Hi all,
Been thinking of getting into windsurfing for a while but never bit the bullet..
Well I have just gone and done what all the experienced riders on these pages suggest that a noob shouldn't.
Yep, I went & bought a complete kit, board, sail, mast, harness etc for $100
How cheap is that.. Now I know what your all going to say, boards/sails have improved a great deal in recent years I should have just stumped up for a newer better kit..
But times are tough and the Minister for War & Finance is hard to convince in handing over the necessary approvals (and cash)..
So anyway to cut to the chase, my question is this.. I have looked pretty damn thoroughly around the net but cannot find any reference to the board that I have.
On the board is a sticker saying Sailboards New Zealand (87 barrys point rd takapuna) Painted in big letters is Omega2 and further stickers Brut33, Faberge etc..
Board is around 2.9m. Is anyone familiar with this board/board maker and what I can expect from it.. I guess picture would help.. will work on that one...
I think it's a bit of a dinosaur, BUT if I get out on it and use it I just might be able to put forward a decent case for an upgrade..
Any help is appreciated..
Cheers
Ed the point is weather or not the gear is usable so many people have tried and given up because of crap gear. Where do you live if near a club they may have a good learner board you can use Our club has a starboard start for beginners and are more than happy to teach a newby . I think other clubs would be the same or you could pay for lessons if no club near you . If you get through the initial stage you will find it a GREAT sport and a group of people who will help you any way they can
Hey don't knock the old gear, I learnt on a $200 ebay special which gave me way more than $200 of enjoyment...
My concern with your gear is size. How big is it? If it's less than 140 litres or so, you will struggle to get past the uphaul and fall off stage.
As you say, a picture will help a lot.
You'll be right. I taught myself on an old wally and continued using it for 20yrs. It takes a bit of detirmination but once upon a time, all those old boards and sails were new kit and that was all people had to learn on. If it couldn't be done, the sport would have died out before it began. I've only just bought anything modern a few months ago and I'm loving it, but I'm keeping the old wally too. :)
There is a big difference between a Wally and what sounds like an 80s slalom board when trying to learn windsurfing.
I think the Omega boards were designed by Tom Luedecke, pre Bombora and the orthagonal concept.
It may be possible to learn on such a board but it won't be as easy as learning on either a Wally or a modern learner board thats over a meter wide and has a centreboard.
If it is an old slalom board then learning will be easier if you fit some sort of fin in the centre to give the board a bit of directional stability.
Could be a little hard to learn on, will be about 120L and lateral stability will be about nil
If you got a rig with it though, you can probably get a free learner's board (20kg of plastic thing, of any kind) to learn the basics on and then after a few sessions on that use the board you have now.
1 little pic = 1000 utterances.
There's degrees of goodness (for the buck) and badness for old gear.
Post a pic or two.
Wow.. thanks for all the responses.. much appreciated...
Some useful comments, glad to find a forum where people don't just bag every post.. thoughtful responses make all the difference
I did think on looking at the board that it might be a little harder to learn on not having a centerboard.. but well I'm a sucker for punishment so I may as well give it a go.. I guess the big issue could come from wet starts until my balance gets pretty good.
Anyway I have attached a few pics.. all the kit seems in serviceable condition, bit of mildew here and there, but the important bits look OK.
So here's the 1000 words..
Sail was made by Steve Rushton Sail Makers and the mastbase and extension by Surfco.. harness(not shown) is suffering a little mildew rot, but should be usable..
I am only about 200m from the Beach in Toogoom (Just out of Hervey Bay QLD) so once I have fabricated a trolley i'll head down the beach and make a fool of myself
I have done a little bit of sailing in the past, mainly acting as ballast for a mates 18ft skif (racing the odd weekend) and on same blokes 30ft cruising yacht. So hopefully some of the sailing bits will come back to me and it may make the learning process a little quicker.. no guarantees though.. Now all I can think about is seeing if there is a breeze blowing :) normally I'm cursing the wind...
