Surfer wanting to Windsurf

Question
Hi Patrick,
  Im a surfer (shortboarder) from the San Diego area who is looking for something to do on days when conditions are not right to surf - small waves and/or windy conditions.   I had considered purchasing a longboard (for traditional surfing) but the idea of learning to windsurf intrigues me.  Unfortunately windsurfing has all but died in this area despite a couple of good places to go.   Anyway Im looking for gear recommendations - I am 6'4" and about 210 lbs.  I anticipate wanting to windsurf in conditions of 5-15kts.  Im not even sure what style of board Im looking for, but Id like something that Im not going to immediately progress out of.  Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Tom

Answer
You have great idea.  Look for a board in the 125 to 140 liter range.  The boards in this size range will be good in the wind  speeds you mentioned. This will work good in light to medium chop but is not a wave board.  When the wind begins to get up around 15 knots and above you will need a smaller board to be able to handle the wind and water conditions. For 10 -15 knots I would recommend a 6 to 6.5 m2 sail. For 5-10 knots I would recommend a 7 to 8 m2 sail.  Sailworks makes a great sail called a Retro that can handle a large wind speed range I can definitely recommend.  You should definitely consider looking to buy used equpment but make sure it is not older than about 5 years old.  Try Ebay for used equipment or Windsurfing Classifieds

http://www.iwindsurf.com/buysell/classifieds.pl

If you can afford it, it is best to buy a full carbon mast and boom.  They will last forever and you will be able to use them on different sail sizes if you progress and need to buy another smaller sail for higher winds. Hope that helps if you have any other questions feel free to ask again.