The Evolution of Windsurfing Boards
The evolution of windsurfing boards is important to keep in mind when looking to buy a windsurf board. Tremendous change has occurred over the last few years in both design and construction materials. The early model of windsurf boards were simply a one-model board style. These early boards were very long, thin, and much heavier than the windsurfing boards of today.
This recent windsurfing boards manufacturers has produced shorter, wider, and lighter boards with user specific design features to make windsurfing the popular sport that it is today. You should look with awe and admiration at the older veteran windsurfing pioneers. The early style boards were very difficult to work with and were tied together with sailor's knots. The biggest problems with the earlier boards were balance, maneuverability, and ease of use.
Many Changes Have Occurred In Recent Windsurf Board Design
With the use of stronger and lighter weight materials windsurf boards over the last ten years has dramatically changed. Designers have also stepped in to create boards that are highly suitable for many different genres of windsurfing with improvements continually advancing annually. The new windsurf boards are designed for balance, maneuverability, and ease of use. In other words, the new boards have everything the old windsurf boards lacked.
The used windsurf board market is unfortunately flooded with used boards that are over 3 years old. These older boards are inexpensive but these older boards will fall short of your expectations and hinder your ability to learn. There are good used beginner boards on the market that are less than three years old.
These boards are perfectly fine to start with. If you shop for a used board make sure that you take a more experienced friend with you to thoroughly check the board and rig before you buy. If you need to replace or update a lot of components or note any structural damage, you will be better off to look elsewhere.
Different Types of Modern Boards Available for the Beginner
At this point, your choices for a good beginner board are very wide, wide, and freeride. Very wide, over 90 cm, windsurfing boards are used in beginner windsurf classes to teach the basics. These boards will give newbies a very stable and buoyant foundation to learn basic skills. If you are an adult with a very heavy stature, that is the only instance when you should buy one of these very wide boards. If you are of average build you will outgrow this board at an alarming speed.
If you are of average built your best option would be to get a newer wide (80 to 89 cm) windsurfing board that comes equipped with a dagger board. These boards will provide you with much more long term use and lots of great fun. These boards perform well in higher wind conditions and will carry you through more intermediate sailing skills. The dagger board will help to assure that you have the ability get back where you started from. Your board will also be easier to control on a straight line.
During the recent times the freeride (65 to 75 cm) board was created. If you are very motivated and aggressively plan to learn windsurfing skills, this more intermediate board may work best for you. These boards have very good light wind performance but without the dagger board to keep you in line. You can learn to control these boards with diligence and determination to advance your skills more quickly in the long run. If you are not an aggressive learner go for the wide board category and have a blast.
Resources:
http://www.2radwindsurfblog.com/windsurfing/28-windsurf-gear-101-part-3/#more-28
http://www.awia.org/windsurfing_boards_categories_cont.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsurfinghttp://www.boardseekermag.com/new_to_windsurfing/index_013.htmhttp://www.naishafrica.com/STUFFDOWNLOADED/07WindsurfBds_Tech.pdfhttp://hobby.rin.ru/cgi-bin/eng/print.pl?id=99http://www.windsurfingmaps.com/blog/