In the market for a family board with a bit of performance for lake / bay sailing but ok for beginners too. I found the Go on the starboard website. Anyone suggest anything else 110 to 120L ?

Look no further because Starboard is the GO
Seriously

a JP Funster, is the way to go!

They are the same as the Starboard Go, except they are a bit quicker when you put the straps out wider!

And plane earlier!!

Definetly look at the JP FUNSTER!!!

sflack said...

a JP Funster, is the way to go!

They are the same as the Starboard Go, except they are a bit quicker when you put the straps out wider!

And plane earlier!!

Definetly look at the JP FUNSTER!!!

You forgot to mention what shop they are available from?

Jman said...

sflack said...

a JP Funster, is the way to go!

They are the same as the Starboard Go, except they are a bit quicker when you put the straps out wider!

And plane earlier!!

Definetly look at the JP FUNSTER!!!

You forgot to mention what shop they are available from?

SHQ of course.....in Vic

I've had a go on a medium sized GO with a big sail and it really did go!, quite a performer. But the really big GO felt more like an ocean liner, more learner and fun oriented.

One of the guys a I sail with just bought a 70cm+ Starboard Futura 122 to give the family lessons on. But he can get off it, lots of fun and very high performance.

If you go down that path he's come up with a protection system which I've tried and it works reasonably well. Get yourself some white sticky velcro strips and EVA foam or pool noodle. Make up some padding to protect the rail and nose (or any vulnerable area). Use the velcro to attach. This makes it quick and easy to fit or remove depending on how the board is being used.

The other accessory you can make is a centre fin, if the board doesn't have one. I've used a right angle piece of perspex with suction caps. It crude and has a bit of drag, but for learner speeds it's not an issue but makes a big difference for the learner.

Just to add, a proper sail makes a difference as well. Giving the kids a lesson we had two going on JP Young Guns. One with a modern shaped kids sail and the other with a 'one design style' piece of triangular cloth.

The one with the triangle had a lot more trouble tracking straight. When they swapped over there was an immediate improvement. Having decent gear really helps learners to stay motivated.

We tried out the Go today. I first took it out in a very light breeze and a 3.7 sail. Quite stable and very smooth. My wife then tried it. She is a beginner and this is her second sail ever and the first one in six months. A bit of a shakey start but then she could uphaul and start going. Biggest issue is sail trim, needing to learn how to steer the board to avoid going downwind.
We were in a good place to learn, high tide over a sandbar, around half a meter of clear water. I felt my Tabou 140 and the Go were similar to sail in these sub planing conditions. The Go is a bit bigger at I think 150 litres and a bit wider. The biggest difference is the soft deck. Very friendly for knees as opposed to the nonslip on the Tabou. The biggest issue for the Go is drifting off downwind. This has been mentioned before in threads discussing the Go. I guess any modern shortish board with a tiny sail will have problems getting back upwind when severely underpowered. However for a rank beginner in a place where you can wade back upwind its not such and issue.


So I don't think I'll buy a Go. I'd rather buy an old raceboard. I had a go of an old Bic raceboard a few weeks ago and it was really nice in sub planing conditions, cutting through the water and very purposeful. Don't have anywhere to put the raceboard though. I think it was a Labamba or something like that.

If you want the board for learning you are better to get a wide board with a centreboard than a long board which is usually only about 65 cm wide. A starboard start or Rio or the Jps mentioned above. 20cm extra seems to make the stability twenty times better. the 100cm boards are virtually impossible to capsize.

The raceboards are great for subplaning speed and racing but not for beginers or early planing. They are much cheaper but for learning the value is there in the wide boards that have centreboards.

If you can afford a bit more and want more performance you can also look at the olympic RSX board, the mistral Prodigy, the Bic Techno hybrids. These have great stability and a good compromise between planing and subplaning performance. They are not so well paded for learners and are easier to damage.

Mobydisc said...

