VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

Hello,

I'm a newb! I windsurfed when I was younger, on floater boards, and now want to get back into, almost 13 years later. I went out to Elk Lake and rented one of their boards and remembered how to do it. Now I'm looking for gear. What size board should a beginner buy that will let him learn on and not hold him back. I want something that I can uphaul on, I weigh 180lbs.

Another issue is that I want to sail in the Victoria area, what size of sails should I be looking for?

Thank you,
Dave

welcome! what was the rental board and were you comfortable on it? Volume is your friend if youre going to learn around victoria. when I was learning 13 years ago i used a 200l bic calypso with 5.7 and 7.0 sails for caddy bay and elk lake. after a couple years i got that thing planing across nitinat with a 5.0, i even took it down to cook st. one time.
im no WS instructor so hopefully some much more useful info will come your way. beware of advice masquerading as sales pitch though which reminds me you will certainly need a nice chinook boom much like the one im selling in the forum.

The best investment you will make in re-learning will be to have a floaty board that is lighter, yet suitable for modern sails etc. The best step for you will be to get a ~150L Go board (from Starboard). These are fun to sail, and are wide and stable. Ignore your gut feeling when you see them for the first time (eg. man, that picnic table is so wide that it can't be fun to sail). They plane quickly, carry a huge range of sails (as small as you want up to 9.8 m2 for super light wind) and help with learning to sail (easay to uphaul on), learning to waterstart, learning to jibe, and getting on the water when other sailors are waiting for more wind. The other important feature is they hold their value and are in demand, so can be sold easily. My re-intro to windsurfing took 2 yrs on crappy gear to get to the point that my partner did with a Go in 1 yr. Welcome to the sport (again)!!!!

The ~150L is the best size - don't be tempted by bigger (e.g. 180L) as they are heavier and not necessary. They can be purchased in Victoria through Excel Watersports, and I believe that Chris has a package type deal with boom, mast, sail etc. He is also quite helpful with advice etc.

try get a modern wide board (like the Go), but with a fully retractable centreboard - it will be much more fun in sub-planing conditions, and you won't see much of a difference when you lift it up in higher wind.

Welcome back!