I was looking at my trusty harness (which must be 17 or 18 years old - and yes I bought it new) today and wondering how many people have gear that old that they still use regularly? (aside from yourself!)
and for those who are wondering - the harness is an F2
wow great harness, mine usually last about 5 years.
My oldest regularly used stuff is the masts, kilwell matrix 5 70%carbon. They'd be about 15 years old.
I had to refrain the missus from answering in my place...
Anyhow, I still use old banged up Windsurfers a lot under 13-15 knots.
I even borrow teak booms once a year for the heck of it - I don't even know how to tie them !
So it's the two extremes: 28yo equipment, or everything is 3 years max (the Goya).
An old Local Motion wave fin in G10, onshore shape and really thick draft with no tip flex. Nobody makes a fin like that anymore but it is still just the right thing for certain conditions and a heavy rider.
Probably 15yrs old
My bombora 292 not sure of year it still floats i use it in the lighter winds & my pb on it is 24.3 knots . i actual really love this board as it was the one i learned to sail on .Used it yesterday .
I have a Citizen windsurfing watch its over 20 years old, wear it everytime I sail.
Just keep replacing battery and band every few years.
wally windsurfer from the 1984 world championships in Nedlands Perth.- 27 yrs on...(just like Barbie she is plastic and will last forever!)
Homemade tie on boom c 1980's for my 3.3m 1991, harness..mid nineties..? 2 x wetsuits late 80's eraly 90's ..after yesterday I think its time for a new one..swimmers 80's..
definitely need new ones but no one sees them as they are under the wetsuit..They don't make them like that style anymore worse luck..very practical and flattering
( maybe Ive changed just a tad in 20 years..![]()
)
80's BIC Dufour Wing - NOT the sail $%^&*() sail n boom sucked ^&*()
width="1063" height="1600"
joewindsurfer.com
When the wind gets up around 30kts on Port Phillip Bay, I still like to jump on a 13 yr old board for freeriding.
-trusty Mistral concept screamer 83ltr. very smooth in the chop and doesn't get blown off the water.
(93 ltr Green Mistral flow was even better but it's had to go out to stud due to delam.... .....anyone got one lying around gathering dust, let me know!!)
I very vaguely remember that the only time I tried a Dufour, Greg Chappell announced his retirement (early 80s?).
Was a school in Ramsgate I think, that was also renting Ten Cates.
Goes to show how old the plank is...
First wave sail this summer punched the window of a 5.0 zone out. rigged up an old 5.5 Alexander sail that was custom made in Adelaide in 1989 and the bloody thing didn't feel to bad. No twist on the top so it felt like it wanted to catapault me but apart from that still worked ok
got an old 330 kevlar cobra from about 1986 thats still good for flat water SUP
Harness - 17 years old
Mast - reflex 4000 460 - 17 yrs old - Ok it had 10 years of no use - but it sat in a shed with large heat fluctuations and a little uv exposure and is still in two pieces![]()
A few of older pieces of equipment I regularly use.
Firstly I use the same deck plate I bought in 1998. Its a Chinook twin bolt system which I thought was far superior to anything else that was available at the time. When I got back into windsurfing in 2007 I found Chinook still sells the same system.
I also use a few old Finworks fins regularly though I hope I can replace them soon as they are a bit crap.
I have an old Da Kine surf seat harness that I have not used for a while but I might start using it again.
Neil Pryde keyring, circa 1989, from Bai Sailboards (Five Dock) ![]()
Everything else just gets broken/smashed/torn/ripped/cracked and therefore replaced!
Chinook mast base like Moby's and a Windsurfing Hawaii extension I got at least 15 years ago to finally replace the old Tyronsea stuff. North seat harness is about that old too. Had to replace the spreader bar 2 years ago but apart from that it's still going strong.
Windsurfer One Designs - both from the first run out of the moulds as far as I know, so about 1984.
The club/fun/practice/cruise one is delaminating underfoot, the good one that gets pulled out for nationals and states is still immaculate and still capable of winning at national level.
By the way, the Italian Windsurfer One Design class now has 122 members and Johnnsy is sending another container load of Wallies to Italy and half a load to the USA.
wally windsurfer from the 1984 world championships in Nedlands Perth.- 27 yrs on...(just like Barbie she is plastic and will last forever!)
[/quote i just chopped up a sail from that event on the weekend, I am recycling the mast pocket onto a new landyacht sail Im making, its still in great condition , but oil had damaged the rest of the sail
My mast extension and uni joint (2002) Its had new rubbers and bolts but it's the only thing I haven't broken (yet)
Gath 1995
Fibrespar Reflex 3200 460 mast, getting a lot of use this year with my new slalom gear, got hammered on the weekend. I had a 430 also, until last year, when it finally snapped at Currumbin
Wind Tech 282 (I think) high wind slalom board, bought 2nd hand in 1996, possibly a year old at that stage
Delta Thruster 1996 - new
Various Chinook mast extensions and double-bolt bases etc
Which is why I maintain that windsurfing is not really expensive in the long run. This crap lasts for decades.