At the moment all I have available to me is an old 80's harness (bright yellow 
). The harness is in fine condition but the clip which holds the spreader bar in place always slips so I end up with a 5cm ish gap between the spreader bar and my body which makes it hard to hook in and out. Does anyone have a solution for this other than buy a new one?
That distance is normal.
I bet the straps are about 20 mm wide.
New harnesses have around 40mm straps which stop the hook from falling over.
Is the hook facing down? It should be.
Try getting some seat belt material and sewing some new straps on. Might work
I know you want to stick with what you have but I persisted with an old 90's waist -seat combo for ages until my lower back locked up after sailing 4 days in a row with the big sail.. I realised it was the unssuportive harness and got a new seat one and what a difference! I can hold down bigger sails , never get back problems and my sailing has improved heaps! Best purchase I've made!
Is the best place to get a cheaper harness second hand or are there some other options for a cheap harness?
Select to expand quoteMmeyer said..
Is the best place to get a cheaper harness second hand or are there some other options for a cheap harness?
There is someone here on SB with a bunch of good new harnesses going cheap. He should be able to advise you on what could suit you best ie if a seat harness with higher hook option is better than some which are quite low.
^^As MoB says, Run out gear or secondhand is fine just have a look.
Geared4knots is selling some in the buy and sell section
If you put some sikaflex sealant or similar in strips on the strap it will stop the strap slipping.
Works a treat.
I can bring a tube of sikaflex (already opened) up to the learn to windsurf day at Low Head next weekend if you plan on being there.
You'll also find numerous people there on the day who can answer lots of other questions (and a wide variety of gear, harnesses etc) to get an idea of what is popular and functional these days.
Clarence
Hate to tell you but you really need to try before you buy although being a bloke it may not be as critical.
As a woman even trying womens harness's I had a hard time finding one that fitted!
Windsurfnsnow were great. I ended up with the Naish balance seat harness with a prolimit bar ( wider) - brilliant! It doesn't ride up and works a treat.
