Starting again

Pretty general query and maybe too broad but am interested in getting back on the water again, sailed back in the 80's and 90's then life got in the way and I drifted off. Am in Perth and bulk of the sailing I did was in the river or sheltered ocean (got no ambition to be in any real surf), at my best ability would generously be described as average but short boards/sinkers/chop hopping/general blasting was were I was at. Been back on a few times over the years and still managed most of it complete with shakey jibes but long time between drinks. Started looking at some second hand gear but is plenty of sub-genres that don't mean a lot to me. Would like to start with something that will do most things okay and see how I go (and lets face it the bar probs won't have to be particularly high). Am `70kg still fit enough enough I think (road race motor bikes in the winter months) never had a sail over 6.5m before and probs won't come down the hill unless there is reasonable wind but maybe my old bones will say otherwise. Was looking at something around the 90-100lit in the free ride/free wave type category but am just confusing myself now with options. Cheers for any advice people can offer

Some would argue that foiling is more difficult and the crashes hurt more. As a general rule, try to get a more modern freeride board rather than the attractiveness of a cheaper, older model. The same with sails. Improved performance over the last decade or so make sailing so much easier and comfortable.

Try to visit some of the local places where people sail and have a look at the equipment they use. Any opinion I give will be based upon the conditions where I sail and they are quite different from your area. For interest, I am about 70kg and I often use a 6m sail in 15-20knt winds. The only time I would need a bigger sail would be on those light wind days.

Choose a good quality mast that matches your sail. The more graphite = a stiffer rig that gives better sail performance and a wider range of wind conditions.

I use a 107 L board and it has enough floatation for me to uphaul if I need to should the wind die off.

Good luck

It's like riding a bike, you don't lose the muscle memory. The modern gear is really good. At 70kg, your the right size. You sound like a bump and jump guy. Your best bet is to visit your local shop and talk about your options with the owner. You could probably get away with one board (freeride about 95 to 105 litres) and two sails (5 and 6.5). That would cover 15 to 25kts. Second hand you would spend about 2 to 3 grand including boom, mast and accessories.

A two sail, foil board setup would get you on the water in 10 to 20kts. The technique is different but learnable. The board and rig costs are similar, but you would have to add a grand or so for a good freeride foil.

Welcome back

Thanks for the advice and sounds like thinking is not far of mark, ideally wouldn't bother trecking down the hills unless it was 15knt+ but ability wise is a ways back and in that previous life was down the water at the merest hint of wind. Seems to be plenty of boards available but maybe less options with sails. Are sails less specialised with less options in the current market, assume a more current wave sale would still be okay messing around on the river? Cheers

I agree the memory comes back pretty well.
Get 5 y/o freeride board and similar age no-cam freeride sails.
Aim for 20kn day on your first try so you're up and planing in the harness.

Caution with new boards they can't be smashed around like u were used to, holes and water in them = bad bad.

I recently got back into sailing after 20+ years. Its definitely a bit of a minefield with all the different gear available now. In the end I decided I wouldn't find the perfect gear when I hadnt sailed for so long + I didnt want to spend too much incase i actually didn't like it. So i found someone selling a whole bunch of gear that was close to what I think I wanted for fairly cheap, 2k i got a 5 year old slalom board, carbon boom 3x 3 cam sails, mast, extension and uni. It was enough to we my appetite and have been upgrading and expanding what I have now that I know what I want. And that I do want to sail a lot, its worth investing in good gear.

Another good option if you have it in your area would be to hire some gear for the first couple of sessions.

Good luck, like others have said, if you were an ok sailor before the muscle memory will kick in, I was quite suprised how it all clicked into place. Now Im just kicking myself for having been away so long