Hello, im a windsurfing newbie. Found a damaged board on my town trash pickup day and I'd like to restore it. I'm having trouble identifying it and since I'm new to these posts I can't share pictures apparently. But the stickers on the board say "windsurfer comp WSF64986M83H" the license sticker say it was last used in Colorado in 88! I'm in MN. It has cracking on the bottom. And advice or information would be helpful thank you!
I'm afraid it belongs where you found it. It's a Windsurfer brand board - the Comp version of the One-design - from the mid-80s and is made from rotomolded polyethylene plastic. The stuff is very sturdy but extremely heavy with its polyurethane foam core, it doesn't respond well to lots of sunshine and once it cracks it's almost impossible to repair in a reliable fashion. I have one which lives under the deck, in decent shape, which I'll use occasionally for light wind freestyle or to introduce beginners to the sport, but honestly you can buy much better boards for under $100
I found one of those in a rubbish skip several years ago. Pulled the skin off and reshaped it into a low wind wave board. But the foam in there was softer than a normal urethane blank and it dented easily.
Mr spoiled is correct, it's very hard to get anything to stick strongly to that plastic skin. And the internal foam is too soft for me to recommend my trick.
Also be aware that this is mainly and Australian forum, when money or quantities are quoted they are in Australian units, our $ is around 70 of your cents, and the whole market is probably different.
Most of us wouldn't have a clue where MN is.
There are a few here from the US though, so local help is available.
if MN stands for Minesota then I don't think sun damage will be much of an issue lol
Yes sorry MN stands for Minnesota, USA. The lake I live on is always windy so I'm suprised I've never see this sport. So far we've repaired some cracks with a heat gun, soldering iron, and some extra polyethylene buckets we had at our wood shop. Haven't attempted the larger cracks yet...just getting used to the material. It actually melts back into itself well. Slow process though... Thank you everyone commenting. The info is so helpful!
If it's just going to be an initial learning board, the result doesn't need to be brilliant, even water proof is not a huge issue, unlike most modern boards that will be closed cell foam and won't soak up water. The only danger is where the skin has delaminated. Water could pour into any void created. But it won't sink on you. there's stacks of floatation. I guess it snap in half, if a crack runs across the width though.
