Hello everyone could someone please advise me if a Minstral 120 ltr explosion board would be ok to learn on, as I have been given one with heaps of gear and was thinking of maybe buying a better board to get me started. Thank you in advance for your help .
Great sport to take up. Have you any experience windsurfing? What do you weigh? Possibly need something around the 140 to 160 litre mark if you are new to the sport. Try and have a couple of lessons on a big 180 to 200 litre board before you buy your own.
The Mistral Explosion will be OK if you are under 70kg..... hmmm maybe 80kg.... fit and motivated (preferably done other balance type sports, surfed etc) and have idea of sailing principles.
Will still be way easier on a big beginners board with a centreboard (the big keel thing in the middle that is additional to the fin). EG Starboard Go - google them
Thanks guys for your quick replys. Yes I only weigh about 70 kgs ringing wet and all my sailing experience has been in dingys. But now I want to give away the racing and just go out for fun. Thanks again for your help.
You will go well then
Watch a couple of yoochoob videos regarding how to uphaul the sail, then sheet in
try a 4m sail in about 8kn initially, main thing with that board will be FLAT flat water to keep it steady
The board is quite a bit smaller than what is recommended for learning on.
Certainly lessons on a bigger board would be better as a way to start.
IF you really wanted to start off learning on the Explosion;
This is just my personal view on it. I started out on a land simulator, which was the centre part of a board mounted on a rotating base. I think it helped me learn.
The main thing you have to learn is sail control. You can actually learn a lot of it on dry land. You can get a plank of wood about 4' by 2', drill a hole 1' from one end to bolt the mast base through and knock some long nails through each corner to hold it to the ground.
Then practice leaning back into the wind and holding your weight using the wind on the sail. Learn to flip the sail round and hold the other side of the boom. Practice up-hauling the sail off the ground with one foot just in front of the mast, touching the mast base. Turn the plank round and practice the same things with the wind coming from the other side.
Then when you start using the board on the water, you need to find somewhere with flat shallow water, which will make it much, much easier than the open sea with waves.
Start off without the straps on the board and with the mast base at the rear of the mast track.
^^ geez just use the plank and a kite on the water, and make it really easy.
Also "kewl" too
In all seriousness though, a sim can help a lot with early stages, definitely worth it if you have limited time on water
Thanks everyone for your replys I went ahead a bought a Jp funstar 145 to start on and hopefully later on will be able to use the minstral. Now time to hit the water!
Select to expand quoteNev350 said..
Thanks everyone for your replys I went ahead a bought a Jp funstar 145 to start on and hopefully later on will be able to use the minstral. Now time to hit the water!
If your Explosion is the 288 by 58cm version, that is an even better move to get the Funster.
It looks like the perfect board to get you through all the learning stages.
