Windsurfing Equipment
- For the begineers out there ABC would like to make the following suggestions:
- Purchase boards at least 75 cm in width and 180 liters in volume.
- Purchase sails that are non-chambered, xply construction, between 4.0 meters and 6.0 meters and less then 5 years in age. Buy a downhaul crank.
- Try not to purchase heavy fiberglass masts and old tie on booms. Carbon fiber masts and clamp on booms make life more fun.
- Do not purchase packages off of EBAY unless you are sure of the contents. 15 year old stuff that
have been sitting in the basement seem to be big sellers on EBAY. This writer bought a package from
someone in town and ended up with a tippy board and big baggy sail. Almost took me out of the sport.
- The club recommends the Starboard GO, the Bic Nova and Techno 293 D, and the Mistral Prodigy as good learning boards.
In 2008/2012 the state of the windsurf industry has created a situation where it is difficult to tell from a website if
a product is availible in the US. Contact your local shop or call/email the company to check product status.
- SAILS: AeroTech ,
Ezzy ,
Gaastra ,
HotSails Maui ,
Maui Sails (Barry Spanier) plus masts and booms,
Naish Sails Hawai'i ,
Neil Pryde ,
North ,
Simmer Sails
-
Sailworks has a web site
including action shots, mast selection charts, technical information and
rigging tips.
- Twisted Downhaul? Click here for the best explanation on how to rig downhauls properly from Andy at WIND-NC.
- Windwing sails are based in the
Bay Area.
- BOARDS:
AHD ,
Bic ,
Exocet ,
F2 ,
Fanatic ,
JP ,
OpenOcean .
RRD ,
Starboard ,
Tabou,
Tiga ,
Mistral Windglider
- For a comprehensive windsurfing WWW site go to the Mistral web page.
Here, you can preview Mistral's line, take your first
windsurfing lesson, get cool graphics and videos, and get links to many
other popular servers.
- HiFly was known for making durable and
reasonably-priced boards. I miss them.
- Lakes Bay makes both custom and stock board bags.
- SOURCES: The Windsurfing
Classifieds containing listings for windsurfing gear for sale
worldwide.
Sailboard Alley has all sorts of windsurfing parts,
- Sand Island Kiteboarding is on Great Sacandaga Lake.
- The web page for Murrays
Marine allows you to order their catalog online.
- West Marine has a good online presence and also has a store in Latham NY.
- Inland Sea has moved out of Lake Champlain, and is now located in West Dennis.
- On the East Coast you can mail order from the following Island sports in Middletown, RI ,
Extreme Windsurfing in Lakes Bay, NJ
- Delmarva Boardsports Adventures
- Wind North Carolina (in Avon) , Watersports West in Fla.
- Mid country is The House a.k.a. Sailboard Warehouse,
Southport Rigging , and
Isthmus sailboards
- The WorldWinds shop at Bird Island
Basin in Corpus Christi Texas can you rent you gear.
- Windance and
BigWinds in Hood River are good
sources of used and rental equipment at reasonable prices, and their catalogs
are on-line.
- Online is Windsurfing direct , and Direct boats
- In the midst of a long winter? Consider the
Snowfer. Light wind try streetsailing
go to General windsurfing servers
revised 4/8/2014