When starting windsurfing, it is important to have the right equipment - then learning this sport becomes child's play. Conversely, a sail that is too heavy or unsuitable can completely spoil the fun. Before you buy your own sail, we recommend that you take a beginner's surfing course at a professional surf school. Many surf schools and surf clubs, all of which you can find in our interactive spot map rent out the latest equipment and thus offer you a good and inexpensive opportunity to try out different sails.
Windsurfing beginners, whether children or adults, tend to be active in light winds during the learning phase. For a sail to be fun in light winds, it must be light and provide good propulsion even in light winds. Therefore, pay attention to the following points when buying a sail:
In principle, sails for newcomers must not have any camber (profile tongs on the mast, photo). These make the sail unnecessarily heavy, expensive and difficult to rig.
Sails made of cloth material (Dacron) are particularly suitable because they are robust against falls and UV light. Sails made of transparent monofilm are even lighter, but somewhat more sensitive to stone contact, falls and UV light
2-4 battens are completely sufficient. This creates a deep profile in the sail even in light winds, which ensures good propulsion.
Do you want an inexpensive sail that allows you to practise your manoeuvres in light winds and is easy and uncomplicated to set up? Then sails from the "WindSUP" or "Beginner" category are ideal for you. Just make sure you use a mast with a thin diameter that fits the length of the sail. These are known as "skinny masts" or Rdm masts (reduced diameter mast) and make handling easier, not just for small children's hands. If you want to make things easier for yourself, buy one of the complete rigs offered by many brands, which include a multi-piece mast, boom and mast base in addition to the sail - usually practically packed in a bag.
If you can already planing, are starting to loop surf and are therefore regularly on the water in winds of more than 12 knots, you should opt for a light wave, freemove or freeride sail, as these are more controllable and faster due to the additional battens and higher basic tension.
The question remains as to which sail size makes sense at the beginning. The following recommendation applies to slightly advanced windsurfers who primarily want to practise manoeuvres in light winds:
Ideal board type for this sailing group:WindSUPs, longboards with centreboard
