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GuideHow to get your windsurfing equipment ready for the start of the season

Tobias Frauen

 · 25.02.2025

You should check a few points before your first session so that you don't have to lug your equipment back like this!
Photo: reemedia
If you're not surfing through the winter, you're eagerly awaiting the start of the season these days. To ensure that the first session after the winter break doesn't end in a fiasco, but instead brings a long-awaited smile to your face, it's worth doing a little preparation.

Ideally, you should have cleaned and stowed away your windsurfing equipment neatly and prepared everything in autumn. If not, now is the best time to pick out your windsurfing equipment and get everything ready for surfing.

There's nothing more annoying than arriving at a spot jittery and then failing due to a stuck zip on your board bag. Or the boom is so caked with sand and dried salt after the last session in an autumn storm that it can't be adjusted another millimetre. With chafed ropes or a crumbly power joint, it can even be really dangerous!

Here's the checklist for a relaxed and safe start to the season:

Board:

  • Does the board have any minor damage from the last autumn storm?
  • Are the foot straps still intact and can they be adjusted?
  • For US or slot boxes: Are all fin screws present and tight?
  • Are all fins present?
  • Are the fins damaged and may they need to be sanded?

Workshop: How to repair your board yourself>>

Sail:

  • Are all sails - including battens - in order?
  • Are all batten tensioners common?
  • Do the zips on the canvas bags work?
  • Do the rollers on the trim block run freely?

Boom:

  • Does the adjustment at the back end work without problems?
  • Are the ropes on the front piece and outhaul in order?
  • Is the front piece easy to operate?
  • Is the coating OK?
  • Are the harness lines in order and well adjusted on both sides?
  • If required, is the RDM/SDM adapter or mast sleeve included?

Mast & base plate:

  • Is the power joint brittle, porous or even cracked?
  • Are all threads running smoothly?
  • Does the mast have major quirks or very deep marks from the camber?
  • All ropes okay?
  • Is the adjustment of the extension smooth?
  • Does the Quick Release work well?

Neo & Trapeze:

  • Did the wetsuit survive the winter in the basement without mould or mouse bites?
  • Are all zips and Velcro straps OK?
  • No cracks?

Other:

  • Are all the tensioning straps for the roof rack OK?
  • Do all zips on board bags and other bags work?

Get the zip working again: Rescue for broken boardbags>>

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Tobias Frauen

Tobi is our digital man, he looks after the surf website and social media channels and gets on everyone's nerves every morning by asking for more pictures and videos. His surfing CV includes all the famous choppy water spots: As a teenager, he went from his home in Münsterland to the Ijsselmeer or the Brouwersdam, and during his civilian service on Sylt, after countless washes on the west side, the Königshafen became his preferred spot. After studying in Kiel and Heidkate, he was supposed to go to Hamburg “only for a short time”, but this short time has lasted for over ten years and has made him a “weekend warrior”. He goes on tour with his family and camper van as often as possible, often to the Baltic Sea, SPO or Denmark, but also likes to go to Finland, Sweden or Sardinia.

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