Learning to Windsurf

Windsurfing / Sailboarding takes some level of commitment to learn, but the great thing about it is that it is a sport that almost anyone at any age can learn.

Things to consider when it comes to learning to windsurf.

1/ How much can you afford to spend on equipment

2/ What conditions are you able to sail in

EQUIPMENT COST : A classic windsurf board and rig (pre 1990) like the original windsurfer or a Bic 250 or Dufour Wing, or Wayler will cost less than $100 if you shop your local Facebook marketplace, Gumtree, Buy Nothing, Craigslist type forums. If fact you shoudl be able to find one for free. A used 1990-2015 board and rig will cost around $1000 AUD and a brand new (2026/27) board and rig will cost $3000-$5000 (AUD).

Additional costs include things like a buoyancy vest, harness ( for later), wetsuit (may or may not be neccessary) depending on where you sail. A set of roof racks if you own a regular car and are planning on buying an old school long board like those mentioned

CONDITIONS : When you are learning it is important to find a safe place to learn. If you are sailing in the ocean or a bay, pick somewhere that is shallow and the water is clear without rocks to fall on. Additionally try to pick days to learn when the wind is blowing onshore or at least side on-shore so that if you get stuck you will ultimately get blown back to the beach. If you are learning on a lake then again consider if there is somewhere shallow to learn (so you can stand up when you fall off your board) and consider the wind direction so that you are not being blown out to the middle of a lake.

Under no circumstances should you try and learn somewhere like a surf beach or even where there are waves more than a few inches.

CLASSIC GEAR : There is a lot of misinformation about learning to windsurf on classic boards. In fact if you believe some of the online forums you could be forgiven for thinking its impossible to learn on old school gear. Simply remember that more people learnt on the original Windsurfer, Wayler, Mistral Club, Bic 250 in the 1970's and 1980 than all of the boards produced in the 40 years since. There are some aspects of new gear that can make learning to windsurf easier such as some of the boards being wider but also most of the new boards dont have centreboards which means they dont go into the wind (tacking) as well and dont have the stablizing effect that a centreboard brings. DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THE HYPE OF BUYING A NEW BOARD AND RIG.

MYTHS OR TRUTHS :

New gear is easier to learn on - FALSE general statements like this are completely wrong. If you were to go and spend $5000 AUD on a brand new set-up and you purchased the wrong type of gear it would be impossible to learn on just as if you spent $100 on a classic board and rig that was designed for an advanced rider. (In ther words - new or old do not buy a wave board or even a slalom board to learn on). You can learn on a classic board like those mentioned or on a modern board as long as it is designed for learning. When it comes to classic boards look for boards like the ones mentioned. They will typically be white in color (with some stickers) , have a centreboard, be 12ft or so in length and typically wont have footstraps.

Classic gear breaks and is dangerous - FALSE most classic gear is actually very strong compared to modern gear. Classic boards like the original windsurfer were made of Polyethelyne which is indistructable (and is why it is still around 40 years later). Modern boards are made of composite carbon materials that are very light for performance. If your rig hits a modern board it is likely to damage it or if your drop your modern board in the parking lot it is likely to get a ding (hole). This will never happen on a classic Polyethelyne board.

When it comes to modern rigs - just do a search on Youtube and you will see plenty of broken modern masts, booms and sails. The new gear is lighter but not stronger. SPECIAL NOTE - Modern sails are not very tear resistant or resistant to UV compared to classic dacron sails (again that is why you see 40 + year old dacron sails still being used today - you will not see todays sails still in use 40 years from now).

Also note that the conditions you are likely to be learning in are HIGHLY unlikely to be putting stress on even the oldest gear.

Classic gear is heavy - TRUE most classic boards and rigs weigh more than modern gear. This means being thoughtful about how far you need to carry your gear to the water or how to get it onto your roof racks. Classic gear is heavier (in general) but it is also stronger. It is worth mention at this point - If you have a holiday lakeside cabin and are planing on leaving your gear outside during the winter DO NOT BUY A MODERN BAORD AND RIG - Only a classic old school polyethelene board and dacron sail has any chance of surviving outside (even then you should try and store your sail somewhere safe over winter.

You cannot get replacement parts for classic gear - FALSE you can still get OEM parts on eBay and Facebook for your classic gear. Also you can pretty much team any classic sail up with a modern boom and mast if you wish. The things to be aware of when buying classic gear are : Does it come with a centreboard - these can be time consuming to track down if you dont have one. Does it come with the universal joint to board insert. Connecting your rig (mast, sail, boom) to your board requires 3 parts (mast base (extension), universal joint, board insert). Modern and classic mast bases are pretty interchangeable and universal joints (often called a boge) are easy to purchase brand new. The part that sits on the bottom of the UJ and connects to the board can be tricky to source if you buy a board that is missing this piece. Again you might need to search eBay etc. Note - Please look at the other parts of this website to see how I have restored old boards and rebuilt things like mast bases. Note 2 - Repairing your mast base ( board insert, UJ, extension) is a regualr part of windsurf maintenance.

