i am i large guy about 110kg and have just become addicted to windsurfing and it is now time to by my one gear, i nead to know which board to get i have been recomened the starboard go 170L and also the mistral malibu, and dont know who to trust as both shops only sell one and not the other, i nead to know , are there other boards i should be looking at, any help you be great
thanks
Either board matth. Although i am biased to the starboard go as i taught many people how to sail on them...
i learnt on the starboard Go and its a good board but there are a few problems with it, no daggerboard so makes it a bit more unstable and a little harder upwind, but thats about it,
but after seeing the new goya surf, i wish i had one of them, heeps more foot stap option, it has little indents and bumps in the eva deck for easier grip, and it has the fully retractible daggerboard,
the other great thing about it is it has a big enough rocker to take it out into the bigger chop in the ocean and it will still be quite controlable,
you got likes herehttp://windshack.com/products.php?cat=windsurfing&scat=5&id=104
goyasails.com/boards/surf/
not sure if the price on windshacks site is correct, just ring and find out i think would be the best thing.
got great volume so for your wieght it would be perfect.
but the go is a great board too because you can also take it in the river for speed runs when you advance
Question 1 - where do you live.
Question 2 - what sort of sailing do you want to do?
Question 3- How flexible is your sailing time?
Depends on what the consistant conditions are where you sail...You will find 170L GO board a handfull in 20 knots plus.But if your mostly sailing in 15 knots with a large sail Then no probs.Wide boards plane easy and even at 110kg's you can uphaul on a GO no probs.
Go the GO, but the 170 is big. I have a 155 and its huge but then I am not that heavy. Good to learn on, easy to uphaul and great fun.... but does get a little bouncy in the chop when you are doing 20knots+ lol
I am 110-115kg heavy, I recently bought Go166 (the latest 2008 model)and that is what I would recommend to you. Do not buy 170 as that is previous model - poorer.
Go 166 has exactly the same shape as Futura, just other materials-technology - much more durable which is important for beginners - you will not brake it. Go will keep the price very well, as this is most popular board in the world. I love mine and I am going to keep it for years, I will rather buy second board than sell Go. If I was you, my only dilemma would be 166 or 150...
Good luck !
yer starboard has there stuff together when it comes to beginner to intermediate gear, but almost every board company has something similar to the go.
one thing you should realy ask yourself before you buy any board is "where do you see your sailing going in say 1 year or even 2" be brutally honest here and true to yourself about your sailing ability.
if you intend to sail in the stronger stuff, go for something smaller, i don't mean something 100 litres but something like 130 to 140 litres, modern boards float reasonably flat so can be easily uphauled and tacked, you may struggle to get it going at the beginning, but once you work it out you will be fine and you won't out grow the board.
if you are going to sail in the lighter stuff go for something bigger but mainly for the bottom surface area as this will help you get going heaps easier.
the Go's and similar boards are great but i feel people would out grow them pretty fast if they are keen and on the water every chance they get, there shapes are great now across the brand, and they all offer heaps of strap position to learn to use them which is excellent but the weight of the tuffer construction let them down a little, and you can always buy a nose pad to fit almost any board these days.
if the store don't have a board you like in stock ask them which brands they can get in for you, it may cost you the price of freight to get it there but you will get the correct board for you..
Right on OceanBlue64: keep the old one, for the reasons you mention. Big mistake is to get into buying a new board every 6 months, there is no end to it. Surely you must see this coming.
Keep in touch with the roots for social stuff, teaching, and lighter wind sailing for yourself. Keep using the Go to refine moves and practice stuff before trying on shorter boards. Use the Go to get into freestyle.
Buy wisely and not too often, take your time too to decide what you will buy. I have taught people that get into the Tupperware party, just to drop after only 2-3 years coz they say the sport is too expensive.
Cheers mate.
(And I hope my English was clear enough for Stewie - the lear thing.)
