I have just bought a slalom board (156l) second hand. It came with a massive 10m sail.

So I'm going to try and trade down to a 5/6 lt sail and then hit this season (my first)

- based in Sydney
- want to hit narrabean and botany bay
- want to know what type of wind I should go out in
- how should I check the weather? What time the night before?
- how does the wind usually pick up during the morning? (how early should I go/leave as I start out)
- mobydisc took me out in Jan this year but who else goes out in these areas that I can head out with?

Thanks so much in advance
Doug

the board will feel quite un balanced with a small sail, below 8.5 that is

careful sailing in narrabeen if you have a 70cm fin...it will find a lot of sand banks!

Hi Doug,

good to see you are back into it.

I think that sail is way too big for you right now. Don't sell it as it could come in handy in the future but look at getting something around 6m in size to start with.

From the sound of it you bought a formula board which is quite wide and short. It will be a bit of a challenge to get used to. If you keep going with it you will be right.

The wind is generally more consistent and stronger over summer at Botany Bay. However when you are starting out Narrabeen Lake is fine. At either location there are usually plenty of people out windsurfing when the wind is up or predicted to be up.

I think most people base their decisions to go sailing from looking at the Seabreeze graphs. The forecasts are never 100% accurate, especially as they get into more long term forecasts. However the live readings are invaluable in establishing whether its worthwhile to drive down to the water. If I'm going to Narrabeen Lake I usually look at the North Head graph and subtract a few knots off the reading.

I've got a 4.7 you can have if your ever down Gerroa way to pick it up, it's a bit small but will be ok for the real windy days...problem is you will have to buy a 400 mast to suit.

If your real new see if you can borrow a beginners board for a while then buy yourself a 140-160 freeride board until you get the hang of it. The freeride will be much better for you then a slalom or formula board, But keep it as it will come in handy sometime down the track.

But again if that's what you've got, it's all about time on the water and it all counts...10m sail scares me a bit though, Don't they put them on yachts?

Cheers.

if its a formula board you may be able to float around on it but you'll struggle to progress. this is a performance board that is meant to plane. you'll never get into the foot straps (way too far out) and harness.

and yes the sail is too big.

you need to look at 5-6m ish and probable a wave sail as they are stronger with x-ply reinforcement through it. stop you from putting a knee though it when you fall of. this will mean new mast and boom. mast will need to match the sail. different masts have different curve to match various sail brands. i recomend a rdm (reduced diameter mast) as they are stronger. plenty of stuff for sale.

don't worry i too bought stuff that was no quite right when starting out. wish someone had steared me in the right direction.

possibly have a go on your formula board but you may want to look at a big learning board or really cheap old school board. you will out grow it quickly.

good luck ,stick with it.

confused said...



That sail probably isn't quite right as it has cams but do chuck options up here and people will give you a good idea of whether its right or not.

He's asking a hell of a lot for it but this sort of sail would be a great options:
www.seabreeze.com.au/Classifieds/Windsurfing/Sails/~b21ip/2009-Neil-Pryde-Excess-64-metre.aspx?search=b6%2fLEVHqrBP6hrOBOI75HFmYAqHw2CVN9LhY7dL4N2s%3d

If you can know the price down a bit this might also be a good choice:
www.seabreeze.com.au/Classifieds/Windsurfing/Sails/~b12xk/2007-Gaastra-Remedy-64-metre.aspx?search=b6%2fLEVHqrBP6hrOBOI75HFmYAqHw2CVN9LhY7dL4N2s%3d

There are plenty around, just a case of finding the right one. Different sails need different masts and booms so I'd suggest finding a sail that works and then seeing if there is a good boom and mast to suit. I've got a 5.3 that you could have cheapish but I think that might be a bit small for you in Sydney winds.

OK, others have held off saying it but I would probably look to sell on the gear you bought, its going to really slow the learning curve. Sorry, I know you don't want to hear that. Did you tell the guy you bought it from that you were a beginner? If so it was a bit harsh of him to sell it to you. (sorry if I've just offended someone on this forum).

