My 11 year old son has taken up windsurfing at wv kids club. I did some windsurfing many years ago (at least 10) on a tyronsea kite. we want a board that we both can progress on but which is also a good learner board. We are looking at the JP funride/funster boards and the starboard Kode Tufskin. Anyone got any good advice? It would be much appreciated, since boards have changed so much in 15 years and we don't want to buy something we will grow out of too quickly. also have two daughters 9 and 4 who may be interested.

thanks!!

Not an expert but I can tell you about my experience. I bought a 140 litre board as a first board and still use it 10 years later. It is floaty enough so that in light winds you can slog it if you have to but when the wind picks up it can be used up to about 17-18 knots, after that it gets to be too wild a ride. Modern boards would be wider than the one I use so you may be able to go a little smaller. I think it would be a mistake to go too small as the learning process is a lot quicker on the larger boards. It would be a mistake to go too large because you would soon reach it's limits and you would then be up for another purchase. Of course a lot depends on what is available and you don't want to fork out too much at this early stage. Personally I'd be looking at about 120-150 litres.

Hi
Ha "little Feet", I should have got a name like that.
I am sure folks here have seen this all before,....but I am a complete newbie looking fo advice on the right board also.
You may not have heard before is that I am 45 years old and 45 kg's ,...really
Well I can surf well and sail a small yacht
I got given some old gear and after sorting what is functional I ended up with the Tyronsea 295 slalom, and used the smallest sail out of 4 (much smaller than the rest, no battens)
After the first attempt I cut one of the masts down as low as I could after looking at web, and so the next try managed to sail "awkwardly" all over the little lake. It's enuf to hook me
Will be perfect to keep me on the water between surfing and sailing

I guess the old slalom board isn't making life easy, and the tie on boom is a pain
So looking to get something more suitable
I am confident it won't take long for me to get to intermediate level, so I wanna skip the very floaty beginner boards if possible

With surfboards I pretty much have to have them custom made or make them myself as not many boards built for kids weights for big surf like Bali etc

I'm in Darwin which gets all kinds of conditions but rarely long rolling swells as on the east coast, but sometimes we get decent clean waves, mostly rough, choppy and windy

Looks like a great site
Will much appreciate any advice


Andy

Hi Sue
Memories ??
Was it the old slalom, or my total lack of knowledge ??
Talk of memories !!
I am an artist that was born and raised in Newcastle ;)

I see the Kode Tufskin comes as a 137 litre - that would probably be ok in terms of volume for a lighter weight beginner (although learning to uphaul/sail away on something bigger like a Start or Go would be preferred initially). It looks like it comes with the bolt in centre fin option so deals with this issue well.

The 145 litre Funster on the other hand has a centre board that can be swiveled out of the way - one point of difference. Probably a little more practical when the centre board/fin is actually in use in the beginner phase, and the board is being sailed 'onto' the beach .

Later on the centreboard/fin will become redundant with progress, as higher winds speeds are engaged. A key consideration at this point is the weight of the board. The Funster is ASA and is quite heavy. The centreboard box adds more weight. Not sure whether the Kode's Tufskin is a lighter construct but it might be an advantage if it was significantly lighter. Hence you might take your bathroom scales and compare the weights of the two boards (without footstraps or fins or centre boards - so as to be comparing apples with apples).

Another key point of difference is price - there are some very sharp deals around at the moment on the Funster.

All that said, both the boards will be very well sorted designs with which you can't go wrong. So its the other things as per the above that matter in your choice.

Hope that helps.

Marvin said...

I just got my 12 yr old the 145 litre Funster.
Its gunna be a long haul though to getting to waterstart and harness.

My 12 yr old grandson had a 1 on 1 lesson at peli point a few years ago and "Tom The Instructor" came back after the hour and said "He can waterstart, use the harness and gybe". He had been sailing on a prokids GO for a couple of months. Took me the best part of a year just to crack waterstarts

I think taking yourself out of the loop for these skills is the best way now.

sboardcrazy said...

