Hi: it has been a long time since I wrote here. Enough time to keep buying or receiving for free old boards. So now I have 11 pieces of crap that maybe have the greatest fun/cost ratio of any activities I can think of, living 5 minutes away from the beach. My last purchase was 10 euro Mistral Competition that has been unused and hanged on a wall for 35 years, mint condition.
My question is: my place has termal winds, below 8 knots until 1PM or so, increases usually to max 15 knots at 5PM. I also have the eventual storm based 25k blast. I'm trying to figure out which board to take to have the most fun for the conditions. I'm 54, weight 67k, I don't know how to water start but never had to be towed away from the sea in any conditions, learning to jive and in love with the Mistral Explosion 120L these days. But. I have options (I KNOW my Tabou is the best board I have but I'm waiting to improve to enjoy it). Which one should I rig, depending on wind? My main question is, will I have fun with 5 knots in a Mistral Competition or better stay at home or use another like the Veloce 328? Thanks!
Mistral Edge: 268x54,5 92L
Tabou Rocket: 105 237 x 61 105L
Mistral Explosion: 288x58 120L
Bic Astro Rock: 284cm 61cm 125L
Bic Techno Core 148: 283x69 152L
Mistral New Malibu: 330x63 165L
F2 Comet: 330x67 170L
Bic Veloce 328: 328x68 185L
Mistral Competition TCS: 372cm 70cm 230L
Tiga Fuego
Fanatic Viper WindSUP: 335 x 85 x 330L
Fun is relative to the sailor, it's impossible for me to tell you what you'll enjoy.
If you're near the beach, rig a selection there and just try them all out for yourself.
My 2cents
Those conditions call for 2 boards.
Mistral Competition
Mistral Explosion
until you grow into the Rocket.
Select to expand quoteolskool said..
My 2cents
Those conditions call for 2 boards.
Mistral Competition
Mistral Explosion
until you grow into the Rocket.
Yes, I'm delayed with the big one: it is in perfect conditions but the daggerboard is lost so I'm building one for it. Thanks!
Yeah I dunno about a long skinny old school freeride being the best, as when planing it needs such different stance and trim to a new freeride like the rocket.
I say use old longboard with daggerboard in little wind and as soon as its 14 or 15kn get on the Rocket and stick with it.
Ditch all the others as I don;t think you will grow into the rocket with the bad habits developed when planing on a 280 long freeride from long ago
I would master the deepwater starts.everyone who windsurfs should have that dialled. Just my opinion ??
Select to expand quoteMark _australia said..
Yeah I dunno about a long skinny old school freeride being the best, as when planing it needs such different stance and trim to a new freeride like the rocket.
I say use old longboard with daggerboard in little wind and as soon as its 14 or 15kn get on the Rocket and stick with it.
Ditch all the others as I don;t think you will grow into the rocket with the bad habits developed when planing on a 280 long freeride from long ago
Hi Mark! Can you do a quick summary on stance and trim differences? I agree with you, I'm progressing with the Explosion but who knows if learning nothing for the Rocket :-)
in low wind, I enjoy just cruising with the long "boats"
Select to expand quotegavnwend said..
I would master the deepwater starts.everyone who windsurfs should have that dialled. Just my opinion ??
I agree with you. Because I'm light I can even uphaul the Rocket so I can try to stick with it when windy.
Select to expand quotethedoor said..
My vote would be the windsup until you get blown off the water
Hahaha that is for the kids to learn :-)
Select to expand quoteGrantmac said..
Competition and Rocket, the rest go in the bin.
Competition could be used with old school Dacron sail that I have. Is it worth the time with low winds? I like the sail can be rolled around the mast :-)
Mistral Explosion all the way, I've had the exact same size since new, learnt everything on it and it's still my go to board. Looks a bit like I'm sailing a longboard nowadays but it's so good.
Select to expand quoteJPBARNA said..
learning to jive and in love
I'm happy for you
Jive is a lively type of music that first became popular in the 1930s. If you've seen movies with people wearing 1930s clothing fast dancing and spinning around, chances are they're dancing to jive music.
But the word you want is GYBE, unless you're a flashy freestyler, in which case jive sums it up nicely
Select to expand quoteMr Milk said..JPBARNA said..
learning to jive and in love
I'm happy for you
Jive is a lively type of music that first became popular in the 1930s. If you've seen movies with people wearing 1930s clothing fast dancing and spinning around, chances are they're dancing to jive music.
