Make Sure You Wear Rubber

Windsurfing is one of those hobbies like skiing or skateboarding: if you try new things, then your going to fall. That means you're going to end up in the water. If you're lucky to live in a place like Maui, where the water is always calm, the winds always perfect, the girls always beautiful, and Tom Selleck is always there to rescue the innocent, then you won't have to worry about water temperature if you go down. (You might have to think about sharks, but at least the water's fine.) In most parts of the world, during some of the year the water is painfully if not dangerously cold.


Since water conducts heat from the body 25 x more efficiently than air, cold water can kill if you're not prepared. Even water temperatures the same as a fairly comfortable air temperature, like 50ºF, can be dangerous. Please do not minimize this danger. People have died when their kayak or boat capsized in cold water, not from drowning, but exposure to the cold.


Cold water means a wetsuit, or, in extreme conditions, a drysuit. Now when do you put on a wetsuit? The simplest answer is, “When you start feeling cold.” But that's not enough. There are all sorts of wetsuits, generally categorized by thickness. The long and the short of it is: the thicker the wetsuit, the warmer the wetsuit. Wetsuit thickness is measured in millimeters.


The O'Neill website has a gauge for how thick your wetsuit should be for a given temperature, which isn't a bad guide. They say at temperatures 5ºC (41ºF) to 10ºC (50ºF), wear a thick 5/4 mm wetsuit. This means a wetsuit with 5 mm thickness at the torso and 4 mm thickness at the limbs. They suggest a 4/3 mm wetsuit when the temperature gets to about 15ºC (59ºF). After that. a thinner wetsuit of 3/2 thickness is fine until the water is warm enough for no wetsuit. (Wetsuits can get even thicker — up to 8 mm — but these aren't used commonly.)

The O'Neill Mutant wetsuit, a serious 5/4 mm wetsuit with a detachable hood. It's warm and cozy.

There are short-sleeve suits and “shorty” wetsuits available too. Shorties are wetsuits that are like a pair of horts and tee shirt attached to each other. Also available are a type of suit called a “Farmer John”, which resembles a farmer's overalls. Farmer John wetsuits can also be nicely combined with a wetsuit jacket.

A Neil Pryde shorty wetsuit.

An NRS Farmer John wetsuit. (NRS is a kayak supply company but they sell great accessories, like wetsuits and booties, which windsurfers can use. They're prices are good too.)

This is a simplistic explanation, of course. You need to experiment what temperature is comfortable for you. Keep in mind that air temperature is an important factor. If the air is 65ºF and the water is 43ºF, make sure you wear a wetsuit for the water temperature, not the air. Even if you're sweating and losing pounds of water weight, wear a wetsuit for the water temperature. One fall will teach you why.


An important thing to remember if you're going out in cold water is to never go out alone during dangerous conditions. If you get in trouble, nobody can help you. Also, when the water is cold, don't go out in wind above your skill level. You'll get tired wrestling your gear and spend a lot of time in the water. Better to wait on shore and ask the more skilled sailors a lot of questions.

TOW

TOW: Time On Water. That's one of the most important things: get your TOW.

Windsurfing is a sport that relies heavily on muscle memory. Wikipedia defines muscle memory as:

• a form of procedural memory that involves consolidating a specific motor task into memory through repetition. When a movement is repeated over time, a long-term muscle memory is created for that task; eventually allowing it to be performed without conscious effort. This process decreases the need for attention and creates maximum efficiency within the motor and memory systems. Examples of muscle memory are found in many everyday activities that become automatic and improve with practice, such as riding a bicycle or typing on a keyboard.

What this means is that after you've gotten lessons for your new skills, you need to practice, practice, practice. You need to get out on the water as much as you can and try your skills. There's no substitution for that. You need to get your moves so proficient that you don't need to think about them any more. This only comes from repetition.


By the way, keep in mind that you will fall a lot. That's part of the fun too.

When you get good, you can do things like sail waves. Photo courtesy of Creative Commons.

Boom!

The humble boom is a vital part of your windsurfing kit. The wishbone boom, along with the universal joint, are arguably the two inventions that made windsurfing possible; they're the two inventions of windsurfing that needed to be invented in order to get a person to stand on a board and be able to manipulate a sail. The universal join allows for the sail to be tilted in any direction, a critical thing for a windsurfer, while the boom allows a sailor to grab the sail from any angle.

