Select to expand quoteMark _australia said..
^^^ that is a good run down and brings back memories!! I used to hang around Windtech as a grom, looking at all I could not afford :(
Gos does that help? I can't see it will assist with sail selection 
but you will enjoy a quiver of Severnes in the 4.5 - 6.5 you were chasing.
yeah, how good was that!! ManOverBoard's response is EXACTLY the kind of random stories i was after... the sort of stuff a typical grom would never find unless the guys involved share it sitting around a campfire with a bottle of plonk.
I loved reading his memories of that period, it is brilliant. I'll bet that its interesting for everyone... for some of you old guys who were around back then... the new guys who recognize some of the names and equipment from what we've seen around but don't know the guys behind it.
Similar stories on old or current equipment is warmly received.
As you state... it probably doesn't help me at all with sail selection but that doesn't matter to me at all, i just love the stories, the legends, the names and nicknames and workshops.
In recent days i've had some fun - first i spent 2 nights trawling blogs and websites suggested by Wind012 and enjoyed the Nude Boards blog on tumblr, Severne, JP Australia (is the JP Girls page designed for female audience, or for guys?! They are good looking sorts...), and then i also dropped in and had a chat to Canning Hwy shop which gave me very good advice on 2nd hand sails and bits of carbon.
What have I learned... any learners or intermediates out there looking for advice on setup... burn some petrol and go to all your local shops and ask the chap behind the counter for advice. Guaranteed he windsurfs. Guaranteed he has tried nearly every bit of equipment you could imagine. They are very generous and they typically have a bunch of 2nd hand gear for sale as well. I was pleasantly surprised as to how affordable good quality second hand gear is. Seems that lots of guys upgrade their gear each year and so there is trade-in sails, booms, masts, etc which you can pickup for a fraction of the price of new and get 3-4 years out of it. That's the end of me trawling gumtree for bargains - waste of time. All the good stuff is on windsurfing shop websites and seabreeze buy&sell section.
Specific to me - i learned that if i try to be cheap and setup with a single 430 mast i will only be able to get sails that are 5.3+ (unless i'm willing to rig smaller sails on 430 mast and accept the less than ideal performance)... so... if i want a storm sail then i also need a 400 mast.
Wind FX - started off modest, evolved, and is now successful and financially backed by a manufacturer of white lines 
I did a video a while back on how Carbon Art started if you're interested in background stories
Select to expand quoteMark _australia said..
^^ perhaps James could now post some Nude videos?????
lol chest hairs getting your motor running Mark?
There was a good one about Jas doing the paint jobs in the old factory. Not sure where to find it now.
(and no Mark he's not nude in it so get your mind out of the gutter you filthy sicko)
^^ that's the one. Good vid 
Select to expand quotehoop said..
You wish Mark
Shall I go first? 
