Well, against the advise of everyone who replied to my last most... I went out and bought a windglider. Everyone told me to wait and save up about a grand and buy real beginner board, but the fact remained that it is a lot easier to save up $400 than it is to save up $1000-$1400 for a real board, especially considering I already have a used board I got at a garage sale ($75 with a fiberglass mast, a 2 piece aluminum mast, boom, and 3 sails) So
I drove 4 hours to Portland and got one..... here are my thoughts...
First of all, I am glad I got it! I drove 2 miles to a small lake near my home, and had it in the water within 30 min... got on and first try sailed across the lake! (about 50 yards) then turned to Jibe (they aren't made for tacking) and took a dunking
hehe, so I climbed back aboard, and sailed to the opposite shore again, where I ended up about 30 feet downshore, after a few more tries I was sailing back and forth across the lake with ease!, the only problem was that there was very little wind, there were times when the sail didn't even move in the breeze, heh. I was there with my brother and a friend. I'm 6'2" and weigh about 250 Lb's, my brother is 6'5" and weights about 280, and my friend is about 5'5" and weighs about 150, we all learned how to windsurf in about an hour, and took turns sailing back and forth From what I have heard about windsurfing there is no way you could do that with a conventional board, or even sail on the small lake we sailed on. Even with the wind as crappy as it was we were able to make headway upwind, the problem wasn't that the board was slipping sideways, the problem was that there was literally barley enough wind to make forward progress except in the gusts....
I cant wait to go out again tomorrow and try the sailboat option, and I think after a few outings I will be ready to try my full-size windsurfer again and maybe actually do more than climb on and fall off this time....
but the windglider will be great for taking the kids sailing or windsurfing even then..... It is truly a great product in my eyes and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.....