I've posted this before..Not my best angle..

An interesting technique, I've been also mastering lately...

I would buy a windsurf SUP very compact, like the Sea Lion or new JP Surf SUP 8'10". Very compact, easy to handle of the roof, store easily, floaty enough for kids...smooth deck for knees...and you can use it as a light wind wave board and he will use it as a SUP...and learn to surf small wave etc...the best! My 2 cents.

http://www.jp-australia.com/2012/index.php?id=2086

littlefeet said...

Thanks all for your great notes. My son is almost 12 but tiny (under 25kg), me 50kg and female...not very much muscle. hence the look into smaller boards. I've had some great advice from Nick Maloney at Core Boardsports Jan Juc. He suggests trying some demos first to see where I'm at and see what my son can handle. Great guy. they hire at rigs and boards for this purpose. I've done a bit more research and found that the Fanatic Ripper 120L and Starboard Kode Tufskin 137L are purpose made for parent and child so to speak. Nick suggested the Goya beginner 202 and the Naish Kailua 120/140 but they don't have centreboards. the 160 does. All of these including the Funster take small sails (1.0/2.0) up to 8.0 or 9.0. I found going to the websites of each board maker and checking out the specifications really helpful. The weight and size of the board is also a big issue if my tiny son and myself are going to get the thing down to the beach, let alone on roof racks! they are all pretty light, but the wider boards are really awkward for small sized people to carry....so thanks again, thought I would post my research in case anyone else had the question I had! Happy sailing!

Send A PM to KA360, His boy is 10 and already windsurfs better then me. He's been through everything that's required to teach kids and is doing it all again with his daughter. If anyone can point you in the right direction it's him, There is lots to know when it comes to getting the right gear for your kids.

Here's a few pics of his boy, I think he was 9 when I took these...

littlefeet said...

Thanks all for your great notes. My son is almost 12 but tiny (under 25kg), me 50kg and female...not very much muscle. hence the look into smaller boards. I've had some great advice from Nick Maloney at Core Boardsports Jan Juc. He suggests trying some demos first to see where I'm at and see what my son can handle. Great guy. they hire at rigs and boards for this purpose. I've done a bit more research and found that the Fanatic Ripper 120L and Starboard Kode Tufskin 137L are purpose made for parent and child so to speak. Nick suggested the Goya beginner 202 and the Naish Kailua 120/140 but they don't have centreboards. the 160 does. All of these including the Funster take small sails (1.0/2.0) up to 8.0 or 9.0. I found going to the websites of each board maker and checking out the specifications really helpful. The weight and size of the board is also a big issue if my tiny son and myself are going to get the thing down to the beach, let alone on roof racks! they are all pretty light, but the wider boards are really awkward for small sized people to carry....so thanks again, thought I would post my research in case anyone else had the question I had! Happy sailing!

Yep.I'm a bit larger than you but lifting the 8kgs of board up onto the roof racks after a big session is the worst part of sailing..and the beginner boards would be worse. One of the many reasons I wouldn't think of getting a formula board for light winds..

My daughter has also just completed the WV Kids Club. A great program and a huge thanks to Jerzy. I am pondering what board to get also. I have Formula and big Slalom gear but it is way too fragile. I was thinking a SUP with a removable centre fin like the Starboard 10 Slick. I would welcome opinions / experiences about beginners on Windsurf SUPs

