Kid's Rig Beware

Which rig? Most kids rigs ive seen don't rig on a bendy mast?

prob needs more downhaul....

80- 100% carbon sunshine masts are great for cutting dwn to suit kids rigs.
got 1 in a 1.5 & 2.5 hsm.

Have you tried more down haul? My kids started with a Vandal sail. I needs a lot of downhaul to sit right.

Are you saying the mast is solid? If not laws of mechanics dictate that the mast will bend... to some extend.

What size is it and what stage of learning?
You will only need a sail that twists once they are planing in harness and straps.Otherwise if the sail is light to uphaul thats all is required.
They used to make alloy masts for speed sails back in the 80s to keep the rig stiff and light.

So whats your problem? the STX site states it has an Ali mast and you expect something different

The Hot sails set up I had for my kids also had an Ali mast and worked perfectly well with it as I imagine this would as well.


A nice whinge from a 4 post wonder (all on these two threads) probably green thumbed with your normal account.

Look on the bright side.

dune found a courier who freighted an entire rig (twice), for a fair price and didn't loose it or damage it.

Got to be first for these forums.

Probably most useful info here is what courier did you use ?

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Madge said..
Just googled STX kids windsurfing sail and they only have a slight bend in the luff area.
Judging by the terminology used in this thread I'd say the purchaser doesn't have much of a clue bout windsurfing.

The " Pole " will look very straight and wont look " Bendy " but if rigged properly, using the pulleys at the mast base, it should have a slight bend.

This^^^

im struggling to think of a trainer/kids rig that does have a "flex" mast. all the ones ive seen are purely to learn manoeuvres on. They will carry a little bend and let the leech go slightly floppy, but they're not at all designed like a bigger sail.

I think what you're actually after is a mast made of a more durable material that'll cope with the small amount of flex for longer. You maybe able to source a mast made of fibreglass somewhere, but reality is, most kids rigs come with an ally mast, because its cheaper (for everybody, you included) and adequate for the job.

I think the vendor has really helped you out considering what the gripe is. They've sold you a product as it comes, its functioned as it should but not how you thought, and now they've said they'll take it back off your hands and refund your money. Wheres the problem?

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Subsonic said..

amirite said..

dune said..
the mast is a rigid pole. . . . forcing downhaul can produce only one result.

I need to get a mast that bends.

do you need a fainting couch

Quite dramatic isn't he?

*clutching my pearl necklace as we speak

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Subsonic said..

Madge said..
Just googled STX kids windsurfing sail and they only have a slight bend in the luff area.
Judging by the terminology used in this thread I'd say the purchaser doesn't have much of a clue bout windsurfing.

The " Pole " will look very straight and wont look " Bendy " but if rigged properly, using the pulleys at the mast base, it should have a slight bend.

This^^^

im struggling to think of a trainer/kids rig that does have a "flex" mast. all the ones ive seen are purely to learn manoeuvres on. They will carry a little bend and let the leech go slightly floppy, but they're not at all designed like a bigger sail.

I think what you're actually after is a mast made of a more durable material that'll cope with the small amount of flex for longer. You maybe able to source a mast made of fibreglass somewhere, but reality is, most kids rigs come with an ally mast, because its cheaper (for everybody, you included) and adequate for the job.

I think the vendor has really helped you out considering what the gripe is. They've sold you a product as it comes, its functioned as it should but not how you thought, and now they've said they'll take it back off your hands and refund your money. Wheres the problem?

Your struggles are over. As I said above, HSM, Sailworks do. They rig and tune just like the "big people" versions. Kid rigs got radically better when sailmakers started having kids of their own ending the era of the triangle cloth rigged on an aluminum pole.

www.hotsailsmaui.com/sail.php?uid=12
www.sailworks.com/the-gear/sails/ripper.html

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gorgesailor said..

Paducah said..

Subsonic said..

Madge said..
Just googled STX kids windsurfing sail and they only have a slight bend in the luff area.
Judging by the terminology used in this thread I'd say the purchaser doesn't have much of a clue bout windsurfing.

The " Pole " will look very straight and wont look " Bendy " but if rigged properly, using the pulleys at the mast base, it should have a slight bend.

This^^^

im struggling to think of a trainer/kids rig that does have a "flex" mast. all the ones ive seen are purely to learn manoeuvres on. They will carry a little bend and let the leech go slightly floppy, but they're not at all designed like a bigger sail.

I think what you're actually after is a mast made of a more durable material that'll cope with the small amount of flex for longer. You maybe able to source a mast made of fibreglass somewhere, but reality is, most kids rigs come with an ally mast, because its cheaper (for everybody, you included) and adequate for the job.

