Questions for those who can remember windsurfing kit from the last millennium
- Does the plastic wrapping on my 90's boards provide any rigidity/ flexural strength to the boards?
- And what will be the effect of its loss?
I have a Mistral Flow 286 and F2 Xantos 310. Both are plastic wrapped construction and as a consequence, very durable. By current standards, I am not sure they could be classed as 'fast' boards but I enjoy both boards immensely. ( In my hands, the Xantos seems to be capable of a mid-thirties peak, and the Flow, a high thirties peak speed)
Both boards are heavy - I seem to remember that the plastic wrap construction lost favour because of the weight penalty? After watching Decrepit sink into the sand up to his knees, rupture a couple of vertebral discs and give himself a hernia when he lifted one of my boards on the beach, I am considering whether putting the boards on a diet might be more successful than putting me on a diet.
The plastic on the Mistral Flow is starting to chip/peel away on the rails. I can see that the resin/fibreglass beneath is sound and obviously very smooth in its finish. I am wondering what will happen if I 'encourage' this delaminating and remove the plastic from the bottom of the board entirely. ( The top deck plastic half is in good condition and because of its protective properties I am loathed to remove it. )
Will there a significant weight loss? Will the board snap/ become a soggy banana and ride like wet spaghetti?
Will a layer of primer and paint be sufficient?
Or do I need to consider a layer of carbon to stiffen things up - potentially undoing any weight loss from shedding the plastic skin?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts/experience with this one 
Cross section of the nose of the Xantos 310 when it had surgery to remove the pointy nose - the plastic layer is about 0.5mm thickness.
I have also wondered if the blanks in those old plastic covered boards could be used and turned into something more modern.
I doubt you could remove the plastic and just use it. The glass underneath would be not strong enough, and all that pulling and peeling will damage what's underneath.
They are usually a foaming resin and really bad chopped strand glass with the plastic formed over. I calling the plastic as structural.
If you could get it off undamaged it would need a layer or two of 4oz glass over the whole bottom ------ and then then the issue is blending that into the remaining deck plastic and getting it to stick..... they are a nightmare to work on.
Thanks Mark. It sounds like I shouldn't be encouraging the plastic to fall off anytime soon.
Hello, Fangman,
That plastic layer is called "ASA Construction" and if I am correct, it will have a seam right around on the rail of the board. Yes, the ASA added weight, but it was very durable.
Mark knows more about the inside of boards than I will ever know, so I'd follow his advice and not try to remove the plastic.
Hope this helps.
Hey Windman, yes it's defo Asa construction. On the Mistral Flow the plastic has become very brittle at the sewn - UV damage??- and it's peeling off of it's own accord. So the plan will be one of my favourite plans - do nothing :-)
Interestingly when I sanded through a small section of the base plastic of the F2 XAntos near the fin box there was normal woven fibreglass mat underneath in that spot at least.
I wouldn't recommend it 
This was a Mistral Screamer which delaminated all in one go. From the few I've tried to repair years ago they were very light on resin and very much relied on the plastic to hold the fibres together. In some places the glass would be almost dry when you cut through the plastic!
Plastic was a manufacturing result that watersealed the board and made it more resistant to dings, and allowed cheaper cost.
F2 Sputniks, Mistral Energy, Bic's E Rock and Vivace were as fast as any custom board made at the time.
I sold Mistrals and F2, and owned HyperTecs, Priesters, and Hauts.
Competed in the late 80's thru mid 90's
Select to expand quoteHangOver said..
I wouldn't recommend it
This was a Mistral Screamer which delaminated all in one go. From the few I've tried to repair years ago they were very light on resin and very much relied on the plastic to hold the fibres together. In some places the glass would be almost dry when you cut through the plastic!
Thanks for the feedback fellas 
Select to expand quoteHangOver said..
I wouldn't recommend it
This was a Mistral Screamer which delaminated all in one go. From the few I've tried to repair years ago they were very light on resin and very much relied on the plastic to hold the fibres together. In some places the glass would be almost dry when you cut through the plastic!
Looks like a job for Flex Seal
For those not familiar 0:49 in the video
I repaired an F2 where plastic had peeled. What a mission. Looked like it was an easy fix. But as i got into it , it grew n grew. Surprisingly quite a bit of original chopstrand wasnt wet out!! The plastic seemed to be holding it all together.