Modern sails are better than classic sails - FALSE there is so much wrong with this statement I dont know where to start. This is one of the biggest falacies in windsurfing today. When you are learning (which is the context of this discussion) the sail wont make much difference because you will be in sub planning conditions and the difference between a classic tight leech sail vs a modern loose leech sail is irrelevant. It really doesnt matter what you learn on - except an interesting observation is that the original windsurfer sail had a very long boom which meant you had to pull the sail almost vertical before it completely cleared the water . This might sound like a bad thing but in fact any sailor will tell you that as long as part of the sail (end of the boom) is touching the water that righ (sail) is still quite stable and it is not until you pull the rig clear that things become wobbly. As a beginner having that stability to balance against almost all the way until that 6 inches of uphaul can make learning easier.

The differences between classic sails and modern sails become more relevant once your sailing advances to high wind sailing and even then the difference are not so much about which is better and more about what is suitable. IE Use classic sails on classic boards and modern sails on modern boards.

FINAL THOUGHTS :

While I am a huge fan of classic gear and have seen hundreds of people learn on this stuff without having to spend a dollar (you can often pick it up for free)....If you do want to to buy something modern I highly recommend the Windsurfer LT. This is a very versatile board suitable for learning and light to moderate wind sailing. It is probably the most popular brand/board of all time. It still has the good looks of a classic old school board (IE not the chunky ironing board look of modern gear) and is light and easy to set up.

Realistically if you really get into windsurfing you will find you need more than one board and sail. The gear that you pick for high wind or even advanced wave sailing will be completely different than what you need to learn on (and to use in light wind). Make sure you get the correct board to learn on.

If you have any questions please email me directly randaj38@mac.com

Components - An example of the Bic 250

Bic 250 Hull with SUP replacement fin plate glued in place

Bic 250 sail

Bic 250 Centreboard

Bic 250 board insert (white part) attached to new Boge Universal Joint (black) and 'Windsurf Maui' Mast Insert (gold part)

BiC 250 original Mast Cup. THis part is the original piece that I replaced with the gold Mast insert in the previous picture. Normally this piece is connected to the Boge (black rubber universal joint) and is inserted into the bottom of the mast. The white plastic loops are used to ie the bottom (foot) of the sail

NOTES :

Mast Base: The original mast base consists of 3 main parts.

1/ 'Board Insert' - the white slotted part - this piece goes into the board in one of the two mounting holes and is clipped in place using the little red levers that are each side of the mounting holes on the board. (note these levers tend to wear with age and break but there are solutions to repairing / replacing them)

2/ 'Universal Joint' - the rubber hourglass shaped boge- these are available at most windsurfing shops (do not confuse these with the more modern Tendon joints)

3/ Mast cup - This was another white plastic piece (see picture 5) that attached to the top of the boge. One my particular rig I have switched out to a modern 3rd party adjustable mast base (see picture 4) so I can use it with a variety of masts and sails.

Sail: The original Bic sail is a simple light weight sail that is easy to set up and use. It is not a high performance or high wind sail, it is designed for recreational sailing where simplicity and ease of use are paramount. You can easily try other sails with the Bic 250 but may need to get a shorter boom (Note - The Bic boom is adjustable so it might be fine)

Boom: The Bic Boom is very light weight and simple. It is adjustable and works perfectly with the original sail. Note the key feature of this boom is the loop attachment method detailed in the videos below). If you are lucky enough to have a complete original setup then it came with a premade loop that had a red or black plastic ball on the end to make boom attachment simple. Note today most people use 'clip on booms' that can be purchased at most windsurf stores. The clip-on booms are fantastic and come in different sizes but most do not extend far enough to handle the original Bic sail which requires a very long boom. For more modern sails shorter booms are the standard. I highly recommend the Chinook Sport range of clip on booms. The are cheap and tough (but not a replacement for the Bic boom when using it with the original sail).

Mast: The Bic came with a standard 4.6m mast. Almost all masts in the early 80's were 4.6 m long and had standard diameters, thus you can interchange the original mast with any other SDM (Standard Diameter Mast) from this period (or even newer two piece masts) providing the length is correct. Note - Warning - The fashion for sailboard at this time was to have quite a lot of mast exposed at the bottom of the sail and to have the boom rigged above shoulder height. At 5'.8" I always find the boom tends to be a bit high even when attached at the bottom of the sail cutout, so if there exposed mast I actually cut a few inches off (3-6) so I can get my boom at a more comfortable height and then use an adjustable mast base to add any extra length.

Board: The Bic Board is tough and pretty much indestructable. While you can carry it by youself; you probably dont want to carry it far 19kgs+. It is a much easier lift with 2 people. It should be noted that the board has a rough deck which is great so that you dont slip but can be harsh on bare feet and knees if you are scrambling in and out of the water a lot ! Weak points are: the back fin mounting system and the mast rig insert points. The (red) rig insert holes each have 2 levers that need to be set one way (unlocked) when inserting the white Board Insert and then moved to the locked position to hold it in place. The system works really well but over time those little plastic levers tend to break. There are several solutions to this problem (contact me if you need a hand). The fin mounting system at the back of the board is another weakness. The problem is not the system itself,; the issue comes if you break or loose the fin. Replacements are impossible to get so you will probably need to come up with a custom solution. I ended up gluing a SUP fin base over the existing system and using a SUP fin. It works but Im not 100% happy with this solution. Also note - because the board is made from polyethelyne most glues do not stick to it, so you have to get creative when it comes to repairs or attaching things.

VIDEOS (Set-Up / Rigging)

Setting up the Bic 250 rig

Connecting the Boom on a Bic 250 rig

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