There's got to be more 2nd hand boards out there for fat beginners.After much searching i've discovered that 2nd hand 2002+ 145-160L Freeride boards are the rarest things in windsurfing.Now if i was skinny and needed something in the 100-130 range i'd have hundreds to choose from.Is there a unwritten bias against fat beginners or does every one keep there beginner for lite wind days.

Have you considered buying a second hand formula board? They are a bit more fragile than a true beginners board but they should be cheap. A board that is 3 or 4 years old should be pretty cheap.

I have a Bic Nova that I learnt on and it is the same shape as a formula board, but made out of a tough plastic and the deck is covered in padding material.

If you are worried about running around with a 70cm fin, there's nothing to stop you fitting a 50cm or even something smaller to get used to it.

If you are worried about cracking the nose, glue a pool noodle on the front or learn epoxy repair.

140 to 160L freeride boards are pretty rare as most of the lightweights find this size board pretty big.

Hi Smiles,

How big are you anyway? I am 120kg at the moment and was 129kgs about 3-4 months ago.

I currently own a Mistral Screamer 128ltr board and thats it. It works well for me and just floats me in next to no wind. I wasnt able to uphaul it until I got back to 120kg.

I did have prior to this board a 161ltr board and that was great to learn on, very floaty but as you get better those big floaty boards are just a pain in the arse.

If you can sail on a big learner board I would suggest getting something around 130ltr, there are plenty of boards in that range , like the SX Large I think is 133ltr etc (although I am refering to new).

It all depends on what stage your at I guess, I can plane in foot straps & harness, lite wind gybe, tack, water start. Hopefully it gives you an idea coming from another big guy.

I was out this arvo in around 14-15knts and was fully powerup on my 128ltr and 8.8mtr sail.

I'm 6/6 100ish kg and about as beginner as you can get.Ive had about 6 or so lessons and i've loved every minute of it.I'm keen enough to struggle at the start with a lighter board.I thought 145L would be the smallest i should go to start with.I can only afford to buy once, so thanks for your thoughts any help is appreciatted

A mate of mine has a *board GO 165. It's the board that got us both started, I got a JP Xcite 165 (ordered 155 but sold-out.) The GO is still a great board, but he's looking to upgrade to a 130-145lt board after less than 2 years, although he's keeping it for his missus and kids to learn on. I'm still rapt with my board, although I'd like to get a smaller 2nd board for 'playing' in the waves (chop hopping only....too long on the footy oval, big aerials won't agree with my knees)

hobie14t, is the screamer you have a current model? I noticed that the older ones have more volume in the tail and I've been told that the newer ones (128lt) wouldn't float a 110kg sailor?