2014 kicked off with a bang. Howling winds in the UK and the rest of the Europe, some of the biggest swell seen for years and everyone taking to the water to enjoy the extreme conditions.
Read more at http://boards.mpora.com/features/the-most-hardcore-slalom-from-the-80s-90s-and-00s.html#R8sOp0KPxqQlLb4U.99
Read more at http://boards.mpora.com/features/the-most-hardcore-slalom-from-the-80s-90s-and-00s.html#R8sOp0KPxqQlLb4U.99
2014 kicked off with a bang. Howling winds in the UK and the rest of the Europe, some of the biggest swell seen for years and everyone taking to the water to enjoy the extreme conditions.
Read more at http://boards.mpora.com/features/the-most-hardcore-slalom-from-the-80s-90s-and-00s.html#R8sOp0KPxqQlLb4U.99
Read more at http://boards.mpora.com/features/the-most-hardcore-slalom-from-the-80s-90s-and-00s.html#R8sOp0KPxqQlLb4U.99
2014 kicked off with a bang. Howling winds in the UK and the rest of the Europe, some of the biggest swell seen for years and everyone taking to the water to enjoy the extreme conditions.
Read more at http://boards.mpora.com/features/the-most-hardcore-slalom-from-the-80s-90s-and-00s.html#R8sOp0KPxqQlLb4U.99
Read more at http://boards.mpora.com/features/the-most-hardcore-slalom-from-the-80s-90s-and-00s.html#R8sOp0KPxqQlLb4U.99
2014 kicked off with a bang. Howling winds in the UK and the rest of the Europe, some of the biggest swell seen for years and everyone taking to the water to enjoy the extreme conditions.
Read more at http://boards.mpora.com/features/the-most-hardcore-slalom-from-the-80s-90s-and-00s.html#R8sOp0KPxqQlLb4U.99
Blew away the cobwebs today after a long break out the water due to poor sailing conditions. Read more at http://boards.mpora.com/features/the-most-hardcore-slalom-from-the-80s-90s-and-00s.html#R8sOp0KPxqQlLb4U.99
Many times we have an excuse not to go on the water. The wind is too light or too gusty, the waves are not big enough, the sail is not big enough….Remember the old days, when windsurfing started or when you started with the sport yourself. Most of us stepped on a big board using a simple lettuce leaf of a sail. The board had a dagger board as well and it was fun. Sometimes so much that we kept on going for many hours.
I was sitting at home trying to do what felt like advanced maths in my head, when the sum of years formed a number …. Gooood Gaaaaaaawd!! 32 years! How did that happen? It’s true, I can actually remember rigging up a teak boom to a perfectly triangle sail. Retro-moulded plastic boards were cutting edge. In the beginning you couldn’t just go to a shop and purchase something hi-tech like a harness because they simply weren’t available, so we used to try and make our own on my mum’s sewing machine. The hook I used; it was a REAL hook from the local hardware store. Then one day in the early eighties the windsurfing scene suddenly exploded and the equipment advanced at a dizzying speed. You could buy a fin and it would be outdated by the time you installed it on your board. Remember the Football Fin? It was an exciting time to be a windsurfer. Aaaah those were the days, Sailors would drive themselves mad trying to rig up their old school gear with the right combination of board size and sail size. There were guys who spent a whole beautiful windy day rigging sails to try and match the wind speed and board size. The time had come..... A new generation, a new era, a new start...... call it what you will. it was time to start shaping custom boards, Dad back in the 80's shaped every type of board under the sun, influenced countless surf board designs into sailboards that are a mainstay in today's market. Myself, I was born into the sea and raised on the beach watching Dad surfing and playing in the shore break, as I got older (13) I had a go at windsurfing on an old windsurf regatta with the teak wishbone and wooden pull up centreboard. Loved the sport even more when I had my first custom short board made for me.
So what was your fave kit? I used to sail a Blade 8.2 squash tail on a Pryde RAF 4.7. Had this real sweet spot where if it was tuned perfectly and you were having a good day, it would get right up on the plane instantly and the leech made a slight humming sound to let you know you were at terminal velocity, loved it!.. Most people couldn't even sail it but being 13 and only 7 st, I gave it a go. It was just like a normal short board to me in terms of buoyancy and width, at just 5kg in weight with a 4.7m RAF rig on it I remember setting off on it in a fairly brisk Force 5 thinking this would be fun. I think I crossed Pembroke Bay in what felt like about 45 seconds before the mother of all catapults due to an inability to slow or turn the thing. Too frightened to sail this frankenboard back, I timidly walked it all the way around the beach and handed it back to Dad..Over the last week I have been sorting some things out at my parents house and low and behold, there laying un-loved forgotten about and looking rather sorry for its self was my old squash tail along with a speed board made back in the early 80's
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