But the word you want is GYBE, unless you're a flashy freestyler, in which case jive sums it up nicely
Thanks for the correction, I don't know if I can edit the post afterwards. I will definitely give it a try and, please, if you find another mistake just keep me informed. In reality, the quality of gybes I execute could depict me as a jive practitioner out of safer places. Cheers, JP
Select to expand quotepineapple said..
Mistral Explosion all the way, I've had the exact same size since new, learnt everything on it and it's still my go to board. Looks a bit like I'm sailing a longboard nowadays but it's so good.
Hi! I really love it. I think the name was set after the way it has to accelerate. One question: which wind is your minimum to take it out for a ride? My question was: low wind, seems the Competition is the answer. Higher winds, the shorter ones. In your case, from which wind speed do you really use it?
Thanks!
Select to expand quotepineapple said..
Mistral Explosion all the way, I've had the exact same size since new, learnt everything on it and it's still my go to board. Looks a bit like I'm sailing a longboard nowadays but it's so good.
Yes but he has a modern freeride, he will get on it and hate it if sailing the Explosions for along time
If the Explosion is your only one and you love it, great
But with so many boards and wanting to prune it down a bit, I think he would want to keep the Rocket.
JPBARNA - you asked re stance. Think about the distance from the the mast track to feet on the old freerides vs the new. Its a massive difference. Then tail width (which equates to fin size) - in early 90's we used 26-30cm fins, now 36-40 in same winds. It is just different in every single way. It will be very hard to get good at planing windsurfing if you bounce between very old fast boards, and new style fast boards......... like learning to drive a manual car but every single lesson is a different clutch engagement point. You'd hate it.
Have a read here (and anything Basher says about old vs new stance, he explains it well, so look for threads on this site about stance)
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/General/Modern-Stance-for-Maneuverbility-?page=1
I still say have a long board (with centreboard) for when its light and then as soon as it might be planing windsurfing (14kn plus for you) get on the Rocket and stick with it. Probably the best freeride board ever made. Yes there are old faves that are fast, or better in chop but the stance is different and they don't gybe well, there is a reason they went away.
67kg on a 105L Rocket with a 6.5 no cam freeride? I wish I could do that in 15kn, you would be fully lit smooth water and so much control. Best way to learn everything and have bulk fun.
Select to expand quoteMr Milk said..JPBARNA said..
learning to jive and in love
I'm happy for you
Jive is a lively type of music that first became popular in the 1930s. If you've seen movies with people wearing 1930s clothing fast dancing and spinning around, chances are they're dancing to jive music.
But the word you want is GYBE, unless you're a flashy freestyler, in which case jive sums it up nicely
Select to expand quoteMark _australia said..
JPBARNA - you asked re stance. Think about the distance from the the mast track to feet on the old freerides vs the new. Its a massive difference. Then tail width (which equates to fin size) - in early 90's we used 26-30cm fins, now 36-40 in same winds. It is just different in every single way. It will be very hard to get good at planing windsurfing if you bounce between very old fast boards, and new style fast boards......... like learning to drive a manual car but every single lesson is a different clutch engagement point. You'd hate it.
Have a read here (and anything Basher says about old vs new stance, he explains it well, so look for threads on this site about stance)
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/General/Modern-Stance-for-Maneuverbility-?page=1
I still say have a long board (with centreboard) for when its light and then as soon as it might be planing windsurfing (14kn plus for you) get on the Rocket and stick with it. Probably the best freeride board ever made. Yes there are old faves that are fast, or better in chop but the stance is different and they don't gybe well, there is a reason they went away.
67kg on a 105L Rocket with a 6.5 no cam freeride? I wish I could do that in 15kn, you would be fully lit smooth water and so much control. Best way to learn everything and have bulk fun.
I will take your advice and just out of curiosity I will measure distances and the ratios and dump them here if just can help someone else in the future. Regarding your previous comment: I felt really awkward on the Rocket coming from long old school. Felt that someone stole the nose! I've learnt with the Explosion that shorter boards must be accelerated leeward before anything else. Maybe with this practice I'm now ready for Tabou time. And... I have space at home, I don't want to get rid of old boards and I like to ride all of them once in a while. I like to read about their history and I'm delighted with the design criteria on all of them. What I really want, with my original question, is to have 2 proper setups to maximise water time. (another advantage of this sails and boards dance is that new stuff can get under "her radar" more easily). A board is a board, a sail is just a sail, aren't they?
^^^ if that last bit is the aim, buy quality bags and new boards get put in the old bags every season, eventually she asks why you don't have new stuff
Select to expand quoteMark _australia said..
