webguy wrote:

Now - to perfect the 3 piece mast. Perhaps we'll have bungee corded masts like tent poles.

You're late to the party:

http://www.hawaiiansurfing.com/catalogo/windsurf/vele/airwindsurf-rig-rrd/

Compact rig: 916 euro
Freeride Inflateable: 1200 euro
Does Italy have VAT? Well, at least this is the first windsurf gear where shipping from Europe is viable.

Don't tell Ezzy about the five piece mast.

"Recommended mast:
First choice 430 bottom section 460 lower section 430 middle section 460 upper section 400 top section
Second Choice: 430"

(I love his sails but he needs to stop this stuff. Example 4.5/4.7 Tigers http://www.ezzy.com/sails/2016-sails/2016-ezzy-tiger/)

I think probably hard boards will be history before long at least for retail. The video is pretty convincing evidence that the performance of an inflatable (aka "Windbags") board can be as good as any regular shmo needs. There are so many other advantages. First - it appears they cost less than a comparable hard board (just based on a small sample of comparable hard/soft boards). Second, of course, is the storage/travel benefits. Third - they are probably a lot more durable. Drop one and it bounces. Drop a weight on it and it bounces off. Get launched into it and you will probably bounce off too. But I don't know. Gene has a couple of them. Maybe he knows. The exterior skin seems really tough (zodiacs are inflatable - they are not made of carbon fiber and epoxy for a reason). Perhaps for racing (are there really any real races taking place, aside from the Fall Classic anyway) and the like the hard boards will continue to be performance enhancing drug of choice for guys who want to win. Pro's will continue to get custom made hard boards but the retail customers (assuming there actually are any for windsurfing) will likely prefer the windbags. I can see that development costs might be higher for windbags, but maybe not. However, how much development is really needed any more for ws boards? The manufacturers have struggled to make board shapes that are much better than those of x years. (Some would say x=20, others might say x = 5 or 10 but innovation in WS boards is not really moving by leaps and bounds.)

So - I'm in the market for your used hard boards. 10 cents on the dollar. Sell all 10 of your boards and you can buy a new windbag. You will thank me as you are pumping your board everytime you go to the lake. And the best part - you can hide them in old closets or big suitcases so that your significant other doesn't know how many of them you have.