A beginner holding onto his boom with his legs on either side of the mast. The sail is a small, beginner-sized model. Photo courtesy of Creative Commons.

There are many different sizes of booms, designed to hold bigger or larger sails. Booms can also be made of a metal alloy, usually light-weight aluminum, or carbon. Carbon booms, like other types of carbon gear, have the advantage of being lighter than metal, but are much more expensive. At the time of this entry, an aluminum boom costs in the $100-$200 range, depending on size (bigger costs more), while carbon booms start at about $500.

As a side note, one of the reasons carbon booms and other carbon rig components cost so much more than alloy is because the carbon material supplies are mostly being used by Boeing in their 787 Dreamliner airplane. These aircraft require so much carbon that they've affected prices world-wide for the material.

Booms come in different sizes, each designed for different sized sails.

All of these booms are cheaper aluminum models, 'cause I ain't got the bucks for carbon.

Booms are adjustable for the sail size. Getting back to this picture:

The specifications for this sail clearly tell you what sized boom you should be using: a boom with 228-232 cm of length. Looking through my booms, I can see their adjustment lengths:

Clearly for this larger sail I should be picking the largest (bottom) boom, which is the largest. The medium boom could almost work, but it's best not to extend the boom to its full length and rather use a boom made for larger-sized sails.

Booms are adjusted by picking up the collars on each arm, then sliding the arms up and down to the desired length. As you can see in the photo below, the boom arm has holes with a number printed alongside to tell you what length of the boom you're adjusting to. The pins on the collars then sink into the appropriate holes. A note: make sure you drop the pin into the corresponding hole on each side. It's easy to have one collar on one adjustment and the other collar on the next size.

The boom clamps onto the mast snugly. There's a string which you use to draw across the clamp. Make sure it's snug before you close the clamp.

The Mast Extension

Let's discuss some of the basic windsurfing equipment, starting with the mast extension.

A standard Chinook 28 cm mast extension. (Photo take at the Massive Yearly Back Laboratory Advanced Windsurf iNstitute or MY BACK LAWN.)

The mast extension is the part of your windsurfing kit which add extra length to your mast. The adjustable end (the left side in the photo) slides into the mast, and the base end attaches to your mast bast. The mast base is what attaches to your windsurf board.

A mast base.

The mast base extension slides into the bottom of the mast extension.

Mast extensions come in different sizes. Above is a medium sized extension (28 cm) and a tall extension (48 cm). They also come in smaller sizes. Besides helping in the handy task of attaching your mast to your board, mast extensions allow you to make your mast longer or “extend” them. (Bet you needed my help for that, huh?) The little collar, which you can see clearly on the large extension above, is moved up and down to provide the length you need.

Let's show you an example. These are the specifications for a Sailworks Retro 8.5 sail. “Sailworks” is the company name. “Retro” is the name of the sail model. “8.5” refers to the square meters of sail area on the sail. To put this is perspective, this is a fairly large sail. This sail clearly requires a mast that is 490 cm long, but the luff, which is the length of the mast sleeve, is 509-513 cm. How does one get this strange length for the sail?

You adjust the collar of the mast extension to the appropriate length, in this case it's 12.5 cm, and slide it into the mast. (490 cm mast + 12.5 cm extension = 512.5 cm in length)


You'll probably need more than one size of mast extension. The big extensions are handy, but they can be so long that you can't fully slide them into the mast; the mast narrows too much to accommodate the length.

A medium-sized mast extension slides right into the bottom of the mast.

The extension slides into the mast as far as the collar allows.

That First Board

Okay, let's get down to brass tacks. You've got the money now and are ready to plop down some dough on a new board. Which one should you get?


The basic criteria for your first board should be this: it should be big enough to float you comfortably, it should be wide enough so you can stand up on it easily, the deck should be padded, and it should have a daggerboard.


Let's break this down. One of the things that you want to be aware of is that the more “beginner friendly” your board is, the quicker you will outgrow it. And yes, you can buy a beginner friendly board you will never outgrow.