I think the vendor has really helped you out considering what the gripe is. They've sold you a product as it comes, its functioned as it should but not how you thought, and now they've said they'll take it back off your hands and refund your money. Wheres the problem?

Your struggles are over. As I said above, HSM, Sailworks do. They rig and tune just like the "big people" versions. Kid rigs got radically better when sailmakers started having kids of their own ending the era of the triangle cloth rigged on an aluminum pole.

www.hotsailsmaui.com/sail.php?uid=12
www.sailworks.com/the-gear/sails/ripper.html

The HSM & Sailworks Kids rigs are great, but they are not cheap. Like was said earlier, if your kid is ready to get planing, in the harness, straps etc then these are great rigs to take them to the next level. This STX actually looks pretty nice for 1st rig - reminds me of the Ezzy & Chinook rigs which are Superlight, also rig on 2 piece Aluminum mast that is not designed to bend much. In fact you can easily downhaul the required amount with 1:1 rope & the only bend in the mast comes from the outhaul. So it sounds like he may be expecting a bit much of this rig....

Not cheap but great value. How my son started using a harness at age 8. It doesn't take a kid long to get into a harness when you weigh 30 kg and on a 200 l board,

But they don't have to be that advanced to take advantage of a good rig - the wider wind range really helps with gusts, wind more than anticipated, etc. And these rigs do a good job of going upwind - always a challenge with smaller rigs. Every kid I put on these rigs had a good time and found windsurfing easy.

The STX rig, as you suggest, may be good enough. The original poster was looking for a rig that behaved like full size rigs - they do exist. All my quiver (rigs and boards) money for about 10 years went to the kids and was worth everything and more. I'm glad I did it.

Just because you have a little curve in the sail's luff doesn't mean the mast will bend, the curve could cause the battens to rotate.
Which is known as luff shaping.

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Paducah said..

Subsonic said..

Madge said..
Just googled STX kids windsurfing sail and they only have a slight bend in the luff area.
Judging by the terminology used in this thread I'd say the purchaser doesn't have much of a clue bout windsurfing.

The " Pole " will look very straight and wont look " Bendy " but if rigged properly, using the pulleys at the mast base, it should have a slight bend.

This^^^

im struggling to think of a trainer/kids rig that does have a "flex" mast. all the ones ive seen are purely to learn manoeuvres on. They will carry a little bend and let the leech go slightly floppy, but they're not at all designed like a bigger sail.

I think what you're actually after is a mast made of a more durable material that'll cope with the small amount of flex for longer. You maybe able to source a mast made of fibreglass somewhere, but reality is, most kids rigs come with an ally mast, because its cheaper (for everybody, you included) and adequate for the job.

I think the vendor has really helped you out considering what the gripe is. They've sold you a product as it comes, its functioned as it should but not how you thought, and now they've said they'll take it back off your hands and refund your money. Wheres the problem?

Your struggles are over. As I said above, HSM, Sailworks do. They rig and tune just like the "big people" versions. Kid rigs got radically better when sailmakers started having kids of their own ending the era of the triangle cloth rigged on an aluminum pole.

www.hotsailsmaui.com/sail.php?uid=12
www.sailworks.com/the-gear/sails/ripper.html

What an awesome little ripper he is!

I learned to windsurf in the summer of 85-86.

the first set up my dad bought for me was a 'see skip', the sail was a 2.8 and the mast was a 2 piece 40/36mm aluminium pole that did not bend, until one day it creased above the boom. It was perfect to learn the basics. When I learned to use a harness and get planing it became useless as the foot straps and their positioning were terrible.

i moved onto the smallest short board we could find at the time it was fibreglass weighed less than a 8kg and had about 70 litres of volume. Coupled that with a 2.5 m gastra wave sail. Having a the most flexible fibre glass mast cut down was essential for progression. But the sail was heavy, it forced me to learn to water start to increase my water time.

Dad did buy a replacement mast and have the sea skip sail repaired. My younger brother also learnt on that set up.

we kept that gear for other people's children to use and when I was 14 the light weight sail made it perfect for use on a skateboard in 8ish knots of wind. I learned to duck gybe and sail clew first on a skate board. Was a good starting point for getting it down on water, and learning to water start clew first.

i think the weight of the sail is important to reduce fatigue when learning. if an inflexible mast dramatically reduces weight when uphauling I would consider it.

If you don't have to pull massive amounts of downhaul a small child can rig and pack up their own kit. That also increases self rescue options.

The idea of a mast not bending does sound ridiculous, perhaps there is a reason.