Be mindful of the fin size: some of these fat boys are
sporting 40 cm fins, and that can severely restrict
where you can sail (e.g., Hatteras)

Cheers, UW
--- joepilot121 <joepilot121@...> wrote:
> Mark,
>
> I don't think anyone has replied to your inquiry
> yet,
> so I'll put in my two cents.
>
> There really is alot of good used equipment out
> there.
> I should know, I own most of it......
> And I'll sell it really cheap----
>
> : ^ )
>
> That being said, for the bay sailing over here that
> you'll
> be doing, I think that you'd be better served buying
> good
> NEW equipment. The difference between learning on
> an
> old Fanatic Fox or Mistral one design longboard
> and the new wide boards is amazing. My brother
> learned
> in an 1/2 hour on a Starboard Start--I couldn't
> believe it--
>
> As a matter of fact, I was a little resentful that
> he and my
> whippersnapper nephew didn't have to go through all
> the
> hardship that I went through so long ago!
>
> "When I was your age, I had to walk twenty miles
> through ten
> feet of snow in my BARE feet to learn to windsurf"
>
> So at any rate, for the price it really would be
> hard to go wrong with
> Starboard Start, as matter of fact, it's a board
> that you could
> always
> keep in your arsenal, to teach family and friends
> with.
>
> I'm intrigued by the Mistral Prodigy, while I've
> never sailed it,
> when I saw it in the Windsurf mag board test I was
> impressed, when
> you examine the stats, you find that, it's almost as
> wide as the
> Start, almost 20 centimeters longer, and it actually
> has a
> retractable centerboard and moveable (sp?)
> masttrack.
> I feel that it's a safe bet to say that staying
> upwind shouldn't be a
> problem for a beginner. With the Start that's not
> always so. The
> daggerboard should more than makeup for the
> decreased width of around
> 13 centimeters. The good thing about the Mistral
> Prodigy would be
> that, it would be THE board for the conditions
> you'll see MOST of the
> time up in Bethany. I guess it all depends on how
> much you want to
> spend. You couldn't really go wrong either way.
>
> Best of Luck, let me know what you decide!
>
> Joe
>
>


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