^^^ if that last bit is the aim, buy quality bags and new boards get put in the old bags every season, eventually she asks why you don't have new stuff
I have a rotation plan as the car tyres one :-)
Select to expand quoteJPBARNA said..gavnwend said..
I would master the deepwater starts.everyone who windsurfs should have that dialled. Just my opinion ??
I agree with you. Because I'm light I can even uphaul the Rocket so I can try to stick with it when windy.
False economy. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Commit to water starting, you won't regret it, way less energy waste and more ToW, jivin' and thrivin'. Pick a windy day and be prepared to blow a potentially fun session or two figuring it out. The pay back is huge. Also, Lots of tips on these pages as well to help get you ideas.
Select to expand quotemusorianin said..JPBARNA said..gavnwend said..
I would master the deepwater starts.everyone who windsurfs should have that dialled. Just my opinion ??
I agree with you. Because I'm light I can even uphaul the Rocket so I can try to stick with it when windy.
False economy. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Commit to water starting, you won't regret it, way less energy waste and more ToW, jivin' and thrivin'. Pick a windy day and be prepared to blow a potentially fun session or two figuring it out. The pay back is huge. Also, Lots of tips on these pages as well to help get you ideas.
Haha, I have so few windy days that I "waste" them doing straights full speed when I can. But I will follow your advice. Question: someone posted a link to a nice Daser video about water starts but I lost it. Any links to it? Other thing is that I usually sail alone in my beach so I will have to tell the coast guards "don't worry I will be 90 minutes appearing to die under my sail but I'm really learning something exciting" so they don't call the ambulances and copters. Thanks!
Select to expand quoteJPBARNA said..musorianin said..JPBARNA said..gavnwend said..
I would master the deepwater starts.everyone who windsurfs should have that dialled. Just my opinion ??
I agree with you. Because I'm light I can even uphaul the Rocket so I can try to stick with it when windy.
False economy. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Commit to water starting, you won't regret it, way less energy waste and more ToW, jivin' and thrivin'. Pick a windy day and be prepared to blow a potentially fun session or two figuring it out. The pay back is huge. Also, Lots of tips on these pages as well to help get you ideas.
Haha, I have so few windy days that I "waste" them doing straights full speed when I can. But I will follow your advice. Question: someone posted a link to a nice Daser video about water starts but I lost it. Any links to it? Other thing is that I usually sail alone in my beach so I will have to tell the coast guards "don't worry I will be 90 minutes appearing to die under my sail but I'm really learning something exciting" so they don't call the ambulances and copters. Thanks!
A lot of Dashers stuff gets taken down. Cookie's videos can be great:
A lot of folks are overlooking the Techno Core 148 (actual 264x75 148l) which is an okay. relatively moderm, big and floaty short board. Good bridge between the Competition and Rocket. Definitely should not be binned.
The Rocket is definitely a keeper but the Bic will help a lot in getting there.
Select to expand quoteJPBARNA said..Grantmac said..
Competition and Rocket, the rest go in the bin.
Competition could be used with old school Dacron sail that I have. Is it worth the time with low winds? I like the sail can be rolled around the mast :-)
I wouldn't, use the most modern rig you have.
Select to expand quotePaducah said..
A lot of folks are overlooking the Techno Core 148 (actual 264x75 148l) which is an okay. relatively moderm, big and floaty short board. Good bridge between the Competition and Rocket. Definitely should not be binned.
The Rocket is definitely a keeper but the Bic will help a lot in getting there.
Haha it is the only board I bought new, and my level was way worse than today. Everyday I use it I say "it is a good board!" She must be jealous.
Select to expand quoteGrantmac said..JPBARNA said..Grantmac said..
Competition and Rocket, the rest go in the bin.
Competition could be used with old school Dacron sail that I have. Is it worth the time with low winds? I like the sail can be rolled around the mast :-)
I wouldn't, use the most modern rig you have.
OK! Thanks. What about different Center of effort? Just slide the mast base?
Select to expand quoteGrantmac said..
That board has a foot pedal adjustable mast track right?
Not working (lost original base). I have a BIC base adapted with a metal plate but I can slide it there "not in regatta urgency". By the way, today I had a "blast" with 5 knots on the Competition. I even towed 4 kids on the SUP with a 6,7m sail. I will definitely use it in low wind. Other positive outcome: first time that one of my kids told me "dad, I want you to teach me that thing you do with the wind". one more for the cause, one less for kites and electric stuff.
