Rider: Daryl
Gender: Female
Height: 5’2″
Weight: 120 lbs
Skill Level: Expert windsurfer

Board Tested: 2008 Naish Pro Wave 65L
Sails Used: 2008 Naish Session 3.4 – 4.7
Dates: Winter 2008 and Spring 2008
Location: Kanaha, Maui, Hawaii and the Columbia River Gorge
Conditions: High-wind wave and swell riding

A great board for smaller riders who love shredding waves.

Daryl sails the 2008 Naish Pro Wave 65 in 2.8 – 4.7 conditions, and she recommends it as great board for smaller riders, 125 lbs and lighter. The board is incredibly maneuverable, zips right around, and will turn on a dime. It offers numerous footstrap placements, so you can easily configure the Pro Wave with a narrower stance that works perfectly for women or other smaller sailors. The board also has plenty of footstrap options for setting a wider stance too, so larger riders can feel right at home.

Daryl tried the Pro Wave in the waves at Kanaha on Maui and finds it to be a perfect board for high-wind sailing. The board is incredibly lightweight, the footstraps and footpads are comfortable, and all the stock components are plush. Daryl loved the stock fin included with the Pro Wave, and she’s very picky when it comes to choosing a fin. The Pro Wave 65 is Daryl’s board of choice this year for swell riding in the Gorge.

An incredibly lightweight and versatile wave sail that depowers easily.

The 2008 Naish Session is a lightweight sail that is easy to handle, has a great wind range, and depowers effortlessly in gusts. Daryl describes it as a sail that’s great for everyone, from her friend George to her two school-aged boys. George is 56 years old, and is an incredibly solid sailor who loves to ride powered-up. Daryl loves the Sessions and finds them easy to ride, but as evidence to their incredible range of use, even George is riding a quiver of Sessions this season!

Related Posts:
Read Jodie’s review of the Naish Session
Read Steve’s review of the Naish Global Wave 78

Rider: Jodie
Gender: Female
Height: 5’2″
Weight: 115 lbs
Skill Level: Advanced windsurfer

Board Tested: 2008 Starboard Kombat 79 Wood
Sail Used: 2008 Naish Session 4.7
Date: May 27, 2008
Location: Event Site, Columbia River Gorge
Conditions: 15-25 mph, flatwater, medium chop, small swell

Two nights ago, Jodie had an opportunity to ride the Starboard Kombat 79 and the Naish Session 4.7 right out front here in Hood River. Here are her quick, initial thoughts:

“The Starboard Kombat planed super easily and felt floaty in the lulls, with quick pick-up in the gusts to get yourself really moving. It rides incredibly smooth in flat water, and was easily maneuverable in the little swells that day.

“The Naish Session is easy to rig and super smooth to sail, with no twitching or other quirks. I have sailed the 4.2 and 4.7 and found both of them to be an absolute treat to sail. The sails hold strong in the gusts and keep me powered up through the lulls.”

Awesome. Thanks, Jodie!

Related:
View our photo gallery of the Starboard Kombat

One of the advantages of being located in Hood River is that many of the windsport distributors for all of North America are located right here on our doorstep. Thanks to this incredible proximity we now have the 2008 Mistral Pacifico Wave in our hands, before anyone else has even had a chance to see it!

This is a lightweight high-performance stand up paddle board designed for intermediate to expert riders, who want to squeeze every ounce out of the surf. Plus the Pacifico Wave even has a mast track, so you can use it for windsurfing in light air conditions!

This is your chance to snatch up last year’s best windsurf boards at meltdown prices! Call us and let us help you choose the perfect board for your riding style, skill level and favorite conditions. In most cases there is only one board left in stock, so take a look at these prices and decide quickly! These are brand new boards, the last of the best, and when they’re gone they’re absolutely gone.

$699 – Starboard Pro Kids Evo 62, JP Young Gun 70, JP Young Gun 85

$799 – Starboard Starsurfer 117, Starboard Starsurfer 127, Naish Icon 130, Naish Icon 145

$899 – Mistral Syncro Fish 76, Mistral Syncro Fish 86, Mistral Syncro 92, Mistral Screamer 94, Naish Freeride Slalom 95, Mistral Syncro 102, Mistral Syncro 115, Naish Freeride Slalom 115, Mistral Explosion 130, Mistral Explosion 142, Starboard Rio 150

$999 – JP Radical Wave 64, Starboard Evo 70 Technora, Starboard Pure Acid 74 Technora, Starboard Evo 75 Technora, Starboard Kombat 79 Technora, Starboard Evo 80 Technora, JP Super Cross 86, Starboard S-Type 93 Technora, JP Super Cross 96, Starboard Carve 101 Technora, JP Super Cross 106

$1099 – JP Real World Wave 76, Mistral Beast 76

$1199 – Starboard Evo 62 Wood, JP Freestyle Wave 78, Starboard Pure Acid 80 Wood, Starboard S-Type 93 Wood, Starboard Carve 101 Wood

This used gear saw one season of use here in the Columbia River Gorge, and it’s all for sale at some amazing prices. Pick up a used 2007 windsurf board for $595-850, and save nearly $1,000 in the process!

We’ve got a full range of used masts from 370 to 460 available for $175-195… that’s a savings of up to $300!

