windsurfing in hervey bay

Sean, I'm not from Hervey BAy, but I had a similar lack of response when I posted about sailing there a few months ago.
You might be better off visiting the shops at the Sunny Coast.
There is a guy called Russell at Bundy who used to sell gear, and he may still have enough stuff to get you started.
PM me if you want his number.

I have to say, that new gear is so good, you don't really want to start on 30 year old junk. Give yourself a chance and buy something a little (lot) better.
Yes, it will cost more, but it will be worth it.

Sorry Sean, didn't realise you were only 15yo
When you said you "own 3 trailer sailers" and only willing to spend
"upto $200" ???????????? we wondered if you were serious

Windsurfing can be an expensive sport but that doesn't mean you can't get going for under $500

If you do a search on Seabreeze classifieds for boards up to $200 you'll come up with this (make sure you get a fin with it)
www.seabreeze.com.au/Members/Classifieds/Results.aspx?search=nwYiSCB98UgjKAnbq1yYE4of8FrhDmfw

Also do similar search for sails, mast, mastbase boom etc
You could be lucky and get a complete rig but beware of heavy old junk try and get stuff from around year 2000 onwards.

Ask lotsa questions both on this forum and come down to were we sail mostly near Margaret st at Urangan before you part with your hard earned dosh
What you get will depend on your weight how fast you learn and what you want to do?????????????
also chek these sites out
www.scboardsports.com.au/
caloundracitysailboards.com.au/
www.wind-surf.com.au/index.html






and no we didn't much respond to wankkenho but to his credit at least he responded

Hi Sean try putting a post in the "Windsurfing General section" you'll get lots more advice and responses than in just the Qld section.

IMHO That gear you refered to on EBay might get you out and floating about but REALLY they should be giving them away for FREE
My advice would be to save your money for better gear.

Perhaps if you put a free wanted ad in the local papers you might find something similar locally, stored away in someones shed as windsurfing was much more popular 20 years ago
Also similar boards turn up at the local dump ask the recyclers there. I heard there's one at the HB dump now.

Hope I haven't turned you off as it's a great sport and we definately need more sailors out there

ps so do you really own 3 trailer sailers of are you really 15yo they can't both be true now can they

Here's a much better setup for you on Ebay if you can get it for the right price

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Windsurfer-/330522390941?pt=AU_Sport_Surfing&hash=item4cf4ab719d

And get a freight Quote here....but always ask the seller B4 you buy will they organise the package and freight

www.smartsend.com.au/

(Generally seabreeze is the safest place to buy used gear and don't be afraid to make ridiculous offers as most stuff is unrealistically priced and it's always a buyers market)[}:)]



Generally you don't get the whole setup at once
You buy a board to suit your weight/sailing style skill level etc
Then a sail or two (non cambered if you learning) with compatable mast
Then the boom size to suit your sail range
Then mast base and extension to suit mast/sail

Like Ducati said, don't bother with eBay. People selling windsurfing gear there are either selling stuff that is so old it will give you a bad start, or cost you a fortune to fix up.

There might be some reasonable gear there, but nobody who knows about shipping windsurfing gear sells boards on eBay. Look in the classifieds here on seabreeze, but first of all, go talk to some of your locals. They might have some tips, and better still, one of them is bound to have some gear they are thinking of flogging.

Dylan.

hi guys, just wanting to say thanks to everyone who is trying to help me out here, looks like i will be trying windsurfing for the first time on the weekend if the weather is good thanks to F2 and Ducati.

The board is not terrible, but the boom is, and the sail is no better. It does have a newish Uni joint which is important, cos you don't want to buy an old board which can't be used because the mast foot requires a weird unobtainable fitting.
So, the board is workable, but the boom and sail would need to be replaced.
The mast looks OK, but is very old and may break without much strain or warning.
I would just prefer to see you on something that will reward your obvious enthusiasm better.
I think it's a mistake to learn any activity on totally crap gear, and windsurfing companies have put a lot of effort into designing good learners gear, so it's seems all wrong for you to struggle on ****e.

my son is now 14 - I got an old mistral one design very similar to that tyronsea at the dump recycle shp for $20. my three kids used it at Cootharaba for a couple of weeks - it got very heavy with water - but still floated and the kids had a great time - i agree with ducati - you will have done most of what can be done on that style of board in a week or two & will be ready for the next one. But i must say there is a truck load of late 90s early this century sails & stuff that are sitting in garages - have no real resale value & someone will lend/ donate to someone who might get pleasure from it. Older sailors cannot bear the thought of throwing away servicable equipment, and like to have a reserve incase of breakage - but never use the "spare" & thier spouse does a double teapot at them when spring cleaning! lol

Yup, I agree with the suggestions about the 125L slalom board above, and also the comment that there is tons of serviceable sails/booms out there gathering dust because they have been replaced, but are still usable.
I have 2 booms like that, a couple of extensions, and did have some older sails that I traded for $50. Most of the shops will have a bargain bin of those kind of sails that are traded for very little just to get rid of them without throwing them to the dump.
I may do a hit and run trip to Bundy soon if the wind is right, and if I do, I'll donate a boom to your cause.

Yeah, pretty much any old reasonably large board will do to bang around on, but try and get one with a standard mast track, so if you get an extension, you can use it on a subsequent board.
I'm sure the HB crew will line you up with some cheap stuff at some stage to get you started or at least show you the difference between decent gear and total crap, as well as some stuff about the different bits and pieces.
Keep an eye out on the general forum for the NP/JP intro days. They have a trailer full of amazing new gear which they are making available at different locations for people to learn on. It would be well worth a drive to Bris or the Sunny Coast to get to one of those days.
I think Sunshine Coast Sailboards are the NP/JP dealer, and will be getting the trailer back soon.

Sorry mate, you know me.. I can't give my old s*it away because I'm am still sailing it!

Ok, back on topic and keeping things relevant...

A young lad down the street approached me the other day to ask about windsurfing. I turns out he had been trying for a long while to use some old $200 kit that someone had sold him. Needless to say he wasn't progressing at all trying to ride an slalom old ironing board with cambered sails.

Pork Chop and I sorted him out by getting him onto a JP Funster 160L board for $800 and took the cambers out of his sails. I gave him some books and am trying to copy a few learning DVD's for him too. Spoke to his mum yesterday and she said he was sailing around the very first time he took it out.

The hard thing was finding a suitable begginers board on a budget. Very easy to find old gear or even new wave gear but big wide second hand boards are hard to find. As you know, people tend to hang on to them to use as light wind boards.

As for me, I'll keep riding my old junk it suits my style ...

that would be great, any controbution would be awesome, i have been told i will progress pretty quick so i dont see the point spending $1000 on a learner board and than outgrow it quickly and than be short of cash to buy one thats a bit quicker.

Wow that's fantastic Gregwed

I gotta mast extension and base Sean can have
I've also got a good North boom but am using the back half on another boom, I'm sure I can find one tho,
I've also got harness lines and harness when you get that far.

Now for a mast??????????? even half a mast, you know what they say two halves make a whole