Welcome to the Awesome Sport of Windusrfing

Getting Started

So you've been wowed by this hip and happening site, the thought of blasting across an ever changing surface at terrifying speeds thrills you, and you're not afraid to spend the next years of your life ploughing cash, time and blood into something that kicks, bites, scratches back just when you least expect it.

Yup, it sounds like your regular intimate relationship. And though it may not seem like it now, it's going to compete with any other intimate relationships you're thinking of having.

Debate is still hot on whether a threesome is possible. I'm currently doing some research in this area and I'll let you know.

And despite all of this you still want to learn to windsurf. You've looked at kitesurfing and decided it's not for you. Too easy to learn, too flashy, too many chicks ogling you.

Congratulations. Welcome behind the curtain. You're determined, you're tough. That's what it takes, and you've got it in spades. If you don't, I'm afraid you'll have to do a google search for "Jetskis R Us" because I don't have a link.

Getting Started

Kit

Yes, I was talking rubbish when I said tough & determined was all you'd need. You're going to need some kit too. This is the windsurfer's biggest dilemma, especially in this country. While living in a raging socialist state has all the advantages of widening the gap between rich and poor, it also means that 90% of all the competent, intelligent people in the country are leaving faster than talented musicians from a "Michael Learns to Rock" concert.

Bang goes the windsurfing target market, up go the prices.

But all is not lost. Firstly, there is a plethora (collective noun for windsurfing kit) of second hand stuff out there if you can drag it out of someone's rafters. Beware, though. Any board you can't lift, you should not be paying more than R20 for. In fact, the guy should probably be paying you to take it. I'm not saying it's useless.... it's just a supply and demand thing. There is tonnes of this stuff out there (from the 80s) and no-one wants it. When you get good, you're not going to want it either and a 5m 20kg board can't be tucked away under the Welsh dresser.

You can learn on anything. The factors that will vary are:

The price you pay for your learning kit
How fast you learn
How fast you outgrow it

The old "longboards" of the 80s are millions of nautical miles away from the flashy, fast, maneuverable, light boards of today. But many principles remain the same. Balance, sail angles, uphauling, points of sail, fins, sheeting in and out etc.

But an old longboard has the following advantages:

It is dirt cheap
It is stable and easy to learn on (You'll be going in an afternoon or two with the right pointers)
If it flips off your roof racks at 120 and goes through the BMW behind you it will barely get a scratch on it.
Unless you have an engine that delivers 600Nm of torque in your windsurf-passion-wagon, you won't be going fast enough with that baby on your roof for it to do any damage to overpasses when it flips off on the highway.

So, all that drivel above is saying the following: Don't knock that old longboard kit. It really isn't that bad to start on, can be a lot of fun and should cost you next to nothing. Just remember to make sure you get a complete working set (board, mast, sail, boom, fin, centre-board) and make sure all these items connect together in what seems like a semi-logical fashion. You will not be able to get any spares for this stuff!

That is option number 1. It will get you to the point where you can uphaul, sail on both reaches, do basic tacks and gybes. Heck, you may even get to do a little harness sailing or footstraps. You can forget jumping, carving lay-down gybes, waterstarts (?) and down-the-line wavesailing, though. For that, you're gonna have to take the next step.

Option 3 would be to buy your target board right away, assuming you have any idea what that would be. You can be sure, though, that if you're planning to sail waves, do forward loops or carve insane gybes, learning on your target board is going to be about the most frustrating thing you have ever ever EVER experienced. So do yourself a favour and beg, borrow, steal a board that is good for learning on.

What have I missed? Oh, Option 2. Option 2 is the windsurfing manufacturers' solution to the problem of learning kit vs blasting kit. The widestyle stuff. Yup, there are boards in between these two. Basically, they have the volume (read flotation, stability) of bigger boards, but are shorter and wider and hence far more maneuverable and similar to your target board. In fact, some of these boards can practically *be* your target board if you're going into the formula / race side of sailing.

The only problem with option 2 is the cost. You may be forced to buy new. Even second hand, this kit is likely to be a lot newer than option 1 and therefore get ready to make a few budget adjustments.

I can't believe I'm rambling on like this. Here is the long and short of it (heh heh):

What you need to start:

Board
- Volume: Take your weight in kg, add about 60 to that and that is roughly the volume you need in litres. For eg, I'm 90kg so I should look for a learning board of around 150l volume to give me the stability and flotation I need to make reasonable progress.
- Shape: Short (max 3m) and wide will be easiest, but long is ok. A centre board (removable fin-like thing in the middle of the board (different to fin at the back)) will be useful initially.
Mast / Sail combo: These aren't such an issue. You can get learning stuff which is generally cheaper and less responsive but there is no harm getting good stuff here because it will only make it easier from the beginning. Size is really the issue. You don't want to be blown to kingdom come when you start out so (in KZN) don't get much over a 5.0m2 sail, again, depending on your size / strength. Me at 90kg, probably needs a 5.0m2 to learn with. My girlfriend, at (an undisclosed weight), would probably be better off with a 4.0 or even smaller.