So anyway.. don't hold back positive comments and constructive criticism welcome
I reckon that's a $100 well spent You'll get more than your moneys worth with enjoyment (and some frustration...lol), and when ya get the basics of tacking, slo mo gybes, beach starts etc kinda sorted (maybe in 3 months or so), flog it off, get ya $100 back and look into a modernish board around 130 odd litres and a nice 5.5 meter (give or take) sail and enjoy round two- it only gets better after to "making a fool of ya self" stage.
Is there any grip on the deck? It looks like it would be super slippery?
First thing to do is to work out a way to fit a centre fin to the board if you want to make learning a bit easier with this gear. The centre fin will give a bit of lateral stability and make it easier to get going in a forward direction, rather than going sideways once you get the sail out of the water.
It won't have to be the most hydro dynamic centrefin design as you won't be going all that fast.
Hi Ed
Welcome to the world of windsurfing it is great fun.
I sail from Torquay,Hervey Bay,(2nd groyne from the pier),
everyday that there is enough wind.
There is also quite a few others who sail here as well,you are
most welcome to join us or even just to stop and pick
our limited brains.
Looks like a good deal for $100!
Not exactly the best gear for learning on but you'll get there if you have good persistence and good balance. If possible get someone to teach you how to beach start straight off rather than uphaul starts which will be difficult on that board.
Alternatively see if you can pick up a big board.
Hi Ed , your weight will be a defining point , that board will be hard to ride if you are a bigger person
Ed try to meet up with darryl or other experienced sailboarders in your area a few tips will go a long way they dont steer like a boat Good luck
Interesting rig... never seen such a sail before...
Just make sure you don't go out on an offshore wind... you got Buckley's of making it back on that board.
Onshores and side-shore will be OK for learning.
Have fun !
Were the Saw trestle (saw horses) included for the $100 .... If so it was a bargain!
Nice looking board!
As Mark suggests, now look around for an older longboard to learn on and sail in light winds. Best of both worlds.
but seriously thanks for the invite, might have to look you up some time to ask a few questions and see how it's done..
Welcome
i am about 4 months in front of you
I did the same thing - $100 eBay kit , feel in love with windsurfing and brought a better kit
The first thing you will notice with windsurfing -
1.Seabreeze is great , so many friendly and helpful guys
2.It Bloody expensive to learn lol 
after 1 month i brought a 80 viper -
personally my 80 cm wide viper feel just as stable as my $100 eBay board * 65cm*
but with 2nd had sail it made a huge different
Best tip -
1. get out with some local guys
2. Ask question
3. Hopefully someone can show you how to set it up the sail
4. Wet suit , GET OUT and smile
oh weed fins help a lot if you're in a weedy lake
Righto.. bit of an update...
No I haven't been out on the water, terrible weather here this weekend. So I have been in the shed making a cart so that I can drag my kit the few hundred meters from home to the beach.
Started with a broken pram from the local dump shop and after a bit of cutting, drilling and welding I have a suitable cart. Now just need some foam to wrap around the tubes to cushion the board.
Seems to work OK will use a jockey strap to hold the sailbag and mast to the board and another strap at the pointy end and I can hold onto the mast as a handle.
Only thing I have to do is check fin clearance, and adjust as necessary I could take the fin off for transport but would rather have less things to do down the beach and less chance of losing fin screws etc..
So all in all pretty happy for about $5 in bits and a few things I already had in the shed I recon it's turned out OK.
Nice job should serve you well. Just a thought regarding fin clearence, couldn't you just turn it over and point it in the air. Maybe easier than removing it or making further enhancements. Enjoy.
jeeeze you'd recon after spending a few hours in the shed this arvo building this that I would have stood back and gone.. you know I should just turn that board upside down..
hope i helped. hate for you to go to too much trouble when you dont need too. Have you been out for a ride yet.
I was gonna say get bigger wheels, but DASZIP is right of course.
Nice reuse of a pram. In my days I used bits from an old aluminium lawn chair with pram wheels with a similar result.
Don't forget to turn the board back over when you get in the water.
Try to remember that for normal use the fin goes downwards. I use the saying :
StalagTIGHTS go down and StalagMITES go up.
and then just mentally note that a fin is like a stalagtite.
For any more helpful hints just ask.
