VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

It's going to be another quiet water day, so perhaps some of you fellows could give me some guidance too on a suitable replacement windsurfer for me, a relatively fit grandmother. I have a Starboard Start with standard issue 5.0 sail. I have a light weight full body wetsuit and boots. I've been going to the gym since January to get stronger! I weigh 130 lbs. I had two lessons three years ago (Lake Okanagan) and successfully got going. Circumstances have only allowed me out two or three times since with minimal success, but now that we live here (Cedar) I want to get out on the water this year. A lot. However, I'm already realizing that my board is holding me back. It simply weighs too much and by the time I get everything to the water, and rigged, I'm worn out!! I would need to sell my Start to buy something else, and a second hand all around board seems right, even one of these wide ones, just not so darn heavy. Are any of the current buy and sell listings suitable for me? Or? Keep in mind that I'm still falling off most of the time, especially in waves. I just want to get my board to go, and come back and me stay on, waves or no waves. I expect my main playground will be from Cedar (if I can find a safe spot), north to CB. And by the way, what do you do about your gear being in salt water? Do you wash it once a year?
Thanks guys, Gramma Jo

hi grammaJo, I was wondering if you really were a grandma! I checked out the beaches around cedar one time and they seemed pretty rocky. On a southeast try the park down in ladysmith, there is a nice gravel beach there with onshore wind. At your stage in the learning curve i think you are on the right gear but it sounds like you might just need yourself a caddy. maybe try grassy spots where you can just drag the board around.
as for salty gear, nitinat is pretty fresh up untill june but after that you need to go up to nimpkish for a good rinse!

You might try a little dolly system for dragging the big board around; some of the beginner boards have built-in nosewheels for this. You might be happier on a longboard for lightwind cruising after a short while, if you want to be out in lighter winds in your local area. The big wide boards get a bit boring after a few hours, whereas narrow and long glides along a nice speed. Picking up an old longboard really cheaply might do you fine for the 'local' cruise board.

But you'll soon want to get planing too and that is best learnt at Nitinat - and there are several grandmothers who have learned to sail little teensy weensy wave boards (very easy to carry!) there and have even started to jump - so you won't feel out of place! Your Start would be OK for learning to plane too, though once planing you will soon want a much smaller board. At your weight, something about 100-110 litres will probably do for your eventual light (but still planing) wind board and you will be 80 litres or smaller on your higher wind board.

See some of the threads on Go boards and

If your gear (but especially sails) are used in salt water, no need to rinse; in fact, it can cloud them with minerals. Also if you rinse or sail in fresh water your sails should be dry before being packed or they can start to grow stuff. Doesn't happen with salt.

The wetsuit you WILL want to rinse out and dry! (if left in the basement, leave a fan on to move the air till they are bone-dry).

Another Grandma! We should start a grandma and grandpa windsurfing group! Right Pat? From a grandpa to a grandma, I think a good choice for you would be the GO 129 (http://www.star-board.com/viewpage.php?page_id=29) if you can afford it. I think the 5.0 would work fine with it. It might be a little much to handle in winds above about 20 kts though so you will eventually want to get a smaller board once you get the hang of the back and forth.

Hey, I'll be in the Grandpa division after this fall!

Thanks DWD, and MF4, TOW, for the tips and guidance. I'll check out Ladysmith Harbour this weekend. Yes, I qualify for grandmother. So I should stick with the Start for now; get some wheels for it. Okay, good idea. And as soon as I've got it going routinely, I'll watch for it's replacement(s) as recommended. I had no idea salt water was more favourable for the gear -- good to know stuff. It is surprising how quickly grandparenthood arrives.... enjoy! Happy Sailing, Gramma Jo

Congratulations MF4!

Hi,

The starts are very heavy, and are difficult to make plane, except when very powered up. I sympathize with the weight issue. Go's are lighter, and fun to sail. I think a gear caddy is also a fine idea, but you will have less trouble hauling the Go around than the start. Sell it and get a smaller (<150L) Go - ??

