It's amazing isn't it.

Whilst I agree with everything Nic says, the majority of the windsurfers I
know (30 something year olds) learned as kids, with polycarbonate fins, on
aircraft carrier boards, that visibly flexed if you jumped up and down.
With booms that you tied on and rotated the boom up into position to tighten
the knot, and 5.6m sails that were triangles of cloth with one batten up
top. And we all survived. What a laugh. I even used to blast around in
the footstraps on a 360 TenCate Spacer - about 25 kgs to lift with two of
you required to get it off the car! I've hardly progressed now, but I often
wonder, from the comfort of straps on a 7kg slalom board, what it would be
like to be instantly transfered to vintage kit again!

And yes, I realise I'm opening myself up to a bunch of (40 somethings)
saying: "That's nowt, when I were a lad we had bruises on our thighs from
the wooden daggerboard swinging off our shoulders". There's only about 200
of you still around, you know who you are.

To the original poster. If you can get together £200 you can do a lot
better. If you can't - go for it anyway - but bear in mind if it's
frustrating there is a world of fun awaiting when you crack it / get some
decent kit. Hopefully you'll have a barrel of laughs on the way. The
secret is to wait till summer and have the barbeque going on the beach! ;-)

Good luck.

Jeremy

-----Original Message-----
From: Nic Pillinger [mailto:nic@...]
Sent: 11 April 2003 14:45
To: windsurf-uk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [windsurf-uk] Old Dog (and board), New Tricks


On Fri, 11 Apr 2003, "vepoware" wrote:

> The board is a Tiga but I don't know which one -
approx
> 385cm long (

woah there betsy! is it a boat? only kidding. beginners
boards have gone from long narrow things to almost as
short as wave boards but very wide.

> I'm 90Kg, but from what I've read this should have
> plenty of
> flotation even for me).

yep should be fine floatation wise - only problem I can
see with the board is having to get 3 other people to
help you lift it any time you need to move it :D

...snipped board description...

> daggerboard, but a missing fin - which brings me to my
> first
> question ...
>
> Can I get a replacement fin - seems there are some
> standard fittings
> around or do I have to ID the board first? The main
> fin slot is 10mm
> wide x 255mm long, with slightly wider cut-outs near
> each end. Plan
> B - could I make one? I have polyester resin and glass
> mat/tape from
> my canoe building.

possibly you could get a replacement - lots of shops
and indeed windsurfers who've been around a while have
boxes of old fins and bits like this. quite possibly
you could get one for nowt or v cheap. to be honest you
might be able to sail it without the fin with the
daggerboard down :)

I wouldn't bother trying to make one - more hassle than
its worth.

> Next question - seems like tie-on booms were a problem
> before clamps
> came along, what's best practice for tying on?

eek, they were the worst thing in the world, I remember
when I had one I had to retie it every half an hour or
the boom started slipping down the mast. a) they are a
pain in the arse to actually tie on b) they dont stay
securely on then c) they are impossible to untie again
with freezing fingers.

> Just how bad is this setup? Am I wasting my time?
>
> Any info/pointers greatly appreciated.

if you are game for a go at windsurfing I would try and
get yourself another sail and boom - and quite possibly
a mast. all these can be had for cheap 2nd hand. the
rig setup you have will more than likely put you off
windsurfing ever again.

hope this helps
______________________________________________________________
For up-to-the-minute music news, reviews and specials visit
http://www.nme.com

Get free e-mail (anyname@...) now at http://www.nmemail.com

The sender of this e-mail is NOT an employee or associate of NME,
nme.com or any other IPC magazine.




Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/