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Retro done wrong. Very wrong. Okay, let's play nice and say maybe it could have been done better.

Retro done properly. Very properly. You didn't think we were going to take the easy way and just put up a photo of John Belushi, did you?

We're not ones to reflexively declare that "it was better in the old days" or "all the new stuff is crap". As our music selections indicate, we like old stuff, we like new stuff, and we like sometimes painfully cutting edge new stuff. When it comes to windsurfing equipment, we've been unapologetic about how we think that some older boards need to stay locked away and kept from attacking unsuspecting beginners. And, we've extolled the virtues of some classic boards which still can be a boatload (pun intended) of fun.

We are as guilty as anyone else about lusting over new stuff. New stuff is sometimes demonized as the tool of capitalism which just wants us to consume. A good part of the reality in the little cottage industry known as windsurfing is that the people who make gear just want it a bit better than it was last year. Certainly, people like Dave Ezzy take a lot of personal pride in the stuff they turn out. If they can make it better, they will. Maybe, once in a while, the changes are cosmetic but that's okay, too. After all, we occasionally get a different hairstyle ourselves just for the sake of seeing something different in the mirror.

Sometimes, after all the changes and as much fun as the changes were, we pine for the old stuff. But old stuff can be a hassle -old bikes have scratches and dents and old boards have crappy fin boxes and mast tracks in the wrong place for modern sails. Fortunately, there are merchants happy to solve our problems for us by providing new things that look and behave like the old ones. So we don't look like idiots for paying a lot of money for a board or bike that looks and behaves a whole lot like the one we dumpstered ten years ago, we call the new item "retro".When the good guys and gals produce something "retro", they actually improve things a bit using lessons learned in the last umpteen years since the previous iteration.

We've seen a few boards recently that are retro, either by happenstance or design. Our friend, Dmitris Savidis, reviews a more obvious one, the T1 Thommen eXperience 125. He gives it a thumbs up as a versatile board. It has a winger pin-tail and a quad concave bottom.

"The eXperience 125 features a quad-concave bottom for a super smooth ride and effortless transition from gliding to planning in light winds.

The winger pintail provides surprising maneuverability and control when the wind gets stronger. Characteristics usually associated with much smaller, more challenging and more technically demanding boards."
T1 Experience 125
Photo: Dimitris Savidis

Guess what else had a winger pin-tail and multi-concave bottom? Yep, the Mistral Malibu circa 1990. It just so happens that there is one for sale locally on CraigsList although, in our opinion, ridiculously overpriced. We were just in Hatteras and you can find nice, recent used boards for half that in some shops. But the Malibu does have a bunch of footstraps, so there is that going for it. More footstraps for going fast no matter where you are standing which was handy back then as the sail's draft (center of effort) would wander all over the place.

Overpriced Malibu
Who knew that windsurfing boards were fetching higher prices in McDonough than Lanier or Hatteras?

A board that caught our eye a few months back is this new wave board from Wales. Lewis Merrony, shares his journey on how he arrived at the design. We should add that the top deck graphics probably wouldn't be well-advised in Georgia.

Welsh Puravida

"Back in the day [9 years ago] of single finned boards, I remember regularly ploughing my way through a perfect line up knee deep on a 74 litre wave board waiting for the looming clean up set on the horizon to engulf me. I also remember discussing my predicament with a young Jim Brookes who was fresh back from a spell learning his trade amongst the likes of Witchcraft out in fuerteventura. We were both of similar build so faced similar issues with having enough float to get out back yet still have a board perform on the faster waves that we get in our neck of the woods. There were literally no boards that were combining floatation with performance at the time."

A lot of the board is influenced by more recent trends: a smaller and rounder nose; multiple fins for lots of bite. But the tail... the outline of the tail reminds us of a small Fox custom glass board circa 1990. We looked and looked and even though we know a couple of folks with old Fox boards (shout out to Big Al), we couldn't score a pic of the intertubes, so take our word for it.

Below, we show the progression from an F2 Axxis 257 ('93) standing in for our Fox, F2 Axxis 272 ('98ish) and very recent Starboard and JP quads. All are around 95ish liters. The first F2 is wide in the middle and pretty pinched in the tail. The next F2 is right in the middle of the "no-nose" trend which took a lot of volume out of the nose and pushed it back to the front foot straps. Also, note how the mast track took a big step back as floppy leach sails in the mid 90s meant a much more stable, draft-forward rig.

The new Starboard and JP boards are much shorter - about 30-40cm shorter. We learned that we didn't need the longer nose. All it did was puncture the foot of the sail when it wasn't breaking off and we didn't stuff the nose without it. (People like Barrett were happy, too, since the board would fit in the back of their van.) But, they still retain a lot more width at the front foot straps. The Welsh Puravida retains the shorter length but pinches the tail. There's a bit more volume in the front of the board. That volume gives it the float while the thinner tail, "turns as a 75 litre board would. It would be easy to forget your riding a 90 litre machine. "

Welsh Puravida compared
l-r: F2 Axxis 257 1993, F2 Axxis 272 1998, Starboard Quad 92 2012, JP Twinser Quad 2013, Puravida Rockstar 90 2013

Obviously, there's more to board design than just outline. Rocker, vee and more come in to play. And, the new board takes advantage of the current trend of multiple fins, something that wasn't seen very often in the windsurfing world twenty years ago. All the same, it was fun seeing a modern board outline that reminded me of my first shortboard circa 1991.

More reading

Wondering why wave boards now sport so many fins? Boardseeker had a recent interview with Francisco Goya on how modern wave boards using quad fins can be bigger but retain control.

If all this talk of old shapes vs new shapes seems foreign, a few years back, Boardseeker Mag did a good comparison between classic ('92) and more recent ('07) Mistral Screamers, both approx 105 l.

Why windsurfing grew so fast in Europe

Simple: better covers on their board test issues.

French magazine's board test issue
Tests Comparitifs (Comparative Tests). See, you want to read these board reviews, don't you?
Why we have so few photos of kites here

Too damn much wasted space.
Kiter over here. Kite over there.

French magazine's board test issue
We thought we'd use all the otherwise wasted space in the middle for something useful and educational.
Obligatory Music: Fitz and the Tantrums

New music with that retro vibe.

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Randy's picture
Randy
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Joined: 05/05/2002 - 10:38
Posts: 4656
Interesting article webguy.

Interesting article webguy. Having tried just about every new and old board and sail ever, I've come to the conclusion that in the past 20 years sails got better while boards got different. Adding twist to sails did make them easier to handle, but less powerful.

Boards got easier to sail, but not really faster, nor better jibers. The old v. new Scremer article makes that point. Probably the most fun I ever had sailing was on an old screamer. (It was a pain trying to sail in such an awkward position. So bad in fact, I installed an aft mast track on a Screamer I got from Gene for $25. It now sits in my attic waiting for the next snowstorm when I can use it again as a sled. Worked pretty good last time.