What windsurfing gear should I get?

I am a 17 yr, 125 lb, 5’8″ male who would like to learn to windsurf. I live in Holland, Michigan where I will start out on a small inland lake, then move on to Lake Michigan once I get better. Apparently the average wind here is around 10 mph. There is nowhere to rent equipment so I will have to buy some. Because of this it will need to last me a while, so I don’t want something that is just a beginner’s set. What size sail and board should I get?

learn on a 170 L board, you’ll be happy with that. get a nice and wide one for increased stability and a lower planing threshold. I would recommend something like the Exocet Speed Slider 170, you’ll be very happy with that board. Of course, I highly doubt you’d be able to afford all this and you’ll have to go with whatever cheap stuff you can get your hands on, but that’s okay (check the classifieds at iwindsurf.com).

That said, if the average wind speed is 10 mph and there aren’t days where it gets to at least 15 knots, you’re basically screwed. To plane in 10 mph winds you’ll need a sail size around 10 m^2 (another benefit of the Exocet Speed Slider, comes with a big enough fin and is wide enough to support sails of such sizes), but to learn you’ll need a sail around 5 m^2… See the problem? The mast needed for planing will have to be around 520 cm but the mast needed for learning will be around 430 cm, you’ll need different booms, and separate sails are extremely expensive…

Honestly, as a 17 year old, windsurfing is probably too expensive for you to get into, especially with these conditions. Old equipment is sh*t (defined as pre-2000) compared to the new stuff because of a lot of breakthroughs and that’s all the stuff you can find cheap, but you’ll quickly realize how worthless that is (and by cheap I mean $500 for everything)

If you’re willing to spend the money though, buy this shitty rig to learn on: http://www.the-house.com/aqref618zz-aquaglide-windsurf-rigs.html (there’s really no way to learn on a rig big enough for the winds you were talking about, believe me) or maybe even the 5.1 of that, and as you progress and are ready to get planing upgrade to a bigger sail (as I said, not going to be cheap)

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