The best part, however, is our sale on 2007 demo sails. Any sail, your choice, $245. That’s right, every one of our demo sails, from 3.0 to 6.0, is on sale for $245. On some models that translates to a savings of up to $375, but we guarantee you’ll save more than $200 no matter what sail you buy!

• Closeout Windsurf Boards
• Closeout Sails
• Closeout Masts

Right now, our entire selection of 2007 windsurf boards, windsurf sails, kites and kiteboards are on closeout at some amazing prices! We just finished updating our website to reflect these new numbers, and hopefully you can find something on our table that satisfies your discriminating palate.

• Up to $450 off new windsurf boards
• Up to $200 off new windsurf sails
• Up to $400 off new kites
• Up to $100 off new kiteboards

Enjoy, and let us know if you have any questions!

Geez, is it August already? In two weeks it seems our season here in the Gorge will start wrapping up, but that’s just in time for those of you in the Midwest and on the East Coast to get your autumn blast!

And hey, you might be planning a windsurfing trip this winter, or maybe you’re one of those people who is able to “plan ahead and prepare” and are already thinking about next summer… riding the wave of stoke from this season, you might be thinking about upgrading your stick to something more snappy.

No matter your disposition, boy have we got good news for you! Our complete line-up of sailboards are currently on sale at huge savings, and you can save up to $300 on a brand new 2007 windsurf board. We still have an awesome selection of JP Australia boards in stock, so if you’re scratching your head about what board to get you might consider those guys as a starting point.

JP is the de facto standard here in the Gorge, and sometimes half the boards on the water at the Hatchery have been infused by the loving spirit of Jason Polakow. Feel free to browse our selection, mull things over a bit, and give us a call for some expert board advice!

Do you want something to do on those glassy no-wind days, or do you want to use a windsurf sail on it when the breeze starts blowing? Do you want to surf some pretty gnarly waves, or do you just need something that’s going to be stable and fun in the chop? And finally, there’s the ultimate question: once the family sees how much fun stand up paddling is, will you let them use your board, or do they need one of their own?

To help guide you through these eternal questions of the soul, we have compiled a nifty chart that compares all of our stand up paddle boards to one another. These are the vital statistics necessary for you to make a sound buying decision, and match yourself up with a board you love.

“Geez, there are so many different boards!” you might be saying to yourself. “Which one could possibly be right for me?” Fret not, for we have in our employ a veritable legion of windsurfing experts to help guide your buying decision. We’re all windsurfers (or kiteboarders or both!) here at Big Winds, and each and every one of us is knowledgeable and passionate about these sports.

We understand that “a grand plus” is a pretty hefty chunk of change to throw down for a new piece of gear, and that you’re probably experiencing quite the jitters about your potential purchase. That’s why we always encourage people to talk to us if they have any questions about the gear we carry… boards, sails, kites or otherwise.

We’re out in the water every day playing with this stuff, so we can speak with experience when we help you guide your buying decision. We’re always curious about where you’re riding, what sort of conditions you enjoy, what wind ranges you find yourself sailing in, and what sort of body type you’re sportin’ these days.

These kinds of questions, coupled with whether you enjoy candlelight dinners and long walks on the beach, help us to find you a perfect match… in a windsurf board, that is. We can’t really help you with the other stuff, unless you like strong, tanned and athletic folk with a passion for windsports. If that’s the case, we might be able to get some phone numbers for you… but you’ll never know unless you call us first!

…and to answer some common questions: Yes, we ship boards! How much does shipping a board cost? Typically $75 to the west coast, $95 to the rest of the Lower-48. Larger boards (120 liters and above) cost an extra $25 to ship because they’re, well, larger.

So without further ado, here are our final 2006 sailboard closeouts!

Wave Boards

2006 Starboard Pure Acid 73 DRAM $1,359.00 $999.00
2006 Starboard Pure Acid 73 Wood $1,539.00 $1,099.00

2006 JP Australia Real World Wave 76 $1,649.00 $999.00

2006 Mistral Syncro Fish 83 $1,399.00 $999.00

2006 Mistral Beast 85 $1,699.00 $999.00

2006 Starboard Evo 83 DRAM $1,359.00 $999.00

Freeride Boards

2006 Starboard S-Type 93 DRAM $1,389.00 $999.00

2006 Starboard Kombat 96 DRAM $1,389.00 $999.00
2006 Starboard Kombat 96 Wood $1,559.0 $1,099.00

2006 JP Australia X-Cite Ride 95 ES $1,349.00 $849.00
2006 JP Australia X-Cite Ride 95 FWS $1,349.00 $949.00

2006 JP Australia Super-X 96 FWS $1,599.00 $1,099.00

2006 Starboard Carve 101 DRAM $1,359.00 $999.00

Beginner/Light Wind Boards

2006 JP Australia Young Gun 114 $899.00 $599.00

2006 Mistral Explosion 155 $1,299.00 $899.00

2006 Starboard Go 170 $1,029.00 $899.00

David, who will run down to the Event Site on his lunch break to cram in a stand up paddleboard session, says he’s had a ton of fun catching and surfing even the smallest swell.

The Pacifico is Mistral’s answer to the whole paddleboard thing, a huge board that’s great for paddling flatwater, playing in chop or surfing waves. What’s more, the Pacifico has a windsurf mast track, so when the wind starts blowing you can make the conversion from stand up padding to full-on windsurfing. Go ahead and check it out!