Well personally I think you're getting ahead of yourself. It would be best to get some lessons first, that will get you an idea of what's involved.

2nd there's more that 1 way to learn, depending on your local conditions, your temperament and what type of windsurfing you're interested in.
If you're young fit and keen to start wave sailing, with an instructor you can bypass the slow easy process of learning to uphaul first on big floaty gear. At 65kg you could start learning to beach/water start on something around 90litres. Doing it this way isn't easy, with very little rewards until you suddenly "get it". But it can be a lot faster, and you can always use the learning board in light winds.

If you opt for the slow easy way, there's some excellent big wide boards on the market, (yes some of them have centre boards), something over 100litres should be adequate, but the bigger it is the easier to start with, but the sooner you grow out of it.

I'm 70kg, my light wind wave board is around 90litres, I wave sail subplaning from 12 to 15kts with a 5.3m sail on this.
My light wind flat water board about is 105litres, I can get planning with a 7.0m sail around 12kts with this.

So there's a few options, you could get a cheap very big board second hand, then sell it after you grow out of it, or spend a bit more money, on a board that you won't grow out of, but will take you longer to learn on.

Or get some lessons and hire a big board untill you're ready to buy something smaller.

Regardless of what board you buy, get some lessons.

The biggest reason for the success of kiting is the availability of lessons and the snow ski industry depends for it's life on taking people from "can't to "can" and it's all about their ski schools.

I'm with decrepit though, in that you do not have to go through the "big board/uphaul" first thing.
Beach and water starting has to be learnt at some stage, so the sooner the better.

Also, whilst having a budget is one thing, handicapping yourself by buying cheap, unsuitable gear is all too easy to do. You will be much better served by buying the right gear, even if it costs yo a bit more.

Pay more, spend less !!

pirrad said...

www.seabreeze.com.au/Members/Classifieds/MyAdvert.aspx?id=rzl5u
SOMETHING LIKE THIS COULD BE WORTH A LOOK,SMALLER SAIL TO START WITH AND A GREAT PROGRESSION BOARD...PRICE NEG....

Now this would be a first!This is my gear but I wouldnt recommend it for a beginner unless they have had lessons and live somewhere that gets decent wind.. then yes a nice cheap option.

Yeah, what you tend to find is that mates piss off as soon as it starts to blow a bit.

t03y said...

thanks guys. I have a few mates who go windsurfing every now and then (no idea how good they are), so I will probably be able to learn from them. However, I'm guessing North Haven (SA) will have some qualified lessons when the warm weather returns?

Cheers