upgrade me teach wife

Hi group,

You may remember that I'm on an old 198? Wayler with bag sale and tie on boom. I'm now considering what I'll upgrade to in the next 6 months, and was hoping for a bit of advice. Bundle of joy number 2 will arrive in two weeks, and my wife is eager to get into windsurfing after said event, but I'm not to keen on her having to learn on the old Wayler.

What I was hoping to do was get two boards, one learner/light wind, and the other a short board. As money is a consideration, I was hoping that we would be able to share 1 quiver of sales between the two boards. Is that even reasonable? Is it better to get the two boards from the same manufacturer to help with this? Will it end up having to be a compromise, or can we still expect top performance?

We will be mainly sailing flat/chop salt water, but I'm hoping to be doing a bit in the surf by the end of next season (Australia).

For the light wind bord, I was thinking of something along the lines of the Start / Go. For the short board, I was thinking of the starboard fish (I think Wardog rides/rode one), or something like the Maui Project wave/style. Like I said, I'm hoping to get it into the surf, so assume a wave board will be my best bet?? Naturally speed is also a BIG concern as I want to be pealing my eyelids back with the sheer force of the wind in my face.

The boards I've named are by no means my short list, they're just there to give you a bit of an insight as to what's floating around in my mind at the moment.

I'll more than likely be looking at second hand boards, so suggesting something that's brand new won't be of much help to me.

Suggestions for masts, sails (Aerotech or SailWorks??, model??), booms (HPL??, model??), harness (I'm using a borrowed waist one atm, but will buy seat) would also be welcome.

We're both around the 6 foot mark, with me at 85kg's, and my wife at 65kg's (that's roughly 190 and 140 lbs respectively for you lot on the other side of the pond

Thanks chaps (in a gender neutral sense

Elf

PS. On a side note regarding the arguments about commercial activity on the NG in a recent thread. If people didn't use brand/model names on products they're talking about, it would be very hard for the likes of me (new to the sport) to know what people are using out there. If people who sell the stuff didn't provide links to the products being discussed, I'd have to wade through the web trying to find more info on the products, then still have to find out the price so I'd know the relative price bracket. I've only been following this NG for the last 4 months, but cottoned on to who had a commercial association (pretty obvious when most of them proclaim it in their sigs) within the first week. Having said that, I also point out that none of them come across as trying to sell gear. I've always assumed that they participate because they enjoy the NG, not because they're trying to pick up more sales. However, were they in Qld, Aus, they'd be getting my business, at least they show a genuine interest. On a final note, good on the manufacturers who monitor the NG. If you're prepared to support us by listening to us, I'll support you.

hey elf.

what level sailor are you and your wife? are you water-starting, in the straps, jibing, tacking, jumping? how windy is it typically and what kind of launches - ocean, bay, lake - do you have?

this kind of info will help alot towards deciding what kind of gear to get.

welcome back to the sport. looks like you and the wife are gonna be trading off sailing and parenting time at the beach. there are worse places for a family to be.

dave in charlotte.

Elf,

My beginner wife was out on her Start today in winds gusting into the high teens, on a rather unstable 6.2, and had a blast. Check out my recent posts as to the ability to put big sails and fins on it and have fun. And its cheap. The Prodigy deserves a look as well. It can be sailed like either a long or shortboard with good results.

Have you been using shortboards, or only sailing your Wayler? If you have what I think you have, a wave board is a huge change. I don't think you'll like it yet. It would be a big jump for me, and I can do (not everytime) full planing jibes on both my Equipe and Formula, and sail both in 25 kts without too much trouble. You may be ahead of me, even though you have older equipment though. See the posts answering Cindy about a high wind board. Wave boards are usually not fast. Their job is to be very controllable in the waves. I can usually pass them with my Equipe, much less the Formula, if I am properly powered.

Since you will have 2 bundles of joy to look after, is it fair to assume that you will sail one at a time? If you don't have a bunch of experience on small boards yet, consider getting the Start (or something of its ilk), and two rigs. One small, one big. It's very easy to change rigs when you switch sailors. Let us know a little more about your current sailing level, and the conditions you want to sail in. I'm sure you'll get lots of suggestions for the smaller board. Keep in mind, wave sailors break gear pretty regularly.

