Hey guys newbie here. We spend most of our summer free time on Clinton Lake, wakeboarding/tubing/skiing and have been interested for sometime to learn how to Windsurf, which would be great to give me and kids a longer season of water sports; seems like windsurfing weather is great when wakeboarding conditions are not. Don't have any gear yet, going to look at a couple used boards later today. I think both are long boards one is a mistral LCS, and other is Hifly...

Welcome, Sean! We can help you at the lake and online here for any questions.

Here's some helpful newbie info links.

Beginner Board Guide

"First piece of advice – don’t just buy that £100 board you see on eBay as it’s likely to be the windsurfing equivalent of a wooden tennis racquet! Have lessons first, hire for a while and then you’ll have a better concept of board sizes, names and what you want from the sport. When you’re ready to buy, select a board that offers long-term potential for your needs and aspirations, but isn’t too challenging to sail. In basic terms, boards are of similar length, but they vary more in width and volume. Wider, higher volume boards (140-200L) are more stable and easier to sail and suit beginners, improver-intermediates, lighter winds and inland waters."

"The new ‘widestyle’ boards are so much easier and lighter than boards from a few years ago. They’re at least 75-90cm wide, which reduces your chances of falling off and increases your control and ease of getting ‘planing’. They’re undoubtedly the easiest boards to sail on the market! The ones we’re suggesting here aren’t the massive white 200-220L school ‘platforms’ you might have had your lessons on: these are sporty, fun and perfect for embracing the early stages of the sport."

boards.co.uk/how-to/boardwise-beginners-board-guide.html



Windsurfing Gear For Beginners | Choosing Your First Windsurf Board And Other Equipment

"You will probably learn to windsurf using a training sail (under 5m) but it isn't worth buying a training sail, as once you come to the point where you are ready to purchase kit, you want it to help you progress. You don't want it to be too big otherwise it is too heavy and hard to control. As a general rule, most beginner adults buying their first sail would look at a 5m to 6m sail, but it really does depend on your height/weight and ability."

mpora.com/adventure/windsurfing-kitesurf...beginners-equipment/



Lots of nice vids and help in Windsurfing Instruction
windsurfillinois.com/index.php/forum/windsurfing-instruction


Hope to see you on the water,
Reid

Welcome aboard Sean! I just want to add a few more information sources to those posted by Reid.

A good stocked windsurfing store with helpful and knowledgeable staff:
isthmussailboards.com/windsurfing-101

A modern kids /and adults/ starter package currently on Craigslist:
chicago.craigslist.org/chc/spo/d/windsur...rigs/6622598027.html

My recommendation for a beginner starter kit package:
isthmussailboards.com/2018-starboard-ble...latable-package.html

One of the best beginner video instructionals on YouTube:

Our sport is exciting and fascinating, but also complicated and difficult to learn. I would strongly recommend you taking your time and educating yourself on the subject preferably with some lessons on top of the articles and videos, before making any purchases.
Good luck!

Thanks Guys for the tips, links, and welcome! I will definitely spend some time reviewing. I did pick up the two boards, masts, and sails last night. I plan on taking off early today to see about getting familiar with how they go together, practice in the yard, and maybe pond to test my balance. My boat is in the shop for the next week or so, I hope to have some time to put towards trying to get up this next week.

Woohoo! Go get them eager beaver! Here’s a progression diary Gary started 3 years ago and kept updating it with a lot of useful information and input:
www.windsurfillinois.com/index.php/forum...ression?limitstart=0

1st Day - Went out to friends pond with good access and nice grass & sand to set up in.

Goals
1. Get the rig put together and see what works and what doesn't work.
2. Stand up on board, stay balanced and pull sail out of water.
3. Balance sufficiently to be in starting position
4. Stretch goal - actually move under wind
5. Wear down puppy so he sleeps in tomorrow morning.

Results
Things went together easily enough, I tried the mistral board today, I thought it would be more stable with rear fin and centerboard inserted. The centerboard spring buttons were not in good working order, and the board is only about 11.5 feet long and 24.5 inches wide (~63 cm). I was able to stand up on the board easily, with the sail in the water. Pulling it up proved to be a difficult balancing act. Seemed to be able to get it up to my hands, and about this point, would lose balance. and fall off board. Several attempts were made, and I had improving success. The boards width seems to be problematic, I see why the first bit advice Reid shared was to not buy the cheap board! Also the wind was nil, and as I was trying to balancing, I seemed to turn in circles driven by my weight shifting. Eventually, I got up long enough with the smallest amount of breeze that i moved in a straight line. However, I was not in a good position on board, and think this is attributable to luck as much as anything. After a couple hours at the pond, I was exhausted, and Baloo was as well, though he did still wake up at 5:05 this morning.

Today I'm going to try again with the other board, which has two slight advantages of having a working centerboard/dagger and is a bit wider at nearly 70 cm, which I know is still pretty narrow. Debating on going back to the pond, or heading over to Clinton Lake.

Mistral Board and dagger with broken buttons



HiFly board


Sail size

Well, you’ve got your first lessons. Lesson # 1-nothing in windsurfing is as easy as it looks like, quite the opposite. Lesson # 2- old narrow boards are nor the best first boards, same for the sails-this olle 6.2 probably pulls like today’s 7.5 and the pressure point will shift wildly on top of that. Anyway, use the HyFly in the future, it’s better for you then the Mistral for sure. Take it easy -it’s a sport for life, you never really stop learning. Cute doggie

Sat - took the Hi-Fly board to Clinton at the marina. Did better than Friday, but still working on balancing. Met some members from the sailing club, 8 year old Lilly was enjoying a swim and was full of encouragement on my attempts The Hi Fly doesn't have a rear fin, so will need to see about adding one.

Sun - I removed the foot holds on the Hi-Fly board, and put the fin from the mistral malibu board. My foot placement was better, without holds in the way, and the board was more stable with rear fin and dagger down. Met Reid, Rich, Chris, Jeff, Susan, and Steffan, thanks guys for your tips and advice. I need to use the boom with the clamp next time, and will need to move the other hardware to it.

More improvement today, was able to balance better and even moved under wind power a couple times. Lilly, whos family was back again to sail, even noticed and told me that I'm getting better It must be true if an 8yr old can see it, lol!

You're right, 8 year olds are truth tellers! You were looking good out there. Let me know if you'd be interested in using some of my beginner stuff we talked about yesterday. I suspect it'd feel quite different and really give you the opportunity to nail down the sailing aspect of the sport. Windsurfing IS sailing..it follows all the same laws/physics as sailing a boat but, in my opinion, is a million times more fun!

Sean, great for you to take on learning a new sport. This is awesome and sooner than later you will realized that windsurfing is very addicting! Also, I bet your wake-boarding background will prove useful as you progress! Keep at it and good luck!

It’s proven that you make faster progress when sailing with other people better then you, compared to sailing alone. Consider yourself lucky for being able to sail with the Clinton crew . I’ve learned a lot from them and I count them among my best friends.

Thanks for the generous offer Rich, I will take you up on that!