About to take up the sport again after a brief dabble. Will probably buy my gear from one of the local (Perth) shops.
I've heard that one of the shops offer free lessons/support to customers on certain afternoons - which I really liked the sound of. Is this standard across all shops?
In your experience, are there any other benefits for going to a certain shop?
cheers
Doing a bit of market research are ya?. Best you contact the shops direct i recon. They're all nice people and easy to talk to and they know their ****...all of them.... all 4 shops i know of.
Depends where you are going to be doing most of you sailing or where you live I reckon. As above said all the shops are good and encouraging. Shopping close to where you sail or live means its easier / quicker to get back on the water after you bust something. Another thing to consider is what gear you are going to be purchasing ie brand name, as each shop tends to specialise in particular brands. Once you select a brand its often better to stick with that brand as your rigging gear will cross over to your different sails. Example Neil Pryde sails go better with Neil Pryde masts etc. Different boards use different fins so check this if your purchasing more than one board so you can possibly switch fins between boards. In saying all that most of the shops carry second hand gear to get you back into the sport for not much coin. Getting the whole rig from one shop will ensure you get something that all fits together and works together. A good shop will rig the gear up for you in the shop so you can see how much downhaul to put on sail and how to rig it all up. I would advise against getting bits from here and there. I am sure most of the shops would be able to hook you up some lessons, maybe not gratis but shouldn't cost to much. Hope this helps
