze (running along the beach) is probably a good balance between struggling with too-bumpy waves from an onshore breeze and being blown out to sea with an offshore breeze. Good luck.

Yes, get some introductory lessions first.

Then another great tool for learning/improving are "introduction to windsufing" DVDs. Buy one or two and watch them over and over and over... you can even use slow motion and zoom to study all the techniques in detail.

Also advise from other more experienced sailors is always very useful.

Before you buy any gear I'd suggest hiring gear a couple of times and trying the demo boards from the shops.