Yes fair enough. I found the Bic raceboard to be quite tippy compared to a modern wide board. So I would not want to teach with this sort of board. I'm hoping we can get away with the Tabou 140 and not have to worry about buying another board. I really liked the feeling of the raceboard. I was using a 7m sail and it felt like it could handle a 9m easily.

Maybe stay at Lake Wallis for a week and get lessons so the biggest widest board stage can be skipped.

We were up the coast one windless weekend trying all sorts of experiments for a learners board. We stabilised one of the narrower boards by strapping some inflatable floaties on each side. Just used a roof rack strap and looped it all the way around the board to hold the floaties against each rail. It worked Ok and even provided some directional stability.

tonymatta said...

If you want the board for learning you are better to get a wide board with a centreboard than a long board which is usually only about 65 cm wide. A starboard start or Rio or the Jps mentioned above. 20cm extra seems to make the stability twenty times better. the 100cm boards are virtually impossible to capsize.

The raceboards are great for subplaning speed and racing but not for beginers or early planing. They are much cheaper but for learning the value is there in the wide boards that have centreboards.

If you can afford a bit more and want more performance you can also look at the olympic RSX board, the mistral Prodigy, the Bic Techno hybrids. These have great stability and a good compromise between planing and subplaning performance. They are not so well paded for learners and are easier to damage.

IMHO that depends on where you are sailing. Fat boards can be fantastic, but not everywhere.

We've taught over 100 people to windsurf on old narrow boards, with better sails. In that time, I can remember one or two people who hasn't been able to get going. At the other end, some are now doing championships and on the national windsurfing team.

I've even got the mother-in-law out and sailing around, tacking and gybing, going upwind and down, pretty easily. In contrast, we've had trouble with really fat boards because in our narrow bay with shifty winds, you need to be able to go upwind well, the wind is often light, and the water is flat.

As an example of the way different conditions affects performance, in our racing a kid who has been windsurfing a few weeks and is on a One Design with a 4.5 can beat a kid who just got 3rd in the Techno nats and is using a 7.8. Of course, in other conditions the Techno would be over the horizon ahead.

The closest commercial school has also given up on the Go, because they can't get upwind well enough to get out to the wind. We found the kids with small rigs on T 293 struggle to get upwind (and it seems to be the same overseas; the small-rig kids in the US only do downwind races) whereas in a longboard even a 2m sail goes upwind okay.

Of course, the Gos, Technos, etc are be fantastic for many places (windy places, open water, choppy areas); they are just not for everywhere.

I have to say that I never had an issue with the Go not getting upwind. I think the rig and fin choice may have more to do with that than the board itself.

Are we talking Go's with a centre fin (bigger one) or the smaller ones without. No centre fin on a big board and small sail would be very difficult.

My partner had no problems going up wind with a 3.5m sail and the RRD with big centre fin.

I still think that wide is great to start with, you don't need to worry about board balance too much allowing you to get the feel of the sail technique. My partner has had about 3 hours water time and she is confidently sailing and tacking in light wind.

Waiting4wind said...

Are we talking Go's with a centre fin (bigger one) or the smaller ones without. No centre fin on a big board and small sail would be very difficult.

My partner had no problems going up wind with a 3.5m sail and the RRD with big centre fin.

I still think that wide is great to start with, you don't need to worry about board balance too much allowing you to get the feel of the sail technique. My partner has had about 3 hours water time and she is confidently sailing and tacking in light wind.

Without (155l) but I learnt on it with a 5.8 sail. I can see that with a smaller sail it may be an issue but it means that after you have progressed past the basics you still have a good board that can be used in light winds and still has some good performance.

If your looking for something with a centreboard/fin with more performance than a funster or start have a look at the starboard rio.

Full eva deck, goes well upwind with small rigs, the funster can be difficult to sail upwind with small rigs, and more performance than the funster or start.

Also good for the full wind range. Very good entry level setup

Its still not a GO but it is a great board for sub planing conditions and getting started