Sport Today

I'm a beginner(165 lb) who is pretty comfortable (no waterstart,
however) with my extra big board (Mistral Competition, 380cm, 250l), but
wants to go to a smaller one. One of the boards I'm looking at is
"O'Brien Elite" (around 1990, 320cm,~160l, with centerboard). I'm
wondering if somebody is familiar with this board and can share his/her
experience or maybe suggest some other models. However I'm on pretty
tight budget and would rather buy used board.
Thank you very much for your help,
                        Alex

I'd say you'll find the O'Brien still too big and heavy to serve as a next step
in your development.  See if you can try out a 130ish liter giant slalom board,
like a Xantos 295 or Mistral Explosion or Bic Rock etc.  

If you still want a centerboard, look for a Bic or Mistral transitional
board...something that weighs less than the O'Brien.   But if you can handle
your current board pretty well, I'll bet you can handle a 9'6"ish slalom board
with little difficulty, and much future speed and pleasure on the upside.
Michael
US5613

Hi:
It's a dog.  I owned one and sold it after one season.  Heavy and
sluggish.  I bought an F2 Comet which was a much better board.  You
should be able to get a Comet these days used for $300 complete.
It is a fairly good transitional board for a beginner.  In fact I
still have one that my wife uses.  She is a beginner and likes it
quite well.
Vinh Vu

On Tue, 21 Jul 1998 11:48:41 -0700, Alexei Neverov

I agree 100%. Something like Pete Cresswell's $99 GS board (see his
post today) will open up the world of shortboards for you, and you can
still limp home if the wind dies.

Roger

--
Roger Nightingale
Duke University
Department of Biomedical Engineering

You already have one longboard.  Don't buy another one.  Get something in the
275 to 295 size range without a centerboard.

Tom O'Brien - Chicago

 Alex,
Go for O'Brian Elite. I started on an Original Windsurfer and the Elite
was my second board.  I was then about 175 pounds and sailed on flat
water, lakes and rivers near Sacramento, California, with winds ranging
from 10 to 15 MPH average.  With this board I made my first jibe and was
able to do carving jibes;  got into the foot straps;  and learned how to
hook-up with the harness and lines.  The durability of the board is
excellent.  I could take off with a beach start,  come back with beach
landing, walk off the nose of board, and other than a few scratches,
never got a ding.  I got to the point where I was using a Mistral World
Cup 6.6 sail  and wanted to go bigger.  The problem was spinning out
when getting back into the straps.  I had changed the fin to a 33cm
Razor and was advised not to go bigger because the fin box was not
strong enough.  The only way I could move on was to sell it because it
was so much fun!  I am now about 180 pounds and have a 328 Voloce which
I sail with a NP 7.5, V-6.  I would recommend the Elite especially if
you are on a budget.  Oh yea, I almost forgot;  with the retractable
center board you will find yourself sailing when other people are
sitting on the beach deciding to rig or not and will always be able to
get back to where you launched.
Jibe Ho!  Have fun,  Trevor.

The Elite was my second board too.  Bought it as a transition board.  I used it
until I destroyed in ocean/shore break conditions.  Looking back, I,ve got to
say it was a "dog."  It really held me back.  Sure you can get some manuivers
and harness work on a big, heavy board, but as far as waterstarts and real
transition stuff for ocean sailing, it was a waste of time and money.

Depending on your sailing conditions and where you want to go with yoursailing
(skill & speed), and most importantly how much money you want to spend, there
are far superior transition boards out there.  Without being too ***
O'Brian, and not knowing their newer products if any, the Elite is on the
bottom of my list of 10'+ boards.

In that milk bottle material/board design, it's really only good for rental and
to help students transition to shorter boards for a few days, not a personal
long term investment.

My two cents.  Maybe that's all the opinion is worth.  Bic, Mistral, F2, HiFly
& Fanatic and more have a great deal of product in that category.  Check them
out before you decide on the O'Brian Elite.  Also, check the windsurfing
magazine product reviews.  A 1990 board is pretty old by today's design
standards.

Good luck and good sailing.