Starting off can be a bit of a minefield gearwise but it will be well worth it!!!!

i would not worry about the offense, if that was the case you are right. selling a beginner that gear would put them of windsurfing for life. if i had to sail a formula board and 10.7 i'd give up.

What is the board?

dougr said...

I'm kinda f*cked with replacing the gear straight away as i literally just bought it (not cheap, and am light on coinage for sails etc).

I've spoken to the awesome people at Wind Surf n Snow and am going to take the mast and sail down on Saturday to seem if they can do me any "exchange plus cash" deals on a new sail/mast combo.

the board will probably stay, whether it slows me down or not for the next little while as budget will enforce this

Take the board down to WSS as well, they make be able to give you some pointers on setting it up for a frendlier ride and maybe look at fin options.

Take the board down to WSS as well, they make be able to give you some pointers on setting it up for a frendlier ride and maybe look at fin options.

Great idea - if the weather is good i'll do just that :)

what do you think the chance of me having any fun if i keep the formula board (without a dagger board/fin) and replace my sail?

really need to figure out if i just stop and resell and my cost price all the gear and start again or take advantage of the board (appears to be very nice - its an f2 fx100) and just sail down

Waiting4wind said...

Having said this, at the end of the day, you will have a much better experience and opportunity to progress on some free ride gear. So if you can trade the gear for something more user friendly then you would be much better off.

+1

Wouldn't worry too much, your best bet might be to split the items and sell them on here separately, can take a few weeks but you'll get it shifted.

As waitingforwind says, freeride gear is the way forward. Its a bit of a pain but we've all bought the wrong gear at some point.

The other thing to consider is that unless you are considerably better than most beginners your mast will do have a lot of encounters with the front of the board, much better off to do that on fairly tough freeride board than a formula board.

Hey all,
I'm in a pretty similar to this fellow (douga)- been windsurfing a few times and getting the hang of it more and more~
The gang at longy set me up with a second hand 5.4 North sail, new mast (430cm) and new boom for under a grand, which I use on a 145 Litre F2 'power glide CSE' (8'10 ft/269 x 73.8cm) with a 44cm Maui fin.

It rigs up pretty nicely, but is it normal to have to pull the out and down haul so tight to have it so the battens shift past the mast easily? even when I pull it all as tight as i'm willing to (or able to for that matter) there still seems to be some looseness around the boom height of the mast- which is making the battens 'stick' when tacking.
Should I just suck it up and try and get it all tighter?

Speaking of tacking and the gibe, i'm struggling with that a bit- i can get goin nicly in a good wind cos I have surfed and sailed cats for ages- but its a different story when it comes time to turning (i'm sporting a black and blue nose from a mast to the face on friday :S)...i really need to book in for the learn to windsurf series haha.

anyway I'm thinking of getting a bigger board-
and I like the idea of a formula board for light winds-
so my next question is:
If I plan to end up sailing with a proper formula set up (big sails and all)
is it a good idea to get a formula board to learn on?

i've seen the starboard learning stuff, but i figure if a formula board is a similar size and stability then why not get one?

If this was a good idea does anyone have a post-2003 one around they want to liquidate?

thanks for any suggestions!

off to Botany this arvo if anyone's around!

Sam if you can surf and sail cats you wont have much trouble with a formula board a good sall around 7,5 to 8 meters to start with .formula boards dont need huge sails we use the big sails to point higher or sail lower when racing.a few saturdays at marmong or on botany with the formula fleet for instruction will do wonders I still use an 8 when racing in strong wind as do many in my division

Mark if I lived in lancalin I would agree but the wind over here is a bit lighter than the west, Forula boards are light fast and manouvarable also stable. They dont jybe as well as a freeride but on a reach in light wind they go quite well. Wehave had a small number of people rock up to the club with little or no windsurfing experience and have progressed quite well my daughter planed for the first time on my board and loves it. Also there is a large formula fleet over here with a number of clubs organised events and coaching for newcomers mayby sam might even have a race sometime with us but the option is there