Classic wave shapes

[Admin]

A question to the windsurfers out there.  Are any of you missing the longer wave shapes?  I have tried a bunch of the newer stubbier, wider, thicker shapes and am pretty unimpressed.  Is anyone still making good 75 to 85 liter wave shapes in the low to mid 8 foot range that are a little narrower and thinner?  I guess it is kind of old school now (2007ish) but the newer boards don't feel as fluid to me and the outlines seem too bulbuous and grabby.  

[headmount]

Karl Hill knows how to shape that one.  i still have a can opener in my shed, 8'2" super thin on the bottom turn side.  Works great on size.  I like pin tails as well.. You can really lay into bottom turns  but in light winds you really sink.

[Dwight (DW)]

Huh, you windsurf now?

I don't miss longer boards. After leaving the sport when boards were mid 8s and coming back to it and adjusting to 7'11" I'm in love.  I stayed away from hard core wave shapes this time, that I used to ride exclusively. Always customs back then.

Now it just blows my mind to windsurf a freestyle wave board that surfs better than my wave board from the mid 8s era, that also planes up fast and flies.

But it sure did take some time to adjust. I think our adjustment problem was complicated by the wrong sails for our taste. We're now on Ezzy Panthers, that mesh with our boards 100% better.

 

[Dwight (DW)]

You and Chan need to post your bio so we can keep up 

[Admin]

Huh, you windsurf now?

Hah!  Lifetime sport for me.  At 40 I put it down for a few years, but geared up again last year and have been dusting off the old moves    STOKED!

[PonoBill]

I'm going to be back in Hood River March 16 so I can go to a good friend's funeral that weekend. I'll stick my Shuler board out int he back yard and you can borrow it for a while. It's an awesome old school 80's board with a thinned out tail. Exactly what you're looking for. Rocket, and turns rail to rail.

I hate the fat little blunt things everyone's using now

[Dwight (DW)]

I hate the fat little blunt things everyone's using now

Just a thought.......
You're using the same sails we used with our modern boards. The new boards just never worked right for us. Out of desperation, we decided to try different sails first, to solve the quirks in the new way of riding. I was a life long Hot rider too.

One ride on the Panthers and the wife and I went, of yeah, finally the "board and sail" worked like they should. Now, I could never go back to the older boards. The new one out performs them in every way.

Thinking back to the old days, I recall quite often sails designs changing to match board evolution. I think some of my buddies who don't like the new boards are snake bitten because they demo using their own, out dated rigs. With boards and sails lasting longer than ever, we've got more mismatched generations of rigs and boards out there.

[Admin]

Looking up some specs I think my last boards were actually just at or under 8 feet, and the new ones I have are in the low 7's but it is the width, thickness and the rocker in the nose that gets me.  They do nice tight snap turns and slides OK, but I still like freestyle as well and they just seem so catchy and sluggish.  The last gen wave boards were so versatile.  I may have to break down and add a freestyle board.  Happy to hear suggestions there as well. 

[PonoBill]

I hate the fat little blunt things everyone's using now

Just a thought.......
You're using the same sails we used with our modern boards. The new boards just never worked right for us. Out of desperation, we decided to try different sails first, to solve the quirks in the new way of riding. I was a life long Hot rider too.

One ride on the Panthers and the wife and I went, of yeah, finally the "board and sail" worked like they should. Now, I could never go back to the older boards. The new one out performs them in every way.

Thinking back to the old days, I recall quite often sails designs changing to match board evolution. I think some of my buddies who don't like the new boards are snake bitten because they demo using their own, out dated rigs. With boards and sails lasting longer than ever, we've got more mismatched generations of rigs and boards out there.

With my crap shoulders I'm kind of stuck with Hot Sails Superfreaks. Two hours with a modern mylar sail and I need morphine, not Advil. With the Superfreaks I hurt everywhere in four hours, which is my geezer measure of general goodness.

[SUP Sports ®]

Aloha Randy,
How classic is "classic"?
Pics are of an 8'3" trifin that I developed with Mark Bassett next to an 8'4" Rutger...early 2000's...what I think of as "classic"...

The Rutger 8'4" V-max Wave...handbuilt with extruded foam core...excellent condition ($500)...arguably the best built boards at the time...he's still in Hood River but like so many board builders...Preister...Bradbury...etc... he developed epoxy toxicity and had to stop...

http://surfingsports.com/images/rutger_sunflower.jpg
http://surfingsports.com/images/rutger_top.jpg
http://surfingsports.com/images/rutger_bottom.jpg
http://surfingsports.com/images/rutger_top2.jpg

Some folks think "classic" is like this Naish 8'6" that I kept from the 80's...;-)
That wide point forward shape even tried to make a comeback with the Anders Bringdal board...

http://www.surfingsports.com/images/nu_old_skul_wave1.jpg
http://www.surfingsports.com/images/nu_old_skul_wave2.jpg
http://www.surfingsports.com/images/nu_old_skul_wave3.jpg
http://www.surfingsports.com/images/nu_old_skul_wave4.jpg
http://www.surfingsports.com/images/nu_old_skul_wave5.jpg
http://www.surfingsports.com/images/nu_old_skul_wave6.jpg
http://www.surfingsports.com/images/nu_old_skul_wave7.jpg

