To follow on from my previous thread....
What would be some good boards/sails for an intermediate sailor? Im 6'7' but only 75kg (yes light i know). What would be two good sail sizes for general windsurfing.(budget restraints).....I was thinking around a 7.5 and a 5.5...? I have no idea how big my old sails are, I guesstimate around 5 or 6 though
Need to know a bit more. Like how many litres is your board(s) and what strength winds do you usually want to get out in??
Approximately a 6, a 6.5 and a 7.
Whereabouts in Sydney do you sail? Anywhere near St Kilda?
If your an intermediate. Lets say footstraps harness and making some jibes, I'd suggest a no cam sail between 7 and 7.5 so you can get out on the "nice" days,
and a 5.5 to 6 for the slightly windier days.
Then add smaller a sail (4.5 to 5) if you need it.
As for boards, I reckon you ultimately want 2. Although you are light, youve got a lot of leverage so I reckon something between 120-130 litres as well as something 90-100 litres.
Second hand market is good these days. If money is a constraint I reckon you are better getting 2 second hand boards rather than sinking a heap of money into one brand spanker! (this'll nearly double your sailing days and give you the chance to be on the right gear when the wind picks up)
Good Luck!
Lalalamort,
I'd recommend you concentrate your money on getting a good board around 130 to 140 liters in volume and a good 7 to 7.5 meter sail to complement it. There will be many days this summer when the seabreeze is around 12 to 15 knots in speed. This combo will be ideal as the wind will not be very consistent. The bigger board will allow you to plane through the lulls and will make the experience more pleasant. Spend your money on gear you will use most of the time.
There will be times when this combo is too big, like last Monday arvo. If you have a smaller fin then you will be able to go out to about 20 knots or a bit more. The north easterly seabreeze seems to be lighter on the north side of Sydney compared to the southern side. Go to Wind Surf and Snow and have a look at what they have.
I think you need to go abit bigger in size if your looking at cam free. So maybe hunt around for something between 7 and 7.5 as your all round light to decent wind sail. If I could have just one size it would be this.
If you go out in heavy winds (above 20-25knts) look at something around 5.5.
As for boards, two would be great, one around 115-130Ltrs and one up to 100ltrs.
Stick to the well known brands and get as modern as possible.
I would go for a 110L freeride board (modern wider board) and 7.5m and 6m camless. The 7.5 could be cammed free ride sail with a small luff pocket. Newer sails have great range. So this combo will do you for most Sydney conditions. You could then go to a 5m sail for the bigger days but the board may be a bit big.
Cool. Thanks guys. Im heading into WindsurfnSnow tomorrow as recommended, I doubt they'll tell me anything that I havnt learnt on here, but who knows.
....went to Windsurfnsnow yesterday. I've got my eye on a JP Freeride 144, a Neil Pryde V8 7.0, 70% carbon mast and new boom......all used of course, haha.....what do people think?
Sounds pretty good. However if you can go for a 7.5 it may be worthwhile. Today at Narrabeen many people were using 7.5s or bigger. I was on a 7.8 and I was underpowered a fair bit.
Maybe you could look at one of those V8 Heliums?
The board would have been good for today. Plenty of people were out on big freeride boards of about that size.
Yeh, I'll ask about a 7.5 when I head back there.....I think I'll rent out the gear from them for a day to test it out
How was Narrabeen? felt like a decent 15 knot seabreeze came through
Lalala,
Assuming you will want a smaller sail one day (5 to 5.5m), when working out your largest sail size (7 or 7.5) you may want to consider if the 7.5 will require you to need a second boom. (more money)
I can get away with 1 boom covering 5m up to 7.2m. But if I went to a 7.5 I would need a new boom.
Some people would say that the 7m Pride V8 would be equivalent to a no cam 7.5 anyway. (Jman on seabreeze buy and sell has one for sail, I've seen it and it's in mint condition-he's just bought the '08 model,-you could compare his price to the one in your shop, and make him an offer)
The other thing to consider if you want to keep it to one boom and go 7.5, is the Neil Pryde Hell Cat (see web site) as they have a "cut away" clew that reduces the boom length. It's a no cam sail.
Happy hunting.
Oh man maybe I was wrong about the sail type, i remember being told it was a no cam sail....apparently it has two....hmm maybe it was another....I'm going back in either tomorrow or thursday to rent and then hopefully buy the gear
I figured the gear I'm looking at "JP Freeride 144, a Neil Pryde V8 7.0(although I'll not sure if thats the sail now), 70% carbon mast and new boom' all used gear....would come to around $1800......with the board making up $1100 of that....does that price seem about right? is it a good deal or am I being conned?
by the way, thanks for all the advice so far guys. Really appreciate it.
Sure Botany is a better place on the water but for me is worth the hassle of finding a park and somewhere to rig? Its so crowded on the water, every man, woman, eight children and their dog goes down there, bringing their jetskis and speedboats.
Maybe during the weekdays its okay but on sunny hot weekends its mayhem. Perhaps Lake Macquarie is the go. Probably takes as long to get there. You get away from the crowds and according to Bonzle its one of the windiest places in Australia
I had a look around Umina last summer and it was very busy on the weekend and limited public access because houses are built right on the waterfront. If anyone can advise of any good spots around there that would be great.
Took a Jp Freeride 150 with North 7.0 out on Narrabeen today.....
Verdict: the board was too easy to use, more like a modern beginners board. I found back of hte board sank in to much when it wasnt planing. The sail was the first modern (ie less than 20 years old) sail that I've used. I found it didnt have as much power as i expected, probably because i had the outhaul in as tight as it would go just to get it rigged properly, as im a noob. The sail was so easy so use compard to old sails, much esay to depower and sail in heavier conditions. It probably didnt go much over 15-20 for a short period today, but I can imagine it would be quite easy using the 7.0 in 20-30.
I'm thinking I might get a similar sail and either put it on my existing old mast, and buy a new boom (I"ve been using a crap tie on boom)....and then put all that on my old board. To be honest, I didnt find hte newer board any faster than my old tri-fin....but then again maybe that was just because there wasn't enough wind and that board is about 75cm wide
Anyone else at Narrabeen? I saw a few others in the western carpark but didnt want to go up and be like "anyone here from seabreeze.com"
