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by Geoff Moore, 2008.
The "only" truly local shop is in Canandaigua. It’s a seasonal shop, but surely is open now. An old list from American Windsurfer:
Canandaigua Slbrdng Canandaigua 716-394-8150
Hudson Bay Boardsailing Washingtonville 914-496-0860
Lake George Windsurfing Pilot Knob 518-798-8079
Main Beach Surf & Sport Wainscott 516-537-2716
Quantum Leap Windsurfing Penfield 716-388-0575
The Board Shop Huntington 516-424-7873
Wind Addiction, Alexandria Bay 800-617-9463
Windsurfing Hamptons Southampton 516-283-WIND
Windsurfing Saratoga Gansevoort 518-798-SAIL
If you KNOW what you want, Jeff from Cayuga Ski & Cycle can order you stuff.
In my view, the best deals in the US are from Extreme Windsurfing (Lakes Bay, NJ). It’s also a good place to go test stuff. It’s run by Jim Karabasz, he drop ships everything and has very low overhead so he’s got better prices than anyone. He’s not real good about keeping the website inventory up to date, so just call him. Other good things about Lakes Bay are that they have good instruction, rentals, and get very regular summer thermals (upper teens to twenties). Also a common destination for Roger Jackson and Ellen Faller, and the home base for Petra Kanz (probably best instructor resident on the East Coast). Without question, this is the best resource in the East.
Another business I support is Avon Sail Shop; Olaf and Margaret provide great advice, they only sell stuff they use, and Olaf is a first rate sail repairman. I mainly use Margaret and Olaf for parts and sail repair; they carry Quatro boards (well reviewed, but I’ve never ridden one).
Boards and sails are a big discussion. My own preferences are Starboard Futura and Kombat, and Hot Sails Maui SuperFreak...except that the SuperFreak is not a good speed / slalom sail. But JP, Mistral, HiFly, BIC, RRD, and Fanatic all make great boards for the money. There are a ton of good cammed and non-cammed slalom sails. I like Hot and Ezzy, but NeilPryde, Maui Sails, Severne,...all the modern sails are pretty good no matter what brand. Consensus is that the best built are Ezzy and HSM. If you like to ‘buy American’ they are American-owned, but they are made in Thailand.
I have a brand-new Futura 133, and this is a fabulous freeride slalom board. The Futuras have been very well reviewed in all sizes, extremely fast, smooth jibing, smooth riding. I concur. The other really well reviewed board in this range is the JP SuperSport; the one everyone loves is the Pro version, but it’s very pricey.
GEM
Extreme Windsurfing, Lakes Bay, NJ
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