I it all started about 2 months ago when I decided I would take up windsurfing.
Having done it before on a big donkey of a board about 15 years ago I was confident that I could get straight back in. Yeah right!
Bought a Slalom board and a few sails second hand and took it out to Sandringham for a go.
Well after being knocked about by the wind for an hour I gave up. Picked up a copy of Beginner to winner at SHQ and had a movie marathon.
Decided I needed a bigger board.
Got a great deal on a Bic Techno 135l with 2 NP masts 2 sails and 2 booms. Decent kit this time and much bigger.
Having watched beginner to winner twice now I went out and exhausted my self trying to do a shore start at Sandringham. Went home and watched beginner to winner again. Set up a dry rig and practiced some jibes and tacks etc...
This time I try Chelsea
Well I managed to get up on the board and bring the sail up using the uphaul. Not that it was that successfull after that. Managed to sail 3 meters and flop on my back when the wind emptied out of the sail.
Called quits after 2 hours of torture and deep blisters on my right index finger. First thing to do is get some gloves.
Now I dont know if this is anything like your first experience trying to windsurf but I have not had much luck.
Like to hear from someone that can tell me how they got started and what to look out for. I still have plenty of appetite to learn but how long do I go on for before I settle on being a rubbish windsurfer for the rest of my life?
The best place to learn mate is on a lake. You dont want to learn in the bay, as the water is to rought most the time. The best place is lysterfeild lake or any where you can find a pond, with flat water to windsurf on. Also you should download the beginner windsurf video from the starboard web site. I think it's the best video I have come across, for beginners learning to windsurf.
I learnt to windsurf on a tiny lake out in the bush, on a 50 buck long board. It was the best place to learn to windsurf. After many days of falling in and going no where, I finally got one run across the lake, and I was stoked as, I really improved after that, and just got bettter and better.
The other good flat water places are South Ricketts on a NW wind which is sheltered and sandy and shallow in the lee of the reef. Nice grass to rig on also and a shower there. Sandringham boat harbour is small but good for learners - sandy bottom, flat water, and safe. Happy to give you a lesson some time there as I have a couple of other newbies lined up for lessons. Just give me a PM. I might be down there this weekend.
Also Inverloch is flat water, but watch the fast outgoing tide, and Sandy Point's Shallow Inlet is mecca.
I also agree with jibe9 that there is some good instructional stuff on the web. Well worth a study.
Learning is exhausting though as you do so much uphauling of the rig. Best to use the smallest sail you can to make it easier until you start dropping it less. Two hours is a pretty good innings if you are learning. You did well to keep going that long.
Don't feel too bad, most people go through that stage of non-stop uphauling and not seeming to go anywhere for the first session or two. It is easier if you have someone experienced with you to help you avoid major pitfalls.
Once you do get going though you will be loving it! Especially once you can get planing and hooked into the harness line.
Agreed! A helping hand from an experienced sailor will beat anything else. I also have a suspicion that your sail size was not ideal for the wind conditions you were in. Perhaps take all your sails on the day.
Here are my equipment specs:
Board 1: BicSport Techno 135Litre sailboard with foot straps with Nova Skeg
Board 2: Wind Action Slalom Pro 15+ Windsurfer Sailboard "9.7 (not sure how many litres)
Boom 1: Neil Pryde 150-200cm fully equipped
Boom 2: Neil Pryde 160-210cm fully equipped
Mast 1: Neil Pryde Matrix 2000 Carbon Fibre 2 piece mast 430cm
Mast 2: Neil Pryde Matrix X5 Carbon Fibre 2 piece mast 460cm
Sail 1: 4.5m2 Barracuda Wave sail
Sail 2: 5.5m2 Gaastra Wave/Slalom sail
Sail 3: 5.7m2 Neil Pryde sail: Base 28cm/Luff 458cm/Boom 178cm
Sail 4: 6.0 m2 Meester Slalom sail
Sail 5: 7.0m2 Neil Pride sail V8 with cams: Base 16cm/Luff 476cm/Boom 209cm
I am guessing that I should take out the board 1 with boom 1 and mast 1 sail 1?
Does enyone know appropriate conditions for the Lake Connewarre. Is westerly any good ? Where to launch.
Thanks.
Thanks Jheget. Looks like an option for Sunday. Would Altona be for a similar wind condition ?
agree with Pedro's advice and endorse his comments regarding inverloch. Great place to learn on an incoming tide. Gear up at low slack water as there's plenty of shallow water and with an incoming tide and SW or even easterly wind you've got a great place to learn. Also there are usually plenty of others around that you can ask for advice whether it be re rigging or sailing. The crew down here are very open to helping out, just go up and ask.
This is going to be harder than what I thought.
So initially I was going to go to Lysterfield Lake, but couldn't be bothered with the 60 minute drive so I decided to go local.
Drove from Sandringham to Mentone and decided that the best place would be Rickets point. Not as many people there and there was a bloke kiteboarding so though this is a good spot.
Got all my gear out rigged up nicely. Got my gloves on this time and boy did they come in handy!!!
It was a hard knocking about but this time i had some luck. I managed to get going on a beach start and 2 uphaul starts. Didnt go far just 20 meters but this is progress and i was excited. Needed to haul my gear back because I couldnt sail it back.
When I got up and going i kept turning into the wind for some reason and let the wind in the sail. Figured I was doing somthing wrong like tilting the sail too far back.
I also think that I am uphauling wrong because I can really feel the strain in my back. Definitly gives me some stuff to work on.
I guess the exitement is just about to start!
Wow what a day!!!
First of all thanks Pedro for patience and tuition and aranging that learner deck from SHQ. Really helped me understand how the sail works. Even duck jibed -sort of... kind of got ahead of myself:)
Finally got bearing propperly with a huge learner board. Thanks SHQ!!!
Then got going on my own board for a while. Brilliant. Not planing but controlled sailing... well at least till I almost crashed into a boat.
Then I got a go in Pedros board. 130l but all in the hips! So stable! Almost didn't want to give it back I was having such a great time!
Well I am going to be real sore after this session but boy was it worth it.
Thank again Pedro!!!
Awesome to hear about your success story. Pedro is a legend for helping out and I bet it made a ton of a difference. Sounds like you're over the biggest hurdle, smooth sailing from now on (sort of).
Rye is where I learnt. Always flat on most wind directions, plenty of space and shallow, good for when you have to walk your stuff back to shore if you get too tired or too far out.
Because of how shallow it is, its great to learn how to beach and water start. Then you can give up on those uphaul starts and save on your back pain at the same time.
Yeah Rye is good for that. Perhaps check it's not a low tide though since those sandbanks can get frustrating.
About learning bad habits: I think the planing gybe is quite known for this. I suggest once you're up and planing go buy Guy Cribbs Intuition DVD. It taught me to use the right sequence of steps gybing in non-planing conditions so I could adapt them for planing. All my other skills are self taught but this dvd over 6 months plus has resulted in a really smooth gybe in most conditions. Also a lot of great skills to help all aspects of windsurfing.
Heading to hobart to visit my brother for the weekend. Going to be decent wind by the look too, although I will probably be able to get a sail on Mon afternoon.
