I am looking to buy an inflatable crossover board as a beginner to windsurfing. I weigh 68kg and am wondering what people think would be best?
I already have a Naish Alana 10'6" and love this board, but it doesn't have a crossover attachment. I am worried if I change to an inflatable I won't like it as much. I also live remote and have to order online so have no opportunity to test ride anything so I am relying heavily on your opinions!
Check out the Fanatic Fly with center fin option. I would have said the naish nalu GT 10'6 but for a beginner the center fin option is helpful.
www.fanatic.com/sup/composite-boards/all-round/fly
Hey Sarah great board the Alana 10.6 .i windsurf a lot too.
have you thought of buying a windsurfing board
they sail a lot better than any inflatable ..and buy and sell have great bargains on used windsurfing boards
target 130-150 litre boards.
Here is another idea. How about having a windsurfing mast track installed in your Alana? It should cost much less than buying another board, inflatable or solid. For your weight, the Alana should be a fine board to learn on, and no matter how good you get, it will always be a fun board in really light winds. In fact I currently have my light wind windsurf board up for sale, because I prefer my wife's old Starboard Extremest 9'8" SUP for sailing around in very light wind. I still have half a dozen windsurf boards for higher winds, and all my smaller surf SUPs have windsurf attachments for light wind wavesailing, but for learning or just sailing around in very light winds, it would be tough to beat your Alana. In light wind and small surf, it will also surf far better than any beginner windsurf board. You would just need your one current board to travel with, and you would be set for either sport; paddle or sail. If you get hooked on windsurfing and get to the point where you can waterstart and want to sail in higher winds, you could add a windsurf specific board at that time, and jump straight to something under 8' to complement your Alana. A qualified repair shop should be able to install a mast track so that it looks good and holds up well. If you are concerned about adding weight, have them use a shorter track than normal and use carbon cloth for the install. You could use a brass threaded insert like most of the SUP brands do, but a shortened windsurf track like Sunova uses will be much less prone to problems in terms of durability or leaking. I doubt if you will notice any difference when using the board for paddling.
I did consider this option but there is no one locally (I would have to travel over 2000km) that is able to do such an installation and I am not confident in doing it myself although I do carry out minor fibreglass repairs on my boards myself. It is a shame because I agree that this would be my best option in terms of pricing.
