Hi, I was thinking of buying my hubby a (second hand) windsurfer for xmas and came across this ad:
'I now have my sinker board "Torpedo" for sale complete ready to sail with four additional sail for varying wind conditions, all for $300'.
As I know nothing about windsurfing and hubby is a beginner I was hoping someone could tell me if this would be appropriate for him.
Thanks
As your husband is a beginner, don't buy it. Not sure what sort of board the Torpedo is but it sounds pretty old, along with the sails. Does your husband have any windsurfing gear now?
Hi Lizg. 
now that the formalities are over - it's probably hard to answer your question without knowing a little bit more about where hubby is at skill wise. can you tell us a bit more?
this thread has chit chat about boards that would suit a beginner quite well
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=42384
Buy an x-excite ride or a starboard go!! doesent matter, but old gear was very frustrating when i was learning, the gear these days is so good for learners, amazing !!
Old gear will put you off for learning, get the new stuff :)
( long board is the worst for learning (unstable) !! :)
Lizg - No dont buy it.
I think the simple fact that he is selling a 'sinker board' should immediately suggest that it is not suitable for a beginner.
um, do you not like your husband??
cause on your current path your future looks something like this.
You will be poor. Every year you will notice thousands of dollars vanishing from your bank account and windsurfing equipment turning up in the shed that looks the same as last years gear...well maybe a different colour.
You will be lonely. Unless you decide to windsurf as well - read twice as expensive - you will not see him in the afternoons and weekend during summer. He will also not commit to any more social events for fear of missing a good seabreeze, and may well leave family gatherings - yes even Christmas day - to get his fix.
He will be moody. This mood will last most of winter, except on the odd occasion he gets out in that steamer you bought him so he can now sail year round.
You will no longer drive a nice car. No you are destined to own a rust riddled, salt water bathed van capable of holding all the gear he needs to fuel his passion. Actually it will become an addiction.
On the up side though, you didn't think of getting him a kite which entails all the above and a need to be the centre of attention and wear boardshorts over the top of any other apparel at all times.
Don't say you were not warned
Jokes aside, head to your nearest windsurfing shop and get some sound advice on what gear he might need. Maybe even buy him a lesson or two for Christmas. Buying the wrong gear is both an expensive and very frustrating mistake, which will most likely end in turning him off the sport for good.
pay heed to Nebbian. He's very wise. Kinda like the guy on the TV show Kung Fu. (except a windsurfer instead of a kung fu'er)....
please dont buy it, go to the shop and speak to the guys there,
I took the advice of a mate who was stuck a while back in things and time. 14 months later am regretting it big time. I should have gone to the shop got a couple of lessons and then bought my gear.
I thank my mate for getting me into windsurfing big time but the gear advice was a little out of touch. 
JP Xcite ride is good advice , have one now and its very good.
Agree with the others on here. Either invest in lessons or get some advice from a windsurfing shop.
If either of those aren't an option for you, ie no shops or windsurfing schools nearby, maybe you could invest in a less expensive present like an instructional DVD for beginners?
"Beginner to Winner" by Jem Hall and "Intuition" by Guy Cribb are quite popular, and there's another by Peter Hart which is apparently quite good "Windsurfing Fundamentals" is the original learn to windsurf dvd and I think he's due to release another called "New Beginnings".
Firstly, this guy with the longboard is out to lunch. Waters were crowded long time ago, and every single one of them had learned on longboards. So surely it's doable, even easy. Not saying it's the best or only option, but do consider.
Don't buy Go's, this and other forum are replete with people getting bored with them after a few outings. Feels like standing on a cricket field.
Lessons and rentals: of course, that's the right advice. Get to know what you wanna do. Try a few planks, and so on.
Advice from shops: you gotta be kidding me. They sell stuff, preferably multiple gear. Often with young sales guys that look about 14. Don't start there until you have a pretty good idea what you wanna do.
I don't get it. Are you guy's following DL's (truly excellent) flow chart accidentally or on purpose?
Buy a couple of current magazines to get a feel for the huge variety of gear on the market.
Be aware that with windsurfing, you can learn a lot from books, mags and videos but this theoretical knowledge takes a LOOONG time to translate into physical ability. It's easy to read a few mags and think you're ready for the hard stuff, like small boards, waves, high winds, etc....
Lessons and rentals first. And talking to windsurfers at the beach. Don't buy yet!
Good one DL, you missed out the 'lessons or self-abuse' sub-set though.
....and Lizg, your intentions are great, but the lesson path, then advice from the instructors is probably the safest way to go.
Jez
Have to love 'TORPEDO' as a name for a windsurfer though...
hmm it seems we are presuming that Liz and hubby live in an area where there are windsurfing shops and schools... and there are plenty of places in Oz that don't.
In which case I suggest a holiday to a windsurfing mecca where they do lessons. 
