Looking for some advice on what board to get as im keen to get into wave sailing, only been sailing for a year hardly ever any wind round here so still at beginner/int level, just comfy in footstraps now, cant waterstart yet so need to uphaul, learnt to surf over the last year aswell, riding a 6'6 fish, only really sail in lakes at the moment, but want to get out in the waves, im 86kgs,6'1. Should i get a sailable sup to start or just a big waveboard? opinions?
steve.
Learn to waterstart before you even consider wave-sailing.
Once you can water-start, a free-style wave kind of board is very forgiving and will handle chop as well as gybe well and be good for learning to jump.
I don't think it really matters what brand, they are all good. You need about 20-25L above your body weight and you are sweet. More litres than that will feel easier to ride and may plane earlier, but will be more to handle if the wind gets up too.
Congrats on taking on the challenge - wave sailing and jumping is so much fun! Come down to Wanda in the Summer as there is some really good into conditions for wavesailing
A big freestlye wave around 15-20 litres above your bodyweight would be better than a SUP. However you need to get those waterstarts dialed as uphauling a smaller board on the open ocean can be so much harder than a lake. Partner it with a 5.7sqm sail would give you a suitable combo of gear.
You could also check out Jem Hall's Wanna be a Wavesailor series of articles and video.
August is typically quite windy in Sydney so here's hoping for some more strong SW
cheers
Tim
