Best beginners board

Question
QUESTION: Hi!
I had started out windsurfing a few years back with a Starboard Rio, then, after gaining the basic skills, I thought I was ripe for a more advanced board and  I bought a Tabou Rocket 145. I am now having second thoughts about this decision and I抎 like to go back to a ?beginners?(= with centerboard) board, because I have come to realize that these advanced boards, without a centerboard,  are in reality one way boards : excellent for sailing and blasting downwind with 15+ knts  winds, they are of no use in keeping an upwind course  in light winds  below 15 knts/hr.  In a way, they are crippled boards. Even with the proper footwork on the rails,  there is a limit to how much you can control them upwind, when  the winds are light. With the Tabou Rocket or, for this matter with any ?advanced?boards, if I were to wait for the wind conditions for which they are designed, by dint of their lack of a centerboard,  I could sail only one day out of four round here, which means  blowing our already short  summers?br> In light winds NOTHING, really,  is as effective as the centerboard-equipped boards, which the windsurfing mystique fed  by the manufacturers?marketing spin mistakenly associates with beginners...
Having said this, my question is:  other than the  Starboard Rio , which other  beginners board would you recommend ? I read good reviews about the Fanatic Viper. Do you have any comments on it? Do you have first-hand experience about how well the Viper compares with other brands in the same category, like  Bic ,Tabou Cool Rider, RRD..? Some of these, the RRD, I believe have a 1 mt wide model. Sounds extremely stable and I do indeed care about stability, but are there any draw-backs in such exceedingly wide models?

Thank you

Franco V.
Montreal, Canada

ANSWER: You are correct in saying this board may need more than 15 knots to plane but that would depend on your weight and the fin and sail size you are using.  I have a 145 liter Gun board.  The Tabou rockets are much better IMHO.  You did not say what size sail or fin you are using.  I use a 7.2 sail with a 45cm fin and I weigh 140 lbs.  This combination will get me planning in 15knots. Before you go back to a bigger board, make sure you have the right size sail and fin.  The fin can make a big difference.  If it is too small it will not plan early.  I have not had any experience with any larger boards with centerboards other than learning boards of 200 or more liters.  You sound like you are a little more advanced for a center board equipped board.  In really light winds(10 mph), you are correct, NOTHING, really,  is as effective as the centerboard-equipped boards.  In winds this light I prefer to use a SUP.  That would be what I recommend for you.  An SUP with a slot on top that you can also mount a sail for the super light days or you could paddle it for some exercise that gets you out on the water.  

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello again!
Thanks for your prompt answer.
You say that you can plane your board with a 7.2 sail  and a 45 cm fin. Concerning the fin size and the sail, there is not much of a difference between us, since I mostly use a 7.5 myself and my  fin size is the  standard 48 cm the Tabou comes equipped with.  But you also weigh almost 40 lbs less than me ( 175 lbs) and this might well be the whole difference!

The point is that my launching point is in a relatively sheltered bay and the prevailing WSW winds are such that I must  go aggressively upwind first  if I want to get off the bay and out  in the open. Unfortunately, this is  almost impossible  if the winds IN THE BAY are 15 knts/hr or less. If I try to gain momentum by first heading  downwind and then turning upwind, the bay is not large enough to give me sufficient  leeway to turn upwind,   because I get right away in the shallows  which are right across.
With the Rio, even when I was  less  advanced than now, I could always bring myself much farther upwind and very close to the exit point, sure  because I had the bite of the centerboard.
I never thought of using a SUP, neither do I know much about them. The idea of having a paddle to propel the board  when the winds are really low sounds logical,( as a matter of fact, I already tried to fasten a paddle to the board, but there is not enough room..) but with a SUP I don't know what trade off I have to expect in terms of windsurfing performance. Would a SUP perform better or worse than a regular " beginners" board? And will it plane?
I also thought to overcome the problem by using a longer fin on the Tabou ( it would also be cheaper than buying a new board!). It would probably  help to bite upwind better, but then a 60 cm fin  may be a drag when sailing downwind. This is why I think that a beginner's board with a retractable centerboard might still be a good compromise: sure I'd lose the manoeuverability and the agility of the Tabou, but I'll gain in stability and, nore importantly,  at least I could use the board  all around, downwind and upwind, light or strong winds.

I'd appreciate your comments again

Thank you

Franco V.

Answer
A board with a centerboard will definitely give you the ability to get upwind in your case where you need to point very high to get out to a wind line.  An SUP can plane in enough wind.  I sail with guys around your weight and they are usually on a 9.0 to 9.5 sail and larger fin when I am on my 7.2.  I have seen some of the newer sails (Ezzy to name one) in that size and they are built very light weight with a lot of durability.  I think you have some choices here.  If possible, before committing the $ to a centerboard board, you should try to demo a larger sail and fin on your current setup.