Newbie startup equipment for the Mediterranean

[Admiral]

I want to buy a second hand set to work on the Mediterranean sea, Castelldefels, Spain. I am 43, reasonably fit, weight 85Kg, snowboard most winters. I want to have fun on the water, nothing serious or complex. Jumping waves would be great and a few tricks would be awesome.

Im a beginner, took my RYA Level I & II over 20 years ago. So will be learning on flat water again on the olympic canal, then head to the sea once I get the skills to tack, gibe and waterstart.

Im looking for a good first set, there are second hand complete packages which are about 5 years old, but I have zero knowledge right now on equipment.

Questions:

Where is the best place to learn about all the equipment, past and present in an unbiased way?
Are there any classic starter packages which might fit my needs?
What are the risks of buying second hand sets?
As the market is so deflated, prices at around 50% or rrp. Is it best to just buy a starter kit from some manufacturer?

Your help is greatly appreciated.

[geohaye]

Admiral, a very similar question was posed here recently by a fellow in Sweden. Have a look at this thread for some useful input -- at least for the beginning stages of your quest:

http://www.iwindsurf.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=244101

[Admiral]

Hi geohaye,

Thankyou and yes I did read all that thread. Which lead me to open a new one.

evert.kjellgren was looking for a equipment for a lake not the sea with surf. I followed all the links provided which lead me to ask my set of questions.

[Sailboarder]

[jfeehan]

i think the best place to learn is the beach nearest to you, so you can get out on the water as often as possible when the conditions are good.

your town is right on a nice beach, so learn there!

of course, some days am not be suitable for your skill level, but you will improve.

i agree that initially, you want a bigger board, but not necessarily a board with a centerboard.

you will not generally have flat water at your location, so something pretty wide with stability would help a lot. at least 30 inches or about 77cm wide.

in your location, i would strongly consider a wind sup or just a sup with a mast insert.

the sup will give you something to do when you go to the beach when it's not windy, and they are great for riding waves even with a sail

as your skill improves, you can add a planing shortboard if you want to sail in higher winds.

[d0uglass]

Admiral-

I think a good way to evaluate older equipment in an unbiased way is to go by the numbers for volume, width, and length, and some other general aspects of shape and fittings like rocker, daggerboard, mast track, etc. Figure out what you're looking for in terms of those numbers and aspects, then see how close the older equipment fits them.

From what you describe you're probably looking for a planing longboard (board with a daggerboard and a flat tail rocker) that you can sail in a wide variety of conditions including rough water. At your weight you'll want 200+ liters in a longboard, 70+ cm width, and 280 - 380 cm length.

I think a Bic Techno 293 might be one of the easiest to find longboards in your part of the world because it's a one-design board that has been around for a while. http://www.bicsportwindsurf.com/products/boards,3,31/t293,330.html

I don't think your area has very consistent surf, but if you want to ride waves with your windsurfing longboard then something like one of the Exocet WindSUPs or RRD Longrider would be better than the Techno.

You'll need a different board (shortboard) when you want to start jumping and stuff. The longboard you need now and the shortboard you might want later are so different that you shouldn't try to compromise them into one board or try to skip the longboard.

-James

[Admiral]

Thanks everyone!!!

I went today to the Olympic canal, which is a 1km long artificial lake. I had two hours of personal instruction, but the instructor did not need to instruct more than once or twice to correct my stance and to show me the fast way to end a tack using what he called the superman technique.

There was very little wind, which was ok and allowed me to try all points of sail, focusing on stance, movement of weight, sail position and hand placement. With a few gusts for the final hour, I started to remember how fun windsurfing could be.

I was using a BIG old bic board, all the markings had been worn off years ago. So in the two hours I never once fell off the deck of this small aircraft carrier.

Looking at many websites and retailers of board, I think that my style would be what they are calling freewave.

The long board idea with large bouncy sounds a great idea. I have not tried SUP, so the idea seems a great one. No wind surfing and wind surfing idea sounds really interesting. It will give me time to learn how to surf a windsurf board, understand the local environment while staying spending at least sometime on the board and not in the water.

Looking at the second hand market and they seem to be mostly narrow 120-130l boards. Like the BIC PRESTO 2.80m 120l. So a long board might have to be new. Anyone have a preference of a WindSUP combination?

[Sailboarder]

The Exocet WindSUPs are well known for what I think you want to do. D0uglass rightly pointed that you want a planing longboard. This means something with a flat tail rocker to allow easy planing. Bic and Starboard are making such boards.

Typical SUPs with a mastrack to allow windsurfing are not flat at the tail . This allows for easier turns in waves, at the expense of much delayed and slower planing.

A good compromise is a duck tail. On plane, it behaves like a flat tail board, off the plane like a rockered one. You also don't need to walk back as far on the board like you have to do on traditional raceboards when you start to plane. This trick also works for flatwater. On the plane, you have a feeling not so far from a shortboard. Off the plane, the added lenght provides more speed and directional stability. Exocet WindSUPs, Kona One and RRD Longrider feature duck (or step) tails.

D0uglass had the guts to add a step-tail to his SUP. He seems pleased with the results. Looking at his blog will help you understand what is's all about.
http://jimbodouglass.blogspot.ca/2014/01/step-tail-addition-to-sup-finished.html