because the new gear is really easy to use and makes bad sailors look good! 
struggle with your old junk, the windsurfing manufacturers soon realised that when "easy kiting" came along and took half of their market that they had better make their stuff easier and more fun to ride too. just gets better every year.
^^ gotta agree, al those guys that switched to kiting around 2000 have really missed out! they'll never know now....
gear is so much easier to sail.....
Are the new crop of waveboards REALLY easier to use than some of the past good ones?
Judging from the amount of hot air generated on other forums concerning twin, triple, and quad fin sizes and placement (millionths of an inch one way or the other apparently make all the difference) I'll stick to my original Evo 74 thank you very much! That IS easy to sail.
Also, aren't some old long raceboards just as easy (and fast) to use as their modern equivalents?
in away i do see where you coming from,i think people are better off holding onto gear for a couple of years then upgrading,that way you can get used to your gear and will preform better than having to change over every year and not really getting the best out of your gear yet.
Reasons to upgrade every year or 2 - your used equipment still commands a reasonable price on the second hand market. Especially if you have a good relationship with a retailer who will give you a reasonable trade and/or discount on new equipment if you pre order (now is not to early)
-retain the stoke. Nothing like nice shiny, crisp sails with crystal clear windows and a different/better feeling board under your feet to amp you up for that early season trip to Gnaraloo.
- improve your sailing. Believe the hype. The worlds best sailors are out in all conditions for the whole year tweaking/improving the gear. Believe it or not there are plenty of Aussie sailors who are good enough to notice the improvements and move forward with their sailing ability. Case in point - Quad fins. Now we have boards that can handle extreme/overpowered conditions where in the past they may have felt slightly sketchy. This gives confidence to push harder and try new moves in more radical situations. Also the option of different fin configurations for different conditions on the one board is a noticable step forward in design.
Windsurfing is getting fn more fun.
I don't know about the rest of you guys but living in W.A and sailing everytime it's windy, my 5.3m comes out the bag a hell of alot, especially this summer so up grading at least 1 size in my quiver it almost a must as this sail has signs of abuse.. but then the new sail makes the other 4 wave sails feel not as good, so a few more sneak in, if there are big improvements from the year before i end up changing all of them like last year 
As far as boards go, i tend to hang onto them if i love them, my favourite boards or a 2005 model and 2008.. but a new twinfin is definately on the cards for this season.
New gear does get the motivation pumping.. and i think i would rather spend the cash on a new sail than something thats going to be out of date as soon as i leave the store like an iPhone..
Russ, not all of us are frothing at the mouth waiting for new gear! Who are you talking about? People in SA getting new gear are the sponsored sailors....
I dont buy new sails I win them....when is the next ONBOARD Raffle?
In reply to gspotxtreme. 'If it aint broke don't mend it'! (A polite way of saying rubbish!)
i'd say gspot is very much on the money.
i'd rather see a sport where designers strive to achieve a better outcome year after year than be stuck sailing something from 1980 that is less forgiving. it's probably not fair lumping designers and marketting into the same category.
designers are typically chasing perfection in design. the only way to do that is to redesign over and over and over again.
gear does evolve from year to year, new materials, new construction methods, new shapes and on and on.
When you say gear evolves from year to year Gestalt, I sgree. But it isn't necessarily for the better.(You improve one aspect but spoil another.)
What I was objecting to was gspotextremes statement that we should - Believe the hype - worlds best sailers working hard - Quad fins- etc. Yes, there has been definite progress over the years, and many new boards are the better for it. I have nine boards in use (a right mix of old and new) so can readily compare them.
My current mid range favourite is an Exocet Cross 94 which really tick all my boxes. I am an ordinary Joe competent windsurfer with no pretensions or ambitions to be a world champion. Most of those I sail with or meet are the same.WE are the ones who keep the windsurfing industry going by buying new boards, sails, masts etc etc on a regular basis, yet none of us are being sucked into this (mainly Starboard) multi fin hype.
Just look at the Evil Twin debacle! You know the sort of thing - years of developement by the worlds greatest sailors have produced this revolutionary concept- blah blah blah, only for it to be dropped almost immediately, to be replaced by a quad! (Our local dealer who stocked up on them was reduced to flogging them off at half price to get shot of them.) How does gspextreme explain that??
I am not against progress. I love it, provided it is real and relevant to the average Joe. I don't want to go back to the 80's, but neither do I dismiss out of hand some of the better old boards.
Just remember evolution isn't always successful. The pwa and local scene is full of sponsored/team sailors that have gone backwards due to evolution.
It is good that in some disciplines windsurfing gear is able to make substantial gains from year to year. But some disciplines dont, I dont think slalom boards have changed that much in the last 4 years and it's just a case of history repeating. For example slalom boards or sails... new major shape change hits market- they are wickedly quick, then they make the easier to sail, then broaden their range. Then thats pretty much it, they bugger around with marketing bs until a new concept hits. The concept now is multi fin waveboards, but consider anything else in life- if you buy the 1st model be prepared that it might not work.
Perfection in design? Antoine might come in and say I need my boards with more power out of the gybes, alright lets pump some volume into the rails and make em boxy. Never mind that it then only suits a very particular group of sailors and anyone not of peak ability will struggle with all of the downsides that change might bring. The designer might have no real improvements in mind for the year, the powers above might then remind him/her that if they dont come up with something they will find someone that can. You can't associate your touchy feely ethics with the bottom line which is almost always to produce a market-able product for the cheapest possible price.
You can keep buying and buying but it WON'T make you better. Learning to tune and ride what you have is where it's at. I always considered the best sailors those that could grab something unused out of the box and make it work 100% straight away, and from all of the sailors I know that is very few people. For many I would say it would take them up to 2 years to start getting the most out of their gear.