Yep willing to share...all the advice I've had is that kids and adults will learn best and quicker on the floaty gear...most of it is much better than the old days. They will not necessarily learn to plane on that gear, but it will be useful in teaching new skills in lighter wind...which is the way to learn. All advice also points to the fact that you will always keep that learner board...which is why you can't get them second hand I guess. I am also now considering the windsurf SUP boards since I have three children 11, 9 and 4...and I want to be able to go the beach on the weekend and use the gear no matter the weather. I think sups are better for that...if it's too windy for the kids, they can paddle or surf on it or even if there is not enough wind. My son has completed the kids club on the big learner boards and learnt the basics..he had his last session on a kids JP windsurf SUP and managed it really well...it turned a lot more readily than the large boards. Question is...can I just buy one board for the whole family, or do they really need a kids board even if it is a sUP?
my advice...WV members can borrow a beginner board and also a kids board...good chance to see what will work for your family/you. Also make use of the demo boards at the local windsurf schools...we're heading to ZU on sunday to check out the starboards...they have windsurf SUPS...we want to try one first. We tried a Goya 202 in Barwon Heads this summer...it was massive on land...not so massive in water and extremely easy to handle/turn..was quite impressed actually..better than the JP funster 200's we've been using at kids club. Mr Love...It would be good to chat about boards for the kids, since they are probably at the same stage. I think you're on the WV kids club facebook?

We were going to try some of the kids at kids club on smaller adult boards just to see.

I would say that Alex would be ok on a 110 litre freestyle board but it would be too small for you and wouldn't be a general beach fun kind of board.

I would say a widish 130 litre board would be great.

The kids club boards do have big fins on and the problem we always had was that the 2m sails can't really work against that... when I was demo tacking at kids club on a 2m, I used to put a good percentage of my 90kg on the tail to make it head up... the kids didn't notice but it was a bit dodgy. This was why "rake" was such a frequently used shout. The fins being so big resulted in a lot of the tiny kids getting stuck on a run hence "boss hand" to make them luff up.

Most importantly, Alex will need to do a lot of rig handling stuff rather than rushing to a small board. Get him to push tack, duck tack, switch stance heli tack, slam gybe and other stuff when it's light. This is what Alex competed in and it's called flowstyle. This will set him up for planing manouvers, waves and freestyle.

We should probably schedule a flow style follow up comp for early next season so the graduating kids can train for something. Maybe get Alex down too?

Thanks andy...we have the ezzy kids rigs just waiting on our decision for a board...it's literally driving my son crazy! Do you think a parent could use that board aswell or is it not floaty enough?

You are making sense to me now! thanks for that. Akim also talked about having an old smaller fin thrown in for kids to learn with...he did say it would be near impossible to tack with those kids rigs on those big boards...and deep fins. (I am starting to understand the technical stuff...yay!) thanks for your input. it all helps. My alex will be up for anything you guys will teach him..and the other alex can show him.

ginger pom said...

We were going to try some of the kids at kids club on smaller adult boards just to see.

I would say that Alex would be ok on a 110 litre freestyle board but it would be too small for you and wouldn't be a general beach fun kind of board.

I would say a widish 130 litre board would be great.

The kids club boards do have big fins on and the problem we always had was that the 2m sails can't really work against that... when I was demo tacking at kids club on a 2m, I used to put a good percentage of my 90kg on the tail to make it head up... the kids didn't notice but it was a bit dodgy. This was why "rake" was such a frequently used shout. The fins being so big resulted in a lot of the tiny kids getting stuck on a run hence "boss hand" to make them luff up.

Most importantly, Alex will need to do a lot of rig handling stuff rather than rushing to a small board. Get him to push tack, duck tack, switch stance heli tack, slam gybe and other stuff when it's light. This is what Alex competed in and it's called flowstyle. This will set him up for planing manouvers, waves and freestyle.

We should probably schedule a flow style follow up comp for early next season so the graduating kids can train for something. Maybe get Alex down too?

thruster is a 3 fin setp, nothing special really, will probably use it as a single fin when the kids are on it.

on my freestyle board i run it with my freestyle fin which is about 24cm deep. that's not too bad, they can sail into very shallow water and it doesn't create sail handling problems.

the problem though is without a centre fin no matter how much they rake the rig back the board is very slow trying to go to windward. and when i set them up with a good stance for sailing across the wind they just go off the wind and end up very broad.

i know others have had better results without the centre fin but for me now the eldest (8) is sailing it's become a problem for her as she can't go where she wants to go easily.