Flotation:


Board flotation is measured in liters, which, I assume, is the amount of space inside the board. More space inside the board, the more weight it can hold. If you're an average sized person, perhaps 175 lbs, a board of 165 liters would be plenty of flotation. Go much smaller and the board will feel “tippy”. That means it will feel unstable beneath your feet. If you're a smaller person you can go smaller, but perhaps not below 150 liters. If you're a larger person, go bigger. (Don't always assume that bigger always means better. Once your skills improve, a larger board will start feeling really big, and that's not necessarily a good thing either.)


Width:


Width is very important for the first board. The board needs to be wide enough so you can keep your balance while you're standing on it, doing the very important “uphauling” the sail. This is when you stand on the board, feet on either side of the mast base, and lift the mast out of the water with the uphaul rope. Since your balance probably won't be great, initially, you need a stable platform to do this. A bare minimum width is 70 cm, and that is if you want to fall a lot while learning this. (A narrow board has its own advantages, though. More on this later.) Unless you're feeling adventurous, 80-85 cm in width is a fine beginning. Again, a lot of width will make you very stable, like you're standing on an aircraft carrier deck, but too much width can be a problem.


How can too much width be a problem? Here's how. A wide board has advantages besides the basic stability. It can go onto a plane easily. That means it can get to a point where the board is skipping over the surface of the water instead of sailing through it. When you're plaining, a wide board is a lot of fun. A short/wide board, and most wideboards are fairly short, can also turn very easily and quickly.

Wide and freakin' wide: An 85 cm Exocet Cruiser next a 105 cm Starboard Rio.

Unfortunately when you're not planing, a wideboard isn't the most fun platform. They chug along okay under basic sailing conditions, but they don't glide well. The reason for this has to do with their length/width ration. The narrower the board, the faster it sails under non-planing conditions. A wideboard also isn't great in chop. The wide nose will tend to slam into waves instead of getting lifted over it.


I'm not mentioning these disadvantages to dissuade you from buying a wideboard. They're great platforms for learning and sailing. Just be aware of their limitations. If you end up doing a fair amount of sailing in low winds, a hybrid board or longboard might be a better choice. However, if you're going to sail in a fair amount of wind that's “planing weather”, 13-15 mph +, a wideboard would be perfect because they plane very easily. (And that can be a lot of fun!)


Padded Deck:


Most windsurf boards for experienced sailors are only padded in the area around the footstraps. For a beginner, this presents a problem because you're going to spend a lot of time not in the footstraps. However, most beginner boards are fully padded. Some board models might have very good specs for a beginner but don't have a padded deck -- make sure your board is fully padded. Trust me. When you first start on this board you will spend a lot of time on your knees; your knees will thank you.


Daggerboard:


A daggerboard is a retractable centerboard. It adds stability to your board and allows you to go further upwind than you can without one. If your first board is a narrower longboard style board (70-80 cm in width), the daggerboard will be your best friend for a while. It will make this tippy board manageable. If your first board is a wideboard, the daggerboard will let your sail straighter and also aid in stability.

The daggerboard is the keel sticking out from the bottom of the board. It can be retracted into the body of the board. (Photo courtesy of James Douglass.)

Daggerboards get a bad rap sometimes. They do add a little weight to the board and the knob does stick out. Your feet do tend to hit them, especially when the daggerboard is down and the knob is closer to the rear footstraps. That said, I think they're critical for a first board. The upwind ability helps you get back to your launch site, which is very nice when first starting out. (I wrote a whole piece on daggerboards here.) They add a little extra security. A board without a daggerboard can flounder in low winds -- trust me on this. The only time I ever got a tow back to my launch site was when I hit almost no wind on a board without a daggerboard (a Starboard Go). If I had had a daggerboard, I could have limped home without the friendly services of a local motorboat.

Both these boards have daggerboards. You can see the knobs between the front footstraps in the retracted position. Both of these boards also have fully padded decks.

