ZeeGerman said..
And don't you even think about getting that old Cobra for the purpose. This is torture! I can already envision the kids not wanting to sail and their father lamenting that they took the effort of dragging the tanker to the beach and now they don't appreciate that. Trust me, I've sen that done and none of the kids involved ever became windsurfers.
Some of them even strated to kitesurf!

That Cobra is only worth being turned into a Freeride Tandem!

I've seen kids learn on old longboards. A couple of them went on to do the Youth Worlds and one did an Olympic campaign. Others are still happily sailing at local level, many years later.

I may as well say that I've seen kids start on wideboards and none of them ever became windsurfers. What you or I see is not the entire story.

ZeeGerman said..

Chris 249 said..

ZeeGerman said..
And don't you even think about getting that old Cobra for the purpose. This is torture! I can already envision the kids not wanting to sail and their father lamenting that they took the effort of dragging the tanker to the beach and now they don't appreciate that. Trust me, I've sen that done and none of the kids involved ever became windsurfers.
Some of them even strated to kitesurf!

That Cobra is only worth being turned into a Freeride Tandem!

I've seen kids learn on old longboards. A couple of them went on to do the Youth Worlds and one did an Olympic campaign. Others are still happily sailing at local level, many years later.

I may as well say that I've seen kids start on wideboards and none of them ever became windsurfers. What you or I see is not the entire story.

Chris,
I do agree. You can learn on anything. Having learned windsurfing on a 25 Kilo Windglider aged 9 (in 1980 this was state of the art) I can tell.

Sorry, I might not have expressed myself clearly. It's not about the board but about getting a board the proud daddy would never use himself and then drag around unwillingly. If JP loves the board himself and wants to do some lightwind oldschool freestyle and take the kids aout for a spin, this is a different story. But honestly, can it do anything for a beginner kid that his SUP can't? I don't know much about these inflatables but it looks better suited to me.

What counts is time on water, no pressure and heaps of fun.

Haha... you discover my strategy. That old school board would be than last installment of "I buy this for the kids" story :-)


by the way and speaking about fun, I remember the feeling of being transported or transport a second passenger on those old boards. It was awesome and I don't think it can be done in modern gear. I've tried in the SUP but as it is so wide tends to slow too much. So I have one more pro-reason to buy an oldie. I found a BIC Melody also, any opinions?

I don't worry about moving stuff as I walk straight thru the beach to the water with my homemade massive cart. The problem is I live on a hill so returning is harder.

maybe for what it costs, I can leave the old board chained to something at the beach...

JPBARNA said..

ZeeGerman said..

Chris 249 said..

ZeeGerman said..
And don't you even think about getting that old Cobra for the purpose. This is torture! I can already envision the kids not wanting to sail and their father lamenting that they took the effort of dragging the tanker to the beach and now they don't appreciate that. Trust me, I've sen that done and none of the kids involved ever became windsurfers.
Some of them even strated to kitesurf!

That Cobra is only worth being turned into a Freeride Tandem!

I've seen kids learn on old longboards. A couple of them went on to do the Youth Worlds and one did an Olympic campaign. Others are still happily sailing at local level, many years later.

I may as well say that I've seen kids start on wideboards and none of them ever became windsurfers. What you or I see is not the entire story.

Chris,
I do agree. You can learn on anything. Having learned windsurfing on a 25 Kilo Windglider aged 9 (in 1980 this was state of the art) I can tell.

Sorry, I might not have expressed myself clearly. It's not about the board but about getting a board the proud daddy would never use himself and then drag around unwillingly. If JP loves the board himself and wants to do some lightwind oldschool freestyle and take the kids aout for a spin, this is a different story. But honestly, can it do anything for a beginner kid that his SUP can't? I don't know much about these inflatables but it looks better suited to me.

What counts is time on water, no pressure and heaps of fun.

Haha... you discover my strategy. That old school board would be than last installment of "I buy this for the kids" story :-)


by the way and speaking about fun, I remember the feeling of being transported or transport a second passenger on those old boards. It was awesome and I don't think it can be done in modern gear. I've tried in the SUP but as it is so wide tends to slow too much. So I have one more pro-reason to buy an oldie. I found a BIC Melody also, any opinions?

I don't worry about moving stuff as I walk straight thru the beach to the water with my homemade massive cart. The problem is I live on a hill so returning is harder.

maybe for what it costs, I can leave the old board chained to something at the beach...

You've got me!
Seems my post was a little provocative, but it might still be helpful.
Anything that is literally kids' play will be great. I vividly remember paddling, sailing and mucking around on my dad's long windsurfboard with my brother and my cousin. Obviously this sticks with me and has even made me buy an old tandem, which is frequently put to use.
If you can leave the beast at the beach and have it at the ready whenever someone is bothered to give it a go, it'll do you and your kiddies a great service. They'll figure out what board is best for them at a given time