Hi all, I am new here, moved to Sydney northern beaches in October last year from The Netherlands. I am mainly into wavesailing but dont mind the odd freestyle session if it s onshore and very windy. Havent gone out yet since we arrived, Mainly because it took a while for my gear to arrive.
the following;
Literally the first thing my 6 year old son asks when he gets up in the morning is if he can have a go at windsurfing.
I know it s a long shot but thought I d ask anyway; is anyone considering to part with an Ezzy kids rig?
Also; would there be other kids on the Northern end of Sydney who d like to have a go at it? I reckon it would be motivating for the little ones to windsurf together and outdo each other :-)
Would this be any good or is it too big for him?
www.seabreeze.com.au/Classifieds/Windsurfing-Sails/~kq1w5/Starboard-Start.aspx?_page=3&search=P6K%2Ftsb2rZrARE%2BQ6m0Zxw%3D%3D
Ideally, he would be on a 1.5m rig, and 115L soft top board (and a centreboard).
Windsurfing WA has several rigs in that size. Seem to work well for kids.
I've got an Ezzy kids rig I'd be willing to sell. Mast, boom, 2 sails, mast foot. If you PM me your email address I'll dig it out this weekend and take some photos and send to you. Bought brand new a few years ago, used once. Not likely to be used in the near future so might as well go to a good home.
It's amazing to get kids into windsurfing but be careful not to start too early as you generally have only one chance to get them hooked. Quite a bit of strength is needed even uphauling a 1.0 m sail.
They might not find it fun at that age and it would be difficult to try it again later.
Doesn't mean you can't enjoy sailing with them and give them a bit of the taste. Take a big board, small sail and do it together.
My son is 7 and this will be his first season that he might be just strong enough to learn to windsurf although I'm still not entirely sure. I had to be very patient all those years but I know it's worth the wait and he'll love it. We've sailed together on a 240L beginner board with a 2.0 m sail earlier and that is a lot of fun.
My kids used a 1.0m2 once when they were 4. Too small and flat. At 5 they used a 1.5m2- that was better. At 6 a 2.0m2- that worked quite well. At 7 a 2.5m2. They used slightly smaller sails when windy, but they didn't like the strong wind/wave conditions when they were that young.
We could not get small sails (<2.0m2) to work on large boards. I could not find any suitable board for little kids for light to medium winds. All small boards I found only had fins at the back so they didn't work in light winds into the wind. They just end up downwind and need retrieval. I put a very big plastic fin in the middle of an old wave board to act as a daggerboard. That board was around 85 litres. They learned on this age 5 and used it for many years. My son was fine at age 5, in the right conditions, going distance and back.
When my kids got bigger, I did try to have them on a JP Funster 130; this has a small daggerboard. But it was too big for an 8 year old. When they outgrew the old modified waveboard they went to a Windsurfer One Design (way underrated) for light-medium winds and wave boards for strong winds. I think a Windsurfer LT would be better (lighter, more stable, soft deck), but they are fragile and costly.
I have an Ezzy 2.0m2+2.5m2 sail + mast + boom + mast foot for sale here in Brisbane. Green dacron sails. Great condition $350. We found monofilm sails for kids don't last well at all.
For when yours get better I have a JP kids Young Gun 55 litre waveboard for sale. My kids have grown out of it (now 13+15).