Now let's get down to the real question: what board should I get? If you're a normal person who wants to have a good board they can keep forever, one you won't outgrow, consider a hybrid wideboard/longboard which runs about 80 cm in width. Some great examples of these are the Starboard Rio, Naish Kailua, Fanatic Viper, Exocet Cruiser, Kona Link, and the Bic Beach Models. (Other Bics might be fine too. Look at the specs for each board.) Note that these models have gotten narrower over the last few years. Manufacturers have realized that a board actually can be too wide.

If you're feeling adventurous, than by all means consider a longboard. Longboards are narrower then the hybrid models above and a little tippier, but they have a special set of advantages. Nothing beats a longboard in low winds. They glide through the water when wider and shorter boards slog. Longboards are also very good in chop; they tend to slip over waves instead of colliding into them. A generalized longboard can even do some wavesailing, something a wideboard cannot. More on longboards later, they require a special post. If you're inclined this direction, I recommend the Exocet Kona One, one of the the most versatile boards on the market.

Still confused? Well, there isn't in the end one answer. There are a lot of beginner boards on the market; I've only mentioned a few. Keep in mind also that there isn't really such a thing as a “bad board” here. All the boards marketed towards beginners have been tested over and over. Each will do fine. It just depends on what you want. If you can, go to a local dealer (or a generous friend) and see if you can test some boards out. You might be surprised; the board that looks great on paper might not be the right board for you on the water.

Great Beginner Links Courtesy of James Douglass

James Douglass has one of the best windsurfing blogs going at http://jimbodouglass.blogspot.com. He's a marine biologist who loves windsurfing. His blog entires are fun, informative and often sprinkled with his own unique observations on the marine environment. If you like reading windsurfing blogs, this should be one of your first stops.


James's blog has several entries that are must reads for beginner windsurfers.


Let's start with his Top 18 Questions About Windsurfing. This is a great overview of the sport and answers to some basic questions about the sport.


Next is his Top 12 Questions About Windsurfing. Seems a little redundant, but these are basic questions non-windsurfers have about the sport.


Don't forget to look at his excellent Poor Person's Guide to Windsurfing. This is a guide to get on the water without spending a lot of money. Some great advice in repurposing old gear.


Lastly is his guide to How To Teach Windsurfing, a great introduction to basic skills.

Buying Boards on the Internet vs. Buying at an Actual Store

Do a Google search on “windsurfing”. (I'm waiting.) You will be inundated with at least five links to online stores where you can buy windsurfing gear to your heart's delight. I want to explore here the differences between buying from an online store versus going to an actual brick-and-mortar store. They're bigger than you think.


One advantage of buying on the internet is that you can compare prices. If you've decided on a board you want to buy, then you can surf over to the various online stores and see who's got the board you want and at what price. This can be a lot of fun. I like exploring the different virtual stores and seeing what's for sale, especially the new models for the new year.


Often there are models on sale, especially those left unsold from the year before. You can often get a good deal on a year-old board, maybe several hundred dollars cheaper than the current model (like car shopping). Are there major differences between models? Not too much, usually. Even if board models have changed, last year's board will still be a “good board”, just made with a different design philosophy.


If you have a windsurfing store near you, I highly suggest you give it a visit. These stores will have less inventory than an online store, and their prices will often be a bit higher, but they'll have one thing the online stores will never have: community. Community is an essential thing for windsurfers. Since our sport is by its essence individual, we need other windsurfers to talk to. Besides a good local group, a windsurfing shop is the best place to do it. Sometimes they'll even have demo boards for you to try out before you buy it.


The helpful people behind the counter will be an awesome resource for you too, full of great advice. These are the people who live, breathe, eat, and sleep windsurfing. They can send you to a good local group. They can tell you the differences between the various pieces of equipment. They can tell you the best places in the area to sail. This is what you're paying for with those slightly higher prices, and in my opinion, it's worth it.


Remember this when you're considering buying equipment, especially a board, from an online store. A windsurfing board is a large item, and it can't be sent parcel post; it must be shipped. This will cost about $100, so make sure you add that onto the price.


If you live in an area, like me, where there are no windsurfing stores nearby, you're forced to go online for stuff. Remember that a lot of regional stores have websites too. You can often get some good deals there. Even better, give the stores a call and see what they have in the “back room”. Stores are often constrained by manufacturers to sell equipment at a given price on their websites, but there are often some great deals to be had if you give a store a call.