Hi, John,

We can be of help if you tell us things like:

How old you are.

What do you weigh?

Where do you sail?

Bays, lakes or ocean?

How long have been sailing?

What is the sail size on the One Design?

Are you thinking of buying new or second-hand?

Does your mum still sail?

How good is you mum at sailing (does she uphaul or can she waterstart)?

Does she use a harness?

How heavy is she (this might be a tricky question!)?

And finally, is that you in the dinghy?

Regards,

WindmanV

18, 75kgs, have been sailing 3 months on narrabeen lake(no swell or chop), the sail size of the one design is 5m. My mum can use a harness, but uphauls and she weighs in at approx 65 kilos(major eyebrow raiser, asking that). preferably on the cheaper side of new, or second hand. finally, no not me on 29er, but i crew on them.
Thanks for help so far waggles and muzza.

Go see Sam and the boys at Wind Surf N Snow at Collaroy. They will fix you up. Should be ableto demo some boards too. They are very helpful and wont muck you around.

Hi, John,

Hope the info supplied by Muzza, Waggles JH and Ello was very helpful. Here are my suggestions:

140 – 150 litre, wide style board with the upper deck covered in EVA foam (which resists a ding if you drop the mast onto the board).

About 5.0 m sail (the Neil Pryde Zen is 4.9m, see www.neilpryde.com). Be aware that it is now critical to match a particular sail to a particular mast, irrespective of make of sail. Whilst you are still learning, this is not so important, but as you want to go fast it becomes more relevant. The Zen range is designed to cover sails up to 7.2m, providing you use the correct length mast extension and they are also cost-effective. Other sail makers offer similar models.

If you go for the 4.9m Zen, you’ll need a 430 mast, which is a good, all-round length. To keep costs down, you could try for a fibreglass type or a carbon/fibreglass hybrid type at higher expense

NP mast extension, model X3 or Chinook. Length of extension is up to you. The more pullies at the bottom of the extension, the better.

Mast base and universal joint to suit bottom of mast extension. The most common is the spin-on “Chinook” pattern, but the Mistral “single pin” style is also popular.

Boom to suit the smallest sail size, but make sure it has a “quick connect” front end on it. Might be handy to see if the boom can be extended to fit your proposed biggest sail.

Newer sails have to be “downhauled” to give them shape (not like the OD sails that are just unrolled from around the mast). Suggest you consider a Hydrodynamix downhaul tool or its equivalent from another manufacturer, or an 8” length of broom handle or a decent screwdriver. All tools work by jamming the downhaul rope around them.

The above gear will go much faster than the Windsurfer OD, so meeting your needs and you’ll probably find that your Mum will want to use the gear too. The OD boards were used in the 1980’s and they used booms and universal joints that will not fit gear made after about 1990, so it is unlikely that the new stuff can be directly-used on the OD board.

Your aims should be to master uphaul, sailing in straight line, tacking, sailing back to your start point, water starting, harness use (after mastering above), footstraps, gybes. There are plenty of instructional DVD’s available to help you, such as Windsurfing FUNdamentals, so you might check on these, too.

Take the time to see what others are doing next time you are sailing, to get familiar with newer gear. Talk to the guys in the windsurf shops to see if they can help with special deals or second-hand gear. Any second-hand stuff you buy off the net or in newspapers will vary greatly in its condition, so you need to be cautious if you go this way.

Hope all this helps and I’m sure that others will offer their advice (gee, we’re a friendly lot!)

Regards,

WindmanV

Vinnycent said...

18, 75kgs, have been sailing 3 months on narrabeen lake(no swell or chop), the sail size of the one design is 5m. My mum can use a harness, but uphauls and she weighs in at approx 65 kilos(major eyebrow raiser, asking that). preferably on the cheaper side of new, or second hand. finally, no not me on 29er, but i crew on them.
Thanks for help so far waggles and muzza.

I was probably about the same age/weight (70kg)/ability as you when I started windsurfing and I used a 96L board and 5.9m sail, and you have a better sailing background. You're not an old man so forget the 140L+ boards and the 5m sails, you will be bored with it after 2 sessions, no offence guys.

