newbie me seeks advice :)

lo there strangers, prepare yourselfs for what may seem some silly questions

is there a short name for the windsurfing kit? (board with rig)? i've heard 'windsurfer' but it doesnt sound very good, want something a little easier to flow off of my tongue :/

i have myself a board, only got to use it twice so far but it seems k for my current stage of learning, its a f2 phoenix (320 is the number if i remember correctly...). i am learning quite fast i think and intend to spend alot of time down the beach, so once i've mastered m' tacking and gybing completely what do you recommend i try for next? and do you think i will be alright with this current board?

i know it is a very long board, should i buy smaller? if so when? ANY advice at all would be appreciated, so i dont mind at all if it is off subject from the above questions kinda jobbys

also, anyone from hampshire, uk?

cheers m'dears, very much appreciated that i've even found other windsurfers on the net , let alone got an answer yet

hi stvo,

all questions are welcome here.

i think we had a discussion about terms a while ago and agreed that the best term for the whole setup is 'kit'. it's not commonly used in the usa, but i see it all the time in british magazines.

the f2 phoenix 320 is a fine board for learning to windsurf on. it is also great for light to medium wind cruising by good sailors. you may be ready to get a short board, i.e. one without a daggerboard, but more information would help us give good advice.

what conditions (i.e. typical windspeeds, waves or flat water, tidal current etc.) are prevalent at your local sailing spot? do you sail mostly on lakes? do you, or do you aspire to, sail in the ocean in the u.k., or at some of the popular places on the continent?

what type of rig (sail, mast, boom) do you have? it may be the case that you should upgrade your rig before getting another board.

jeff feehan

The Britt sea kayakers I know refer to their gear as *kit*, as well. Seems appropriate.

steve (who is very kitted out)

Waterstarting m'boy, waterstarting.

Yup, fine piece of kit until you can waterstart. If you can get to the coast easily you might be able to live without all the massive light wind kit that's around at the moment.

It isn't that long and is great for learning waterstarting with, go shorter when you can waterstart
www.boards.co.uk for loads of info.

Not me but I've sailed the coast there from Sandbanks, yeah I know that's Dorset, to Mudeford (Avon Beach) and envy you if you have easy access to it. There is also Poole Harbour which apparently has shallow water for waterstarting practice or when the sea's too rough. Further west is Overcombe Corner at Weymouth and Portland Harbour.

BTW did I mention waterstarting?

Hi STV,

I'm from Reading. You live in an area with numerous great locations for intermediate sailing regardless of wind direction and tide-state. To describe but the few closest to Soton:

HillHead, Lee on Solent, Stokes Bay; anything beween NW and SE, any tide state (ie around 90% of the time) Calshot Seaward and Soton Water; anything except NW to SW, except for a couple of hours round low tide. Hayling Island landward side and seaward side. Landward side any wind direction but only round high-tide. Seaward when there is no North in the wind.

Progression: Uphaul, Lightwind Tack, Sail Upwind, Lightwind Gybe, control of the daggerboard. Sailing faster, getting onto the plane, footsteering, footstraps, into the harness. Lightwind flare gybe, downwind sailing. Waterstart, fully-powered planing, flarve gybe. Now consider another shorter board.... Carve gybe, Carve gybe, Carve gybe, clew first waterstart. Carve gybe, Carve gybe, Carve gybe, body-drag, planing 360.....

That should keep you occupied for a couple of years at least.

DOn't forget your sails, mast, and boom are as important as your board.

Where are you sailing mostly at the moment?

Regards

Tom

lmao,

okie. i'm guessing that will require more wind than my current standard, but me hopes it wont take long to get to that standard. hope not at least, as my sail doesnt like getting dragged over (not that i try to) the icky sandpaper surface of the board

and oooo its so fun! expensive sport to get into but fun!

*big grin*

bwahahaha!!!! i have been going down hillhead for mine , live in Lee though, its just a little more walking to get to the beach here though and those GOD DAMN THEM jet skis *has a vendetta against them ever since one decided it would be ever so funny to do some skid like thing by a boat i was in drenching all of us on the boat.*

the wind info is mucho useful, cheers

went to hayling for some lessons, nicey beaches!

bleedin heck

*researches into what these ones are as he hasnt got a clue*

*points up top as he was silly and didnt read the whole post before replying* so yeah, hill head, in the west carpark (the one without all the beach huts), its a little more shallow there and better parking for my dad (17 and havent got m'lisence yet so cant drive myself down yet, good thing really as it means that i have someone there in case stuff goes wrong)

thanks tom

I mostly go to Lee on Solent to save the extra 2 minutes drive to HillHead. Lazy me. I'm the guy with the red-box Hayling Trailer and Mistral Boards and Sailworks Retros. I only get down to the coast about 1x/month though because

Reading.

Yes the wet-bikes are annoying. I hate the bastards, but once you have improved you'll discover the thrill of going past them at well above their top speed in the harness with your fingertips relaxed brushing the water, or waving and grinning. They just hate that, do it enough times and they might even give up and go home.

Regards

*grins *

i'll look out for ya bud, i'm the one with a big yellow 'banana boat' f2 phoenix, as i said earlier an arrows 'new move' sail, i'm 6'3 and slim build

doubt i'll be out in strong winds for a while yet, not that good as of yet :-/ seem to be able to tack and gybe alrightish now, but need to research into those to check for better methods and stuff *goes does that now*

see ya some time

You have slow 'wet-bikes'. Many of them here can exceed 85 kph even on rough water, some over 100.

Mike m/

By 'tacking' and 'gybing' I assume you mean light-wind, off the plane? I should think that once you've mastered them (probably about 18 months to the up to RYA level 3 standards) you'll already be well into breaking limbs and kit trying to pull off carve gybes

I suspect the '320' bit is length is it? If so, you'll probably want a smaller board for high-wind sailing pretty soon.

Yep - I live in Southampton. I sail in Poole mostly - occasionally make it to Hayling Island (hopefully I'll be going over that way more this year)

- Steve (E-Mail: steve (at) theankh.demon.co.uk)

'...Learning that we're only immortal for a limited time...' - Dreamline, Rush *** Presented in DoubleVision (Where Drunk) - Futurama ***