Many thanks to both windsurfing shops for helping us out with beginner boards and everyone else who contributed some gear. We had a huge turn out with 8 boards on the water at a time and many girls who learnt the basics. Thank you Russell, Penny, Kym, Dave, Hamish, Dean and everyone else who contributed their time and expertise. And OF COURSE Chris and Gem for the snags on the barby! Now we just need to keep those inspired girls interested. West Lakes was a great spot to start on. I know three girls at least who would love to buy some gear, not necessarily new, but suitable to learn on. Any thoughts from the shops??? Or anyone else with learner gear. Cos if we can encourage these girls to learn now, it will help the sport to grow. And what a great time we had at Semaphore afterwards......
Yeah was a great day, so disappointed i couldn't convince my sister to head down.... Everyone who i helped out did excellent and were moving around fine, although getting upwind on those real small sails proved to be difficult at times for some. As far as gear goes Susie, direct them here to seabreeze. There is often good, cheap gear that bobs up in the buy & sell section which if i was learning i would jump all over!!! I'm sure well find something around the place for them all.
Well done to all (sailors and instructors!!!), great day!
Cheers
Bubs
I brought some gear from the Buy and Sell section earlier this year was very easy. Anyone who wants to get gear keep your eyes out as it is always changing.
Good to hear it was a good day!!!
Cheers Pittsy
Great day - well done everyone for helping out and what a glorious autumn day it was.
Chris's BBQ skills - 60 sausages gone in sixty seconds - thanks Chris and Gemma.
Was good to see all the different boards from new RRD, Starboard, and JP and Richards Kona and some HiFly school boards - I think everyone had a go at the different types - and the Bubners old school windsurfer was a hit as well.
Kim, susie penny did a great job on tuition and dean, dave and Hamish on the skis and I even had the pleasure of sailing some of the big boards back up wind when our learners got stranded - how was that RRD - you could have a block party on there and still stay dry.
Great day - the sail at sema 4 sure capped it off.
Need to do this again - maybe early summer - have a few from October to March
I think all the newbies managed to sail out, turn and get back to the beach by the time we packed up.
Hope everyone that came along enjoyed themselves - some photos on the way soon
We had a top day, great effort by everyone yesterday, was so good to see so many new faces out sailing around Tirrana Way! Big thanks to ONBOARD and GLASCRAFT for the lend of some learner gear, made a lot of difference having big wide boards to learn on.
Had a pretty decent sail at semaphore after as well, well powered up on a 5.7 and 92 ltr board,
Three days of sailing in a row, almost unheard of! bring on the weekend!
well done heidi, in the harness for the first time!
good technique
not quite a shaka Jodie, but we'll pay it!
Yeah Muz perfectly good point. However, i think that closer to your target range are those who have been windsurfing for a little while, know their defently going to keep going on with it, and are looking to buy there first 100-130 or 40L freeride type board (depending on weight of course). For many of the people out there on monday, not all have full time jobs etc, theres not enough income to fork out for a 1 yo ex-demo GO. Some are still studying and raking up hex etc. Now while this is an option for some of the older beginners who do have the cash for it (go right ahead), for some of the younger people it isn't so easy, especially if their parents or rest of family aren't really windsurfers either. I think that all people looking for that "next step" in windsurfing should head straight for an ex-demo or brand new board, i would snap one of those smaller isonics of yours in a flash it i had the money to outlay, however for some (especially us younger sailors) there HAS to be an alternative like seabreeze for those who have been lucky enough to afford the brand new gear from stores and are moving on!
Not detracting from the store at all, just needs to be other options as well!!!
Bubs
Also My post although gave Seabreeze a bit of a unintentional plug I know Scott from Glasscraft and Pete from Onboard both which have helped me out when buying some items and getting a widget fixed on the RSX sail. I also see the great support both stores have put into anything in SA to help improve windsurfing from the family day to the Robe/Beachport weekends. I was just pointing out my opinion as someone that has just bought gear from here. I chose to buy off the site as I had to pay for half of it I didn't want to be spending $2000 odd dollars for gear that I might not use for all that long now I have ended up with 2 complete rigs for a lot less than I would of paid for one brand new.
After trying to teach my wife and daughter on an old tyronsea - I got them on a new wide style board with a small begginer rig - was all brand new and at the time under $1400 The difference is huge - they love sailing it and the only problem is I should have got two cause theyre arguing over it all the time.
These boards also hold their value - but thre is no way we will get rid of it as it's great fun to play around on on light wind days
Yes you can get some old cheap gear but you end up with non warranty, old monofilm and not as robust as begginers need. Some crew selling gear on websites are happy to convince people its right for them - when maybe it's not.
After trying the cheaper option all I can suggest is - look at new or near new - and get some advice before you buy - the wrong choice early in learning, such as board design, width, volume, sail size and design can put people off for life - windsurfing should be fun and thats where the wide boards for beginners are coming from - best example is seeing some of the first timers up and sailing within minutes - turning around within the hour (even if they did drift a bit)
cheers
It's all good!
I guess another option for people who want to get on the good gear (easier to use etc) and haven't got the cash to hand over (who has), is the interest free option which spreads the load a bit.
For those that just want advice on what to buy, I'm happy to help out. There's plenty of would-be customers who I have directed to Seabreeze or the private market because we didn't have what they wanted within their budget. But they go with a bit of understanding and clarity on what they're looking for rather than taking the sellers word for it.
Russ, are you saying you're looking for another beginner package?
I saw some free boards today at seaford esplanade, bet there at cash's by now....
Arrgghh.. No! Kym?? Can you do me (sophie) a huge favour!? If they are still there can you please grab them for me?? Hmm.. I might ring mum and tell her to go grab them... Susie??
sadly i missed it, but by the photos it looked a huge succes.
just a big thanks to everyone, my old girl was super stoked to be out on the water, up until now all her windsurfin experince had been driving me to windy places or too onboard.
cheers
next one ill be there to help for sure
