Yes, lemon juice.
Oh, and the WOD nationals I'm pretty sure but i wouldn't want to make any official announcement on behalf of anyone. The Raceboards are a definite and I think there'll be word about the WODs soon.
Yeah it came up alright. great rocker too.
There are still a few marks that don't show in the photo. Last weekend was great.
^^ rocker , move rear trestle forward 1087 mm , front trestle 586/8 mm forward and weight with 108-115 kg between trestles on 35+ degree day in direct sunlight, take measurement from bottom of board once weighted and make note, when this measurement has reduced by 35-55 mm, Should be spot on.
i am still waiting for that "gear review"
since i have a BIC Dufour, Mistral Equipe I, Fanatic Ultra CAT and Mistral COMP SST ,
i am always curious what each of these old boards has that the others do not
here is my Mistral COMP SST review so far ...
joewindsurfer.blogspot.com/2015/03/mistral-competition-sst.html
ironically the MOST looked at review is the BIC Dufour !!!
joewindsurfer.blogspot.ca/2009/03/my-bic-dufour-wing-and-how-i-started.html
and can be seen in my avatar with the original sail
^^ rocker , move rear trestle forward 1087 mm , front trestle 586/8 mm forward and weight with 108-115 kg between trestles on 35+ degree day in direct sunlight, take measurement from bottom of board once weighted and make note, when this measurement has reduced by 35-55 mm, Should be spot on.
when you say 35-55mm do you mean from horizontal. I wouldn't mind measuring mine and seeing how close it is.
She looks good! Those early '80s long-track versions are still completely competitive if in reasonably good nick.
I don't think you can just use any particular distance between trestles and weight to bend the board into perfect shape, since the amount of "natural" rocker they have can differ. My "club/training" board has a really nice rocker all of the time whereas the one I keep for championships is too flat and has to be bent before each regatta. My rule of thumb is to have a straight back rocker, and enough nose rocker to ensure that the front foot or so is above the water at the rails. If the front foot, which is very curved in profile, is in constant contact with the water it seems to affect steering and of course can cause nosediving.
I'm going to measure my sail trim and club/training board measurements in July so that I can set up the board I'm using at the Italian nationals at Lake Garda in September, so I can put up some suggested figures if that would help. However, there's a surprising variation in rocker and trim at the front of the fleet, which suggests that the most important thing is a setup that suits your style.
Hi Chris,
Being very much in the heavyweight camp i've used a few boards that were too flat and nose dived all the time. Only thing I could do was move the mast back and that just kills the upwind.
This board the nose sits just above the chop. Feels really good so far.
I'd love to get your experience with setup. Peter N has been helping me tweak the board and rig. I need a few more fun races to keep dialling things in.
I seem to have some ok downwind speed but need to move my mast forward a cm or so to get a bit better performance upwind. I'm finding upwind the board is stalling a little when I push really high.
Once I get it dialled I"ll paint mark everything.
longboards with on-the-fly mast tracks suggest:
forward with centre-board down for upwind
back with centre-board up for planing/downwind
in the middle is not bad with BIG longboards
then just adjust centre-board
I still have an original windsurfer but struggling to find parts. The board has lived on a rack outside in the elements for the last 15 years without any issue. We use the board a lot on those hot summers days with sub 10 knot winds, the kids have a ball. I have even taken it out with a North Datona 6.6m sail I don't think the board knew what hit it....
anymy one who's knows of any spares let me know...
I have used diluted demestos bleach to clean stains, works a treat, but don't leave on for too long..
Hi Chris,
Being very much in the heavyweight camp i've used a few boards that were too flat and nose dived all the time. Only thing I could do was move the mast back and that just kills the upwind.
This board the nose sits just above the chop. Feels really good so far.
I'd love to get your experience with setup. Peter N has been helping me tweak the board and rig. I need a few more fun races to keep dialling things in.
I seem to have some ok downwind speed but need to move my mast forward a cm or so to get a bit better performance upwind. I'm finding upwind the board is stalling a little when I push really high.
Once I get it dialled I"ll paint mark everything.
At around 77-78kg, my mast foot is positioned around 9cm from the back of the track. It moves forward only when I've already been catapulted a few times, or when you have to duck oysters being blown off rocks when rigging. When it's completely survival conditions the mast base can go slightly ahead of halfway, but that is rare.
Upwind pace with the mast well back is normally pretty good. One thing is that when it's breezy, you are really leaning the rig to windward, sailing on shortened harness straps and with the centreboard raked back so that the adjustment arm (or whatever you call the bit you kick to move the CB) is vertical, and of course you're railing the board. Having the rig aft and board aft allows you to move your weight back to get the bow to lift.
Stu Gilbert apparently likes flat boards because in a big breeze they can act as wave piercers, but he's also enormously experienced and has the handling skills you'd expect of a four time world champ.
As far as rig setup goes, I think most of us in the heavier end of the mediums or the lighter end of heavies (ie guys like Dennis, Stu and me) all tend to set up with fairly light downhaul tension in light or moderate winds. Most of the time we have horizontal wrinkles coming off the luff and extending back maybe 10". This is because we are using quite light downhaul tension, which means the mast does not bend as much and the sail takes up a fuller, draft-aft shape. I tend to use a fairly tight outhaul (I'll get some measurements next time I sail) to keep the leach tight so that I can point. This setup is partly because I tend to struggle to get height on boards in medium and light winds, although oddly enough in Lasers (and sometimes in Tasars) I had excellent light wind height.
As noted, there is a fair bit of variation, and the lighter guys and gals tend to sail with much flatter rigs, while some quite light mediums like Dave West can go very well with lots of depth; I've got a limited range of tune because I sail so many other classes (Lasers, Tasars, yachts, and fast cats, etc) that I don't have the fine feel for speed of other guys like Dennis, who can get anything to go fast.