Got my 165lt JP out today....it's still awesome in light-medium winds, easy to lear(n) on, and keeps you interested after you progress.....also, I think by choosing a more standard shape (a tad more difficult to learn on, but not much), gets you prepared for the next step onto a smaller board....I'd go a high-litre (140-165lt) freeride board (JP xcite ride, or similar), in saying that, the GO would be the best/easiest board to learn on, just harder to progress from.
wouldn't a freeformula be better for matth? apparently he seems to know the basics and as a one board for his weight he'll be faster later on that than the go
I have to agree that the Go 165/170 (or newer 166) would be excellent for you.
Don't worry about growing out of it. I have had a Go 165 and a Go 170 and the second one is a 2005 model and I have just kept it because it is so useful.
My teenage Kids and all their friends use it, my 'only sail on warm light wind days' wife loves it, I use it to teach friends and their families and I even have used it just to try sailing in a Formula Race (great fun and I even kept a couple of them in sight!). I still like to use it myself on lightish days for cruising down the inlet or across the bay with an 8.4 or 9m sail and it is a surprisingly high performance ride. Don't be tempted to get the slightly smaller one, especially for your size. The bigger one is noticeably easier for learning and better in lighter winds when you have some experience. Then, later you might get a second smaller board for stronger wind days but the Go will keep you satisfied for a long time anyhow.
As someone has said, they are very much in demand second hand and if you ever want to turn it over it should be easy (not that I'd recommend it :-)
As a begginer myself I use a JP x-cite ride 145 litre, I weigh in at 108kg, so has been good to learn on with a 5.6 combat.
Hi, Whilst at WSP looking for a decent 120l board the other day I saw the JP Funster 160ltr. This board is similiar to the previous *Brd Go's but has a dagger board so great in really light conditions when drift is a big issue, and also upwind. *Brd make the Rio which is also similiar but the JP Funster appears to have more performance with its shape. I have been a *brd buyer of late but was really impressed with the Funster and the new JP slalom iv's . Any way am getting my kids into the sport and will probably buy the Funster or Rio for them and my wife to learn on and us all to use on family holidays etc for cruising. Damn, just put an offer in on a fast 120ltr board and also want to get a SUP/light wind wave (perhaps Bic Jungle) - the quiver seems to just want to expand - just have to HTFU and hit the water.
ive been sailing for 25 years and we didnt have the stuff you guys have today dvds, seabreeze where you can get advice, you need to get the big picture and stick to your go's and learn how a board responds to the sail its the sail that's doing it, not the board,most guys learn to sail fast on a broard reach
have a look at the videos i posted and stay on your go's untill you know how the board is responding to your sail
i taught a guy to sail yesterday on a starboard start, first time he had ever sailed, he was 100kg, after one lesson he can sail in a straight line confidently, 100m without a fall and at the end of the lesson pulled 3 tacks perfectly. he is going to buy a board and has already ruled out the start, and prob go to a much smaller board 140ish litre.
my point is once he realised if he don't stomp all over the board and be gentle moving around the board i got more and more stable and he was cumfy enough to progress to something less stable, being smaller and less of a bigginer board. and this guys been sailing once.
Modern boards are exellent for versitility, if you can demo a board or borrow one around the size you are think even a little smaller, jump on the oppertunity and figure it out from there.
i just bought a smaller more full on wave board than i have been riding in the past (quatro 84 wave "08", ) the board is dificult to ride in the lighter stuff, don't plane real well, but after 3 sails, even under powered i'm progressing with my wave sailing and by next summer should be ripping harder than i ever have. if i had stayed with my old board or not went out on a limb with buying this board, i would not have progressed with my sailing, and i think that is the main reason in buying a new board, to progress..
Time on water is the best thing to progess, updating gear every year will do nothing. My 84 quatro floats and gets going quite well and Im 85kg
sounds like you need a bigger board, maybe a starboard start for your wavesailing.
So you can do those moves?
I started on a go 180 and its great however I wish I had bought a smaller board and just rented a big one in the early days. 12 months on and i want to buy a much smaller board now.
