First board and rig

Question
I am a complete beginner in the Midwest (Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota) looking to get into windsurfing. I am 5'-9" and weigh 218pounds. An online retailer is suggesting Fanatic Viper 85 with the Gaastra Pilot 7.0 and their matched price point (I am assuming) mast and boom. Any thoughts as to the suitability for me? How about the brands - any experience with them?

Thanks

Matt
Omaha, NE

Answer
I checked all the specs on the board and the sail.  For a complete beginner at your weight it sounds pretty good.  The board is quite large but that will benefit you in learning. The brands are good quality, the companies have been around a long time.  The only down side is that in a couple of years from now depending on how you progress, you will probably want a smaller board for more exciting sailing but you can always sell it to buy more advanced equipment just like I have over the years.  So depending on the price I would go for it.  Find out what year the board and sail is.  If they are 2007 leftovers, depending on the price you can push for a deeper discount especially if you are buying it this time of year.  Not sure what you mean by matched price.

Here is a review from a British source about the board:

Fanatic Viper

The Viper is Fanatic's excellent beginner board.

It is a two board range - the 80 and 85 (these are the widths). The boards are actually slightly longer and thinner that other beginner boards available on the market. Fanatic decided to make their boards like this owing to feedback from their huge network of windsurf schools and centres. The idea has been really successful - beginners have really fallen for this board.

The board features a high resistance skin construction with a soft deck and comes supplied with very comfortable fanatic footsraps and powerbox fin.

Being longer and thinner, the board is more directionally stable, this really helps beginners to get the hang of steering and sailing upwind where on other boards, they might be sailing sideways!

The board is designed to give beginners and early intermediates the help they need to get up and going really quickly whilst not being so easy to ride that all the fun is lost.

The boards come complete with an easy to operate daggerboard which is so important during those first few hours on the water.

Highly reccomended for those looking for a board to progress on or something for all the family to enjoy.
  Viper 75 160l, 275x75 12.6kg
  Viper 80 190l, 280x80, 13.2kg
  Viper 85 220l, 285x85, 14.3kg