Havent even picked up my board yet, but figured I'd give this sport a go.


description on ebay : item 150309398388

Tiga Slalom Windsurfer/Sailboard - Shape: Hugues De Turkeim Design

Light but fast slalom board. Ideal for someone learning or progressing from large board to smaller, faster beast. Ideal for water starts. One male owner (approx 70kg) purchased new and had minimal use. Has been stored unused in garage for some time. Board has 3 footstraps and has a sticker stating: "Guarantee Tiga 2" - Pick up - East Brighton.

Has everything you need to start including:

Two North Infinity Sails (6.0 and 4.3) - Norlum Mylar Tri Stop- as new
and with original carry bags
Mast
Mast foot
Boom
Fin
Waist Harness


Was hoping it was for a real beginner, but after calling them to arrange pickup they tell me its a sinker, so now I'm REALLY worried about starting!
I'm in Rowville, so will be using it around Edithvale (.5 hr away and we tend to go there when its hot - hopefully alot more regularly now...) but thinking about Lysterfield lake. I'm real paranoid as years ago when first tried I didnt know how to steer and just kept going straight so the bay probably isnt a good idea for my first sail!

Are there lessons at lysterfield lake for windsurfers and if so how much? I'm tipping the gear isnt going to come with instructions and I've never set one of these up before........


edit - oh yeah, I'm 80kgs and apparently the board dimensions are approx 2.6 m and width at centre is approx 60cm. Apparently it worked well for a 75kg person - but after calling them they said its more of an advanced board :(
Given the info would it be difficult to get a larger board to start off using those sails?

At the risk of being red-thumbed... I'd say you've been duped.

If you persist long enough, you can learn on it - but you will be doing yourself a disservice. It sounds like you haven't really sailed before -> basically the board is far too small for you to learn on, especially for your first few tries at it.

You could get a larger board, but the for the age of the gear (compared to new stuff) will be heavier than it needs to be.

One suggestion could be to go to one of the shops (RPS in Elwood, SQH in Sandringham) and get a few lessons + hire some beginner gear.

yeah I was worried about that...........I guess me being worried about not being able to turn around will be the least the problems - just being able to stand on it will be bad enough :(

the other half is seriously going to kill me for buying it, I'll give it a go next weekend and see how I go, at least you guys are honest, I just went by the fact they said beginner board. Is getting a bigger board and using the mast and sails an option (I'm assuming the sizes I bought are ok for starting?)

well I took everyones advice and called up the seller, lucky for me the other person I was bidding against had called her up and left his details (and surprisingly was happy to pay my bid) so its all ended ok

now to start researching it properly. I take it I'm seriously not going to be able to get anything around $500 for a complete setup (2nd hand of course!) - and that $1500 is going to be more realistic?

anything in particular I should be looking for (I'm going to keep trying ebay just in case)

From the previous a plate for the mast to connect to seems to be important? Thanks again for the advice on the volume of the board and sail size.

I'll also try the stores you guys mentioned - I guess the age old - you get what you pay for really applies in this sport

www.seabreeze.com.au/Classifieds/Windsurfing/Boards/~gri3/2002-Bic-Techno-283-283-cm-153-litres.aspx?search=EjQ0DoWvNYjZEDAl2Q5LJXnNSPmpJurV

is this more like it? dimensions seem ok?

much better - sounds like it would be close enough for you to take a look at it before you buy it.

thoughts:
- make sure there are no obvious holes in the board
- if it has a 2007 KA 5.7m sail, it probably the Kaos which is good as its a wave sail which makes it pretty tough.
- just check the sails for no obviously big tears - small holes are generally ok, as you can tape them up ok.

- sounds like a bargain and perfect for what u want. I've had a go on a mates techno in light winds and they ride really well. They're easy and comfortable, not too technical to sail. Your one is the bigger of the techno's which is ideal for you.
It would allow you toget a 6.5 - 7.5m sail down the track, which would allow you to play around in light wind and still get going.

**-make sure you drag jman out in the rain to check it out.

Looks a little narrow to me for a beginners board and the base is an old style. Personally I would be looking at a wider board to learn on with a bit more volume, say around the 150lt mark with a width around the 80cm.

It would be a shame for you to give windsurfing a try and then give up because of the difficulties of learning on older gear. Newer gear, say anything up to 3 or 4 years old, is heaps easier to learn on.

If you go and look at a few modern ones you will see the difference. New beginners boards are a lot wider.
Most sails are now rigged with an mast extension that fits into a mast base. If you have a look at some of the sponsors websites ( www.seabreeze.com.au/info/sponsors.asp ) and look up mast extensions and mast bases you will see the difference straight away.

If you need help on battern tension! Im the man

Just ask jezza!

sflack said...

If you need help on battern tension! Im the man

Just ask jezza!

As soon as you left the wind came back, oh and thanks for the rigging advice

ebay Item number: 290272424783

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290272424783&ru=broke%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.com.au%3A80%2Fitems%2F%3F_nkw%3D290272424783%26_sacat%3D0%26_fromfsb%3D%26_trksid%3Dm270.l1313%26_odkw%3DItem%2Bnumber%253A%2B290272424783%26_osacat%3D0%26_fvi%3D1

Its had some repairs done to the nose though

Are they hard to repair? I've done a little bit of filling with fibreglass on cars years ago. Can the same thing be done on these boards? Or once they get water in them is it pretty much impossible to get it all out and make sure they're water tight......

its the same one thats been advertised in these forums, at least now I know what it looks like and why its so cheap. Got my doubts about this board (its 2nd owner and no doubt why its getting passed around)
would have to get a quote on a professional fix first I think........

Having had a look at the gear on offer from the ebay item, the 5.7m sail is a KA Stealth RX with 6 cams -> not exactly beginner stuff. I have not seen it in real life, so I cant offer any specific advice except that 6 cams is a worry for a beginner to rig right.

edit: the KA is circa 1998, not 2006/2007

Keep looking. I am sure something will come up for you. Maybe you should get a couple of lessons while you wait for a board to come along. At least then when you get it you will have all the basics sorted and you can get out and have fun straight away.

Pedro,

If you ask nicely (and maybe arrange in advance), SHQ should be able to give you use of the learner gear for free if you are teaching Wazza (at least for the first couple of sessions).

At the Melbourne Cup Sandy Point weekend they made a point of trying to get new people into the sport and offered the free use of learner gear at Sandringham if you can bring someone new on-board (pun intended).

Worth a try!

Hate to say it but those are old style boards too. Try to take up pedros offer if you can because then at least you will know the sort of gear you are looking for. I would hate to see you waste your money and become disheartened by it all.
I do know what you are going through though as I am relatively new to the sport myself (will be 12 mths on xmas eve).

A modern board had me up and sailing within a few weeks, and planing in a harness a few weeks after that.

Its a great sport full of helpful, friendly people (well in my experience anyway) so hang in there