Hi All,
New to the list,
I was sailing my very vintage Windsurfer Class (14 foot long board) on the Shelley Water yesterday.
The setup is about 45 years old (built mid seventies) with original teak wish bone boom, universal joint, teak mast step. The sails, boom and everything else is still in working condition.
I hit the back of a chop, the board submarined and snapped board transversely (i.e. port to starboard transection) in half in front of the mast step.
Propagation point was a crack in the plastic skin at one of the gunwals.
Construction is polythene skin, with high density yellow foam core, no spine rods or internal stiffeners.
Question, repairable (likely not, worried about plastic degradation). If repairable, how?
Otherwise, does anyone have a spare very old board that I can get please?
It would be a pity to junk the whole lot if I could get another long board.
Photos available but because I am a newbie, I am not allowed to post them.
Kindest regards,
Michael in WA (South Perth area around Como)
Sorry to say mate but not repairable.
Plastic welding melts core, resins don't stick well enough to the skin. Yes it's technically possible with special stuff but it will cost a fortune and won't last.
If anyone mentions Six10 thickened epoxy, ignore them
Thanks Mark,
I suspected not repairable, could put strengthening dowels in, but how to join the polyurethane foam to keep moisture out
Repairing and joining the polythene skin, yep, next question...
(I googled all sorts of different repair schemes, none specifically about polythene skins though...)
Even (if due to some miracle) it was repaired, what is to say that the board would fail somewhere else.
Origin of failure looked ling a ding/crack in the gunwal, and the skin unzipped from there.
Looks like I am on the hunt for an old Windsurfer class board...
The vintage sail, vintage mast, teak boom, vintage mechanical universal joint, are all still functional.
Does anybody have a spare lying about?
My board number is DWA No: 50957
Regards,
Michael
Thousands of these were sold in WA from the 70s to end of the model in the mid 80s so there will be potentially many in garages around lying unused waiting for the day. The tip Recycling Centre Balcatta etc used to have them in the shop there from time to time. Also they come available on ebay, gumtree, facebook marketplace and even seabreeze. Keep your eyes peeled. Good luck with the search for the plastic fantastic.
The only way I can think of to fix it, is remove all the old plastic skin and fibreglass it instead. Big job and you'd need to be desperate to try it. Removing the plastic would probably take foam with it, who knows.
Have you tried Six10 thickened epoxy yet? Just joking!
If you're serious about sailing, there are many modern long boards available nowadays that imitate the classic boards. If you can make it work with your mast base, you're sorted for many more years and can follow the same approach for other gear that breaks. On that, be careful and stay close to shore as I wouldn't want to rely on such old gear so please make sure you're not a danger to yourself or others.
That's why I sail on the Shelley Water, there is always a lee shore, it is quite, I do not sail on boat race days, and you can stand in most places apart from the channel!
This is the second board that has folded, the last happened to me 20 years ago on West Lakes in Adelaide.
The failure is about 10 cm in front of the mast step.
Again, I suspect, the polythene skin degrades, and a split or crack is a weak point, combined with failure of the foam core at the stress point in front of the mast step.
Good luck - most of that model (like mine) suffered from a split behind the daggerboard slot, caused by them being run up onto the beach (generally by someone you leant your board to). Then you get water damage and swelling in the foam.
I found a (vintage) website that detailed how to fix this sort of issue, but it looked like a lot more effort than I was prepared to put in.
As someone else mentioned, there were a lot of these brought in to WA, and they do come up from time to time. Perhaps try the sailing clubs, as they do get left in sheds there.
I found a Windsurfer OneDesign (the next model, with the centreboard case) on the side of the road one day, and made an adapter to connect my old UJ to the mast track on my 'new' board, and it all seems to work OK.
If you're interested in having a crack at fixing my old board (#200909, bought new 1981), you're welcome to it :-)
Michael,
Put a wanted advert on Seabreeze.
Someone is sure to have one (or two) under the house that they'd be pleased to give to a good home.
