Hi Andy,

It's pretty hard to buy a bad sail these days.

One thing I'd do right now is decide if you want to get into waves eventually. If so then you want to start off by buying skinny masts. I started off using SDM (standard diameter) and eventually sold the lot to start using skinnies.

7m sails can often have cams, so you want to get one that is compatible with the type of mast that you choose.

Most brands offer a 'freeride' range, this is what I'd be looking at.

One thing to be aware of is that Pryde sails are only really compatible with their own masts. Other brands aren't as fussy. So if you do decide to go down the Pryde road, it's harder to switch later on.

If it was me then I'd buy a 7m Ezzy Freeride with a skinny mast, Chinook extension and base, but that's just my opinion.

Hi,

If you are sailing at Narrabeen its probably not a bad idea to go down to the local shop, Wind Surf and Snow and check out what the range they have.

I got back into windsurfing at the end of 07 and was in a similar situation to you. I built up a quiver of sails from eBay and here plus a new Pryde 460 X6 mast. I have a range of sails, mainly Neil Pryde but bought a North Warp 7.8 for a price that was really good. For Narrabeen lake you need a fairly big sail as the wind is very gusty. If you go for two sails I'd recommend a 7.5 and a 6.5, possibly Neil Pryde V8s if you are comfortable with cammed sails and have the funds to purchase them. You could consider a Pryde Helium V8 8.5. They all should rig on a 460 mast.

Due to a buggered back I'm not sailing for a while but when I get back into it I'm considering upgrading my sails to a 7.5 V8 Helium and a 6.5 V8. I'd get rid of the North, a 7.2 NP RS6 and 6.6 NP RX2.

For finbases I'd recommend the Chinook twin bolt system.

What brand of board is a Starburst?

Many thanks all,
did i say starburst...meant starboard...sorry!

hi Gary,
its a GO....

Thanks

garyk said...

NP V6 will make things easy!

How would a V8 compare to a V6 of the same size?

i wouldn't go either the V6 or V8 i think beginners should steer clear of monofilm sails and i also wouldn't bother with the cost of a skinny.

i tend to agree with jez's thoughts of buying secondhand and keeping the cost down.

that said.

if you want new gear or almost new xply freeride sails would be my choice.
to get the biggest range out of one mast the 3 choices below would top my list for a 90kg sailor.

for a lighter sailor i would go the loft as the setup.

KA koyote 8.2 and kult 6.4 on a 460 mast , edit* - start with the 6.4
loft 02 freeride 7.4 and a 5.9 on a 460 mast , edit* - start with the 7.4
ezzy freeride 7.5 & freewave 5.8 on a 460 mast , edit* - start with the 7.5

after that are the mast curve specific sails as mentioned above.

neil pryde excess for example.

also you will eventually need a high wind setup. but leave that until you're really addicted again.

dunno

probably the cereal thumber again.

Mark _australia said...

nebbian said...

If it was me then I'd buy a 7m Ezzy Freeride with a skinny mast, Chinook extension and base, but that's just my opinion.

+1

I'll third that

garyk said...

I thought this guy could already windsurf and he was just getting back in to it

i figured if it's been over 10 years there is going to be lots of stacks initially until the muscle memory gets back into things. funny thing with mono sails is it's the low speed stacks that tend to end up with the harness hook puncturing them.

also, i don't want to come across as if i am bagging neil pryde, i think they make awesome sails. they are up there with the best on the market.

it just bothers me that you need NP masts to use NP sails. maybe that's not a problem for andymhd, there may be a lot of NP gear available in his area. certainly if he does buy NP kit it will work extremely well for him. that's why i mentioned the NP excess.

from experience i have seen lots of people buy mast specific brands when entering the sport, only to buy a completely different brand as a second sail and not realise the performance the sail is capable of. unfortunately it is just an awareness thing. once people are aware of mast compatability they can make an informed decission.

for people entering the sport buying gear that suits true constant curve masts opens up a lot more options in the secondhand and budget sail market.

north sails and maui sails also need their own masts.
i ditched all of my north sails years back because the powerex masts i was getting didn't suit them.