After 10 years being away from windsurfing due to living in places with too many crocs, too much sand or not having the money to get new equipment I find myself back in Sydney wanting to get back out on the water.
Looking for windsurf shops in Sydney took me by surprise. I thought that a city of +6 million people living next to the ocean would be ideal for the sport but to the best of my knowledge there is only one shop located north of the bridge. I remember windsurfing with 20+ keen mad windsurfers on Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra, when the easterly winds blew in during the afternoon and that’s Canberra in the 1990’s. Has windsurfing declined in popularity to such a level that it is not sustainable for shops to keep their doors open?
I have also been toying with the idea of kiteboarding mainly due to there being less equipment to carry around and there is a shop just down the road. I have done a lesson and am about to do another but not wanting to get into a kiteboard/windsurf debate I find kitebording has the potential to be fun but it’s not as exhilarating as windsurfing. A bit like snowboarding and skiing, snowboarding is fun but skiing is exhilarating. However I will persevere with it as I am only just learning.
The dilemma I find myself in is, I really love windsurfing and would like to get back into it. However, the initial outlay for new equipment (my fault as I do believe in getting new gear from the start) is fairly steep, there are lots of bits to carry around and there is (to the best of my knowledge) only one shop to deal with in Sydney. But it’s bloody exhilarating to do. On the other hand Kiteboarding equipment can be carried on your postie bike, less expensive to purchase and needs less wind to get going. But you need, to be safe, other people around to launch your kite and lots of space in order not to injure other people.
Just the ramblings of a person at the crossroads not sure what to do 
Mangomania
Hi there, similarly to you I got back into windsurfing more regularly to a year and a half ago. I saw kiters every now and then but it did not really appeal to me as a recreational activity for me. There are a few windsurf equipment sellers in Sydney. Some operate on a wholesale basis with no shopfront but you can still buy off them through their websites.
Windsurfing has dropped away a bit since the eighties and nineties. However if you go to Kyeemagh or Narrabeen Lake on a windy day you will find twenty or thirty plus windsurfers out there. There will be many sailors in other places around Sydney.
The new gear is much easier to use than older gear, plus its much easier to teach friends and family on a suitable new board and rig. Like any business, if it doesn't have enough cash coming in then it won't be viable. Its better to have fewer and stronger retailers than a multitude that are barely or not profitable.
Whats your budget? If you want to get new kit then I can't see you getting much change from $3500 for one board, a boom, mast, mastbase, two sails and the rest of the bits and pieces. However you have the option of getting superseeded gear that is still modern. If you do that you could probably shave $1000 off the cost of buying 09 gear.
What sort of windsurfing are you interested in doing?
Short answer: Windsurf
Short reason: Because it sh1ts all over kiting (and you appear to already know that).
Where do you live, and what type of sailing do you do?
I'm biased, but here's my take on the negatives of kiting (I don't need trolls to tell me the positives. I'm sure its fun to do):
1) Not necessarily better in less wind. Formula guys will always get out in lighter, and plane easier.
2) Or as soon as it turns gusty, they're in all sorts of bother.
3) I wave sail, and get out in as light winds as they do (and I don't use big gear, nor am I a stick insect).
4) As soon as the wind hits around 25 knots, they seem to just sit on the beach, while we fang around. I'm not sure why, but literally 9 out of 10 kiters stay out of the water when decent wind kicks in. Maybe they just don't have a small enough kite (or a particular body part is a little too small), but there's plenty of 25 knot days so surely you'd have one handy (we buy sails small enough).
5) Need someone to help you launch (that alone would turn me off).
6) Don't think its less expensive either (depending on what you get)
7) Kiters might think riding a postie bike is cool. :)
8) F**king around with those strings on the beach for ages looks about as fun as untangling a yo-yo.
9) We will make fun of you if you kite
You're right about the decline of shops. But Wind Surf n Snow is a great shop with everything.
Otherwise, like many people do, shop on the net. Get stuff shipped right to your door from anywhere in the country, or overseas.