I agree with windsurfish in that the board is quite big for you. I'm about 130 lbs. and 110 litres floats me high and dry. So you really have way more floatation than you need.
An old style longboard is a good investment, especially since you might even get one for free. You'll develope skills that will carry through to shortboarding. I still take out my Mistral Superlight on hot summer days just for fun and to teach friends.
To really get planing, best at Nitinat, I would suggest that a 6-6.5 meter sail on a 120-130 litre board would serve you well. All of the manufacturers offer boards in that range and I've seen some here for sale. I find that to be the easiest sailing for someone our size to learn to plane. You should be able to get going in about 12 -15mph wind. Later, you could get a 7.5 which you would use in very light wind on the suggested board. You are not likely to ever want a bigger sail. So you'd be set up for wind up to about 15 mph. After that a 100 litre slalom board will go well with the 6.5
then a 5.8 on 75 litre is nice. when it's getting around 30 mph, a 5.0 on a tiny board is required, and I don't recommend sailing beyond 35 knots unless you gain some weight.
Keep in mind that your fin provides half of you power equation. A slightly larger fin than manufacturers recommend can help you to plane earlier and get upwind. Used would be fine for learning.
Oh yeah, your wetsuit and lifejacket are the most important bits of equipment you have. Always got to get in that safety bit.

Hey thanks everyone for your input! Here I thought I was planing at 5 knots, but I was just floating high because of the big board Thanks especially for the details of the size and type of board, fin and sails that would work for me. Anyone know of a free / cheap board that fits the need? I checked out Ladysmith Park and found it has a lovely grassy slope which would be great for rigging; not too far to the water either. Definitely has to be a south east. And yes Jim, I always wear my life jacket, and in the salt, my wetsuit too. And "Grampa Jo" would have to come along with our kayak just in case, if no one else was going out. Safety first here too. Happy Sailing, Gramma Jo

"An old style longboard is a good investment,"

I don't know if that's the advice I would give. My first real long board was a vintage 1990 Fanatic Cat. It was long, narrow, and heavy. Compared to the GO 140? The long made it more difficult to jibe. The narrow made it more difficult to up haul and more challenging to sail and to climb onto after a dip in the water. The heavy made it more of an issue to load and unload, to carry to the water, and to carry back to the car. The combination of the three made it slow to get up on a plane, although it would certainly plane in the proper conditions.

If money is an issue and a cheap long board is the only option, then I guess that's that. If you can splurge, and buy a GO 129 or 139 or there abouts, you will enjoy the sailing experience a lot more from bow to stern.

Yer right on that; any newer board of appropriate volume would be best.

Gramma Jo - do you have any beginner gear you want to sell.
Ideally I want a GO board 140 or 150L and a sail @ 4.1. Thought you may want to unload some gear if you have found what you are looking for.

No sorry, no board for sale yet. Mine's at least a 230 L Starboard Start Board - it's the biggest Start. I too think that something in the range 135 to 150 with a retractable centreboard would be good for me as the next board. Apparently that would float me okay for sail haul ups till I learn to water start. We were in Hawai'i on Oahu last week. No wind at Kailua where Naish is ! So I tried the boogie board surfing thing in Waikiki. Much fun with one super duper run, two great runs, and lots of little float a-aways. Now I know what it feels like to have the waves and water push you on a board. It's a rush. I got some new muscles for it The hike up Diamond Head finished off the legs.... and any hope of further watersports the next and final day Get this: we saw a guy on a motorcycle, no helmet, talking on his cell phone. Go figure !

Ah - you had a good time in Hawaii. I made two trips to the Mayan Riviera in the spring - didn't windsurf, watched kite-surfers, and did ++boogie boarding - a lot of fun. Have done a couple of runs at Tofino on a surf board and enjoyed the power of the waves - could become an addiction before too long.
Played in the lagoon today, did a couple "land starts"? I think thats what they are called. Not bad for a beginner. I will purchase a 140L Go board as my first investment...but some more practice on the pond is required first. Thanks for the response - just thought I'd put it out there.