Windsurfing board size v. body weight

Question
I have an old (don't laugh) mid-1980s Sailboard 335. I weigh 200 lbs. I can uphaul on this board and I am learning to waterstart. I want to get a smaller, lighter, faster board. What is the minimum volume/litre (I guess this is how things are measured now), I can move to to learn on a shortboard? Thanks,-tcc

Answer
Hey Tris,

I never laugh at someone doing whatever is necessary to windsurf. I'm still sailing early 90s' boards and recently bought an older longboard for the light wind days.

If you are wanting to still be able to uphaul when the waterstarts aren't working for you, you probably want to go with something around 140L. If you want to struggle and work through uphauling a smaller board, about 120L is probably the lowest volume you could get by with. Either size would work for you to learn waterstarts and get you into shortboard sailing. The 140L range would carry a larger sail and do well in lighter winds. The 120L range would work well into the higher winds. Please note that these are average ranges. If you can, try to demo some different sizes to see what would feel right for you.

The way to consider what size for you would be,

What are the predominate wind speeds for your area?
Higher averages, go smaller. Lower averages, go larger.

How are you doing with waterstarts?
Larger board, easier to uphaul when needed.
Smaller board, more range in higher winds.

How much time are you willing to spend working on your shortboard skills?
Larger board, faster learning.
Smaller board, more work.

What type sailing are you predominately going to be doing?
Back and forth, sail whenever you can, Go larger.
Speed, freestyle, wave, Go smaller.

If you are wanting to get into shortboards quickly, I would suggest getting a waterstart lesson. This will advance you much quicker than just learning on your own. If lessons are not readily available, find some instructional videos and watch them on your non-sailing days. Peter Hart has a great set of instructional videos for all types of sailing. Alan Cadiz has a great jibe video that can really help. You can put their names in any search engine and find a place to buy their videos. Also, check out windsurfingmag.com for some great instructional info and videos.

Hope this will help.
Keep on sailing,
Windlover