It is doubtful, that even if you are WARDOG or CI that you will always have the optimum equipment. Everytime you decide you need just a little bit bigger, or smaller sail, you will you find that your boom or mast is just not quite the right size or somehow is not right to use with the new sail. You can make some compromises though and share quite a bit of equipment. I will let some one with more experience than I comment on the suitability of wave sails for beginners. I suspect they are a bit too instant on and off the power for a beginner to be comfortable, though my wife is actually using an old Neil Pryde 6.2 RAF without much problem in light air. We are thinking of a 6.5 Retro next, because it can be rigged to be powerful, while still being a fairly small sail, and trimmed flat for windy conditions. (Her first lessons should be on smaller sails). I like the Aerotech Race sails, and very much favor the extensive use of scrim, but do not have experience with the models that you would be looking for.

Get good lessons with good gear for your wife's first lesson or two. Ellen Faller, Roger, and Islamorada hooked my wife big-time. I suspect that had I tried giving her an initial lesson with my gear would have resulted in her staying with her sailboat, instead of quickly advancing through the early stages of windsurfing.

Congratulations on the upcoming addition(s) to the family.

Jack (Sarasota)

Chaps,

Thanks for the replies. In answer to your questions, here's some more info.

I've only ever sailed on the Wayler.

I'm in the harness, water starting, tacking (if anyone can jybe the wayler, I'd be dumbstruck) but as for foot straps.... what are they (only kidding. I think the wayler was produced before any one even thought of footstraps though, so there's no provision for them.) Having said that, the other sailers at my local spot all rib me over the wayler and say I'm more than ready to move onto a short board.

My launch spot is a beach protected by an island about 2-3 km's off shore, so we don't get big waves. Mostly just chop.

Wind is normaly between 15-30kn, although the last 5 days have been doing closer to 35-40kn. When it gets much over 20kn, I have to get off, as the wayler just doesn't work well in bigger winds. Probably because it's so HEAVY. I have several sailing spots within a couple of minutes drive (I live on a point) so almost always sail in onshore winds if that helps.

After reading your posts, I've decided that I won't be getting a wave board (thanks). I'm also starting to think that perhaps we'll be able to get by with one good all round board as we won't be sailing together that much (looking after kids).

I like the idea of the start and go, in that they'll support a learner as well as someone who wants to advance rather quickly. My only issue is the covering on those boards. Is it going to last a while, or will the blue padding start falling apart after a couple of years (I'll be sailing through winter). It it worth looking at a formula, as they're also rather wide, but aren't covered in the blue goo. I'm really worried about the START/GO surface, so perhaps Roger or Ellen could dispell my fears. I don't want to purchase somehting that's going to look horrible in a couple of years. I won't be able to afford to simply replace it when the surface gets tatty/uncomfortable.

If I had to choose between the start and go for long term enjoyment (after we both reach an intermediate stage), which would you suggest?

Going back to the formula boards, what's the deal with them (if that sounds vague, it's because my knowledge about them is non existant, only that people like to have as go a formula riders now and again)?

I'm really in a muddle here, what about the Bic Techno? any others that I should be considering?

Thanks for the help. I'm just glad we have this forum, at least I have someone to ask all these dumb questions.

I'm watching this thread with interest because I'm also looking for a 2 board combo to share with my girlfriend. We both live for 15+ kts, but often have to settle for less. I'd like to optimise our gear for around 15-20kts but also have something to tool around in lighter winds and something for bumping and jumping in stronger winds.

Elf - you might want to have a look at the Fanatic Viper 299 (not to be confused with the Viper90 which looks like a copy of the Start) . I've sailed it a couple of times in the marginal conditions we often get and found it very stable and responsive. It supports a huge sail range: 5.0-10.0 or 5-20knts, supposedly. Its a bit smaller than the Start/Go and the Prodigy and should be more fun when the wind picks up. Can't say for sure though, 'cos I haven't sailed the bigger boards.

For the smaller board I was thinking something forgiving around 100 litres. Any suggestions?

(I'm BAFing at the moment with 70% dry jibes on a Xantos 285 and aspirations towards jumps and a few tricks. Amber is much newer to the sport and has yet to conquor jibes but she's learning rapidly and will probably overtake me in a season or so.)

Mike R