There's always an easy way to get gear. Doesn't have to be on every corner any more.
And maybe try to resist brand new everything first up.
There's plenty of last years gear around for so much cheaper. Some of it is probably brand new (check the shop), and just has to make way for the new stuff.
You've already said you know its the better of the 2. So you'll know its worth the effort and expense.
Easy decision.
As a returner to the sport last novemeber, I have picked up alot in the last 2 months in terms of skills etc that I had, its like riding a bike, so it won't be long till you get the hang of windsurfing again if you chose that right path and go windsurfing that is. I too tried the kiting, but found it did nothing compared to the thrills and spills you get with windsurfing. Something about having a pocket on your harness to carry a knife just in case you need to cut yourself away from the kite doesn't sit well with me....
As for gear, well windsurfnsnow and http://www.southsidesailboards.com/ are the 2 shops and they'll help you out with everything. both have new and used gear so i'm sure you'll find something to your budget. As for gear, its come a long way since the 90's - alot lighter, better wind range easier to get planning, etc. you'll be suprised.
As for the dwindling numbers, I'm not sure they're on the decline, my wife tells me there are at least 15-20 regulars at botany during a NE seabreeze as she drives past in the afternoons about 5/6pmpm, and wanda beach has a ratio of 5-10 windsurfers to every kiteboarder when the wind is there.
Also, as mentioned already with the amount of seabreeze NE'ers at 17-23kts (especially southside) you don't see many kiteboarders out there game enough to take on these winds unless its flat - ie south of brighton le sand..... and if they do take them on, they know what they're doing and their gear isn't much cheaper than ours either....
GO WINDSURFING!!!!
Thank you Kristof 5000, nutbag and Mobydisc for your replys.
To answer some of your questions let me first start by commenting on the rig I used to sail on in the 90s. The mistral Diamond Head is a board that still brings back nightmares if I sailed it too far downwind as its upwind abilities were equivalent to a boat without a paddle up sh!t creek.
At the moment I am looking at the starboard futura or the JP x-cite II. Any advice on either these boards would be appreciated. As ‘Kristof 5000’ mentioned, I get the idea that these boards would be worldly different than the old diamond head and will probably think I am dreaming when I get to have a go.
So, the type of sailing I prefer is aimed squarely at either of these boards and since I live in Kogarah, Botany Bay is just down the road. I am also wondering what other great windsurfing spots there are south of Sydney, I heard something about Huskisson?
I have made my mind up to take the windsurf path as it’s something I know and have had great fun doing in the past.
Cheers, mangomania
Hey Man, I am one year into windsurfing and completely mad for it, love it blah blah.
I have tried rather a few boards over the past year in a few locations around the place and here is my summation for you, I have also migratted very quickly from the gear i first bought when I started, if I had my time again I would do what the guys above have said and buy new close out gear that is still modern.
Boards...
Futura - Nice and comfy but dull
Go - great learner but very limited life span
Fanatic Eagle/hawk- not a fan
Tabou Rocket - Fun fast and comfy
Naish Feeride - nice
JP Xcite - wicked!! Bought one and now have another JP and looking for a third.
There is so much 2nd hand equipment, in perfect conditions and so cheap.
The only issue is your budget and what sort of windsurfing you want to do.
Tip: don't buy the stuff you used in the 90's... The sport has moved on....
Good luck....
VOTE 2 - JP XCITE RIDE.
Ive learnt on one of these and as I'm getting confident they board is very capable of progressing, by simply moving your footstraps out and back - amazing difference in speed.
WICKED BOARD, SUPER FUN, TOUGH AS NAILS. GET ONTO SAM AT WINDSURF AND SNOW. HE HELPED ME OUT HEAPS WHEN I WAS TRYING TO DECIDE. HIS KNOWELDGE OF DIFFERENT BRANDS AND BOARD TYPES FOR DIFFERENT CONDITIONS WILL SET YOU STRAIGHT.
Dont waste your time buying old gear, get late model gear and you will be far better off.