Material changes... alot is trying to make things cheaper. Most everything current here has been done before. Sail brand or board brand might get offered some not quite suitable materials for cheap. The designer makes it work, it doesnt immediately fall to bits in testing so then it can be sold. Then marketing makes it the best new thing to hit windsurfing when it's all just a load of crap.
I am all for sailors having recent gear though, as an industry there is definitely creeping progression. I am definitely for cashed up folk buying up big for whatever reason makes them happy, it keeps the 2nd hand market healthy and fuels that progression
As you noted, Gestalt, there can be problems when you rely on pro testing.
The way I look at it, pros sail at a different level and normally in different conditions to most sailors, so a board that suits them may not suit most of us. Their expertise (and it's not all down to talent but simply due to the fact that they spend so much time sailing) means that they can do things better, and that affects their gear. For example, they may want sails that work better at higher apparent winds because they don't slow down in gybes and therefore don't have to accelerate again.
To use an analogy, it's fairly well known in offshore racing yachts that you may have to change sail trim when a less expert driver (ie the owner) gets on the helm. You crank up the halyard and/or cunno to create a deeper and more forgiving entry, you twist the sails off a bit more, you may have to subtly change things to keep them in the groove.... all these are things that illustrate how a lack of practice changes things, even when nothing else changes. Just like sail shape changes when you go from a pro yacht driver to an amateur driving the same yacht, things should change when you go from a pro sailor to an amateur.
This goes down even to the ex-pro or ex-semi pro level, where the top guys can do things the average championship competitor simply cannot do. Take something as basic as a Wally, and we'll see the top guys can do things with it that the middle guys at titles cannot do*. If the top guys design a Wally-type board to suit them, it simply won't work as well for the average keen sailor.
Whether this is allowed for enough in windsurfers is an open question. I don't bother to buy new stuff these days, but I can get to sail it when I want and IMHO there's still a bit too much designing for pros and not enough designing for Joe Average who can have very different needs and wants. IMHO, this just isn't allowed for sufficiently a lot of the time.
* and the middle guys at the nationals can include guys who are national champs in other types of windsurfing, so it's not lack of talent.
chris 249
you auto to get out the house or have a drink every now and then to reset your mind... i got no idea wot planet you are on..... thinking too deeply is giving you a perspective thats not even real... pros get planning and jump waves, surf wave. >amature gets planning, jumps wave, surfs wave..... simple stuff
if anyone wants to see if the new gear is any good, go out and grab some 5 year old stuff(in newish condition) and do a one for one comparison testing on the water one day. If you cant tell the difference, keep your old stuff.
My guess will be you can and that wont neccecarily mean your a pro.....
Russ,
vote with your feet, hang on to your 2010 twin fin another year or two.....it will still go fine. Bet you still dont have it in 4 years... then will you be a hypocrit?
the reason he wont have hes twin fin in four years time is that they are not built to last just built tolook good
If I may add an average Joe's further comment. Out of my current mix of boards the most ancient still in use for a particular set of conditions is a Bic Techno E Medium 112 litre. (10 years old last month.)
I keep it for Summer seabreeze force 4ish type days, with a grunty 6.0 or 6.8 sail. It is not the fastest, or the lightest, or the worlds greatest board BUT, it has an uncanny knack of making me sing my head off! (Audible from 400 yards out I'm told.)
It's combination of shape, size, weight, and less stiff build all add up to a soul cleansing, highly satisfying, hovery feel, as it gallumphs on a steady plane over a swelly sparkling sunlit sea. No other board I've ever tried can produce the same magic in those conditions. How could anything improve on it? (The nearest equivalent in feel is my Syncro 104, but that is lighter and stiffer, and prefers a bit of surf.)
It isn't necessary to always be extreme, and to be 'pushing the envelope'. I think people who only think that way are missing out on something. It's that old graceful 'poetry in motion' thing, isn't it??
I'm not sure that the design of sailing is gear is aimed solely at pro level sailors.
There is gear to suit a whole range of competency levels, from first-time beginner, to novice, to progressing intermediate etc etc etc. Many boards have very specific design briefs, like the GO series, which are all about the non-pro sailor.
I recall this trend beginning about 10 yr ago, when "free-ride" boards came along to provide an easier to sail alternative to harder edged slalom boards.
I also recall Robby Naish coming out with camberless racing sails about 10 yr ago, in the early days of his independent company, with the idea that cams were too much trouble for the average sailor, and therefore were an evil that needed to be eradicated from the earth. He pretty much succeeded there for a while. I made a comment about this in another thread a few days ago, as I really missed then and now, having a single cam in a 5.5 for borderline conditions.
So, lots and lots of attention has been paid to intermediate recreational sailors for a long time and I'm not sure where this idea is coming from that it's all about the pros.
hi chris
the difference between OD and other forms of windsurfing is innovation. i don't think it true to say that gear tested by pros doesn't play a positive role in gear development. just look at FW class. the width thing has been the single most positive influence on board design across the spectrum. the pros are also chasing gear that is easier to sail in particular wind strengths and conditions. it allows them to concentrate on tactics or pushing the limits of moves. that said not all pro sailors are racers. some are just exceptional talents that free sail.
the whole tow debate is a moot point. tow will make anyone better. practice is practice.
hi gob
i'm not someone pushing the limits, i just do it for fun. that doesn't mean i can't feel the improvements certain tweaks have made and enjoy well designed gear.
hi ken.
very true. not all gear's brief is for competition.
but not as badly. 