I reckon a second hand freestyle wave board or freeride board around the 100L mark would be perfect.

One of my mates just taught himself to windsurf a little while ago, he's 60kgs, so he hired a 122L futura from a shop for a few sessions, then upgraded to a 82L JP real world wave. You have the one design to practise basics on so i reckon definately skip the 140L+ beginner board.

swoosh said...
One of my mates just taught himself to windsurf a little while ago, he's 60kgs...

Rove?

Seriously, that's light. There are cats that weigh 20.

Leman said...
With respect again, I disagree. I sail boards that are proportionately as small as yours based on my 96kg and love it, however I still sail on big gear and big boards and don't ever plan to sell them. Infact given the money I would buy myself a 10M+ sail to get out in even smaller winds. I quite enjoy cruising over 15kms along the coast line on my formula board (esecially in the summer) rather than sitting on the beach, as well as hitting the wind and waves on my small gear.

My point is a lot of people hold on to their bigger boards and still get a lot of use and enjoyment out of them. I dread the day I am one of those people who won't go out in anything less than 25knots. Once again no disrespect intended but I thought it was important to let Vinny know.

But he already has a big board. And if he can afford one board, I think in combination with the one design he has already got, he will get better value out of a smaller board. Look at it this way:

Combo 1: One Design (0-20kts+), 144L Go (0-17kts), big overlap in usage range.

Combo 2: One Design (0-20kts+), 100L FSW (13-25kts), seems like a lot more versatility if you ask me.

And personally, I use my 92L FSW even if its less then 10kts and just go out and practise light wind freestyle, honestly it massively improves your sailing in every aspect.

Swoosh you are forgetting his mum. She may want to get out on a smaller board than the one design when the wind picks up. A board of 140 to 160 litres would be great for a few reasons.

Firstly modern boards of this volume are fun in stronger winds as long as its not too choppy.

Secondly its easier to learn and practise skills such as gybing, tacking and waterstarting on boards that have a bit of extra volume in them.

Thirdly it reassuring to have that extra volume underfoot to make uphauling easier if the wind drops away or not confident about waterstarting.

Fourthly boards of these volumes work well with larger sails. In Sydney at least we often get days during summer where the wind hovers around 10 knots or so. Teamed up with a 8 to 10 meter sail and a 50cm + fin then these boards can get going in lighter winds.

There is a reason why these larger boards exist and its not just for fat old blokes just as there is a reason why smaller boards exist.

In regards to wind ranges consider the following:

One design and sail, 1 to 10 knots.
140-160 litre board with 7m sail, 10 to 20 knots.

That would cover the most of the weather in Sydney. Later on a smaller board could be purchased but its the bigger gear that would get the most use.

Vinnycent,

when you have a change get down to Wind Surf and Snow with your mum and have a look at their boards and sails. They have a pretty big range of new and used gear.

Obelix said...

The advice makes a lot of sense, and I would like to plan my second board following your example, however it would help to know your weight?

Obelix, i'm a bit on the chubby side at 90kg, but i can still uphall on my 95L....but it does sink to my knees.

Sorry to hijack the thread.

Get into the shortboard, but don't forget to keep going on the One Design!

There's a few still racing at Narrabeen, and most of them are going pretty damn quick for One Designs (and they're a lot quicker than people reckon, especially outside of the 10-20 knot range).

There's a strong bunch of teenagers in the class now; Middle Harbour gets up to 10-15 out once or twice a week in the summer. World Cup champ and Olympian Jessica Crisp is running the programme, alongside Jannicke Staalstrom (Norwegian Olympian) and a few other ex Olympians. A lot of the crew (young or old) sail boats as well; there's people ranging from the current Manly Junior champ to a former world Laser champ and Yngling and Soling Olympic skippers, so you'll feel at home.

We're budgeting for a fleet of 70 or more at this year's nationals at Port Stephens in January, and new boards are still available.

If you sail a shortboard (and there's a lot of good advice about what to look for here) AND a longboard, you'll really work on your feel and your time on the water, and you'll improve a lot faster.