We kept our quiver of Exocet wave boards from 2007/2008...by that time boards were getting more squashy...
Like aspect ratios of sails did going from 1999 to 2000...

http://surfingsports.com/exocet_08_wave_boards/index.html

http://surfingsports.com/exocet_waveboards/index.html

The USurf 84 was ~ 7'8"...235 x 60cm...the XWave 83 was 235 x 56cm...

http://surfingsports.com/exocet_usurf.asp

We always found that these boards worked great in that nasty Maui chop...DDSA...dual density shock absorbers under the footstraps...I think that there are still a few available on closeout...mine aren't for sale...although, I get offers all of the time...my wifey will never ride anything else...same as with our quiver of Hot Super Freaks...

The shack absorbers are great for landing...

http://surfingsports.com/jalama_may/slides/jalama_wd1.jpg
http://surfingsports.com/maui_rocktoberfest_day1/maui_000.jpg

My newer 2010 Starboard Quad 86 is basically the same dims...234 x 60cm...

http://surfingsports.com/labels/Quad%20sailboard.asp

[PonoBill]

Good to see I'm not the only one stuck on Superfreaks. How do you think they work with modern board shapes?

[headmount]

Generally the wind can get light going thru the impact zone so if you're not going short and stubby then you better have some length to get you outside where you can even catch the wave.  In good size surf, 9' isn't too big.  Then you can really blade out the tail. 

If you can count on solid wind all the way out, or you have a solid channel, then you can use the shape of your dreams with no compromises. Otherwise welcome to Mike Tyson land.

[SUP Sports ®]

Another couple of classic custom wave shapes in our quiver that we couldn't let go of...8'7" Bassett trifins...

Damn!...there is a sh tpot more...my SUP quiver is well on it's way to matching WS quiver numbers...;-)

http://surfingsports.com/images/BASSETT_LITTER.jpg

[Dwight (DW)]

Good to see I'm not the only one stuck on Superfreaks. How do you think they work with modern board shapes?

My experience is pretty limited having only been back windsurfing 2 seasons, but here is what happened with us, for what it's worth, which might not be much.  

After 10 years away, we looked to our friends who never stepped away for advice. Original lifers. They are rode Superfreaks. They all said the same thing, they liked the soft cushy feel and hated harsh film sails. They raved about the light weight too. Comparing specs, the light weight was confirmed.

We totally geared up with a full 2010 quiver of them. First impression was bomber looking, but god awful heavy. Shocked the sport had reached a point where sails that heavy were the lightest on the market. But hey, at least they looked like they would last longer than the 2 years we got from sails in the old days.

We went through half a season shaking off the rust in our skills. We never quite felt at one with our gear. We were impressed with the sail range for a soft sail design. We were longing for more low end and better pumping. I felt like a geezer pumping onto a plane.

We'd have good and bad days with the sails. On a vacation in Florida, we had a 4.7 gusty wind day when the sails were struggling. Locals were on all different sizes, up to 6.5. The Ezzy riders looked comfortable and that made us question what we thought we knew. A local let me take his Gaastra film sail for a ride that day. It was a terrifying nightmare and I was just glad to get back to shore. I immediately thought, my buddies were right, film sails are wicked.

We returned home and those memories of that day haunted me. My friend told me he tried an Ezzy years ago and hated it for all the reasons I hated that Gaastra in Florida.

Still, I could not get the vision of those Ezzy riders in Florida cruising like they were on a Sunday drive. And these guys didn't appear to be stellar windsurfers either.

I decided to buy one Ezzy sail. Jacky and I immediately were stunned by how good it was. Although the weight number is not lighter than the Superfreak, it felt 50% lighter on the water. I concluded the Superfreak sail going flat when unloaded, made it handle like a dead anchor, while the always full profile of the Panther, makes it fly in the wind, making it totally weightless during every maneuver. Even when simply standing hold the mast, it's lighter feeling. Draft stability was 50% better too. I think the more stable draft positioning works in favor of these shorter compact boards. These boards have small sweet spots for the center of effort.

The sails felt nothing like the Gasstra film sail I tired in Florida. The Ezzy feels softer and easier on us than the Superfreaks. I just hope Ezzy doesn't screw them up having a world cup pro on the team now. I like his sails designed for the people, not pros.

[Admin]

I love to see the old gear.  It is kind of like hearing old songs.  It takes me right back to when they were it.  That Naish in particular.  We had a similar custom hanging on the wall of the windsurfing shop that I worked at in college.  I had no money but drooled over that thing...and everything it promised.

Superfreaks are awesome.  I still use one as my skate sail.  No batten-POP transition to backwinded.  More important on pavement

I need to try more boards.  I loved the New Wave's that Fanatic made in the around 2007 and Francisco's boards before that.  Those red Mistral's before those.

I have to say it is great to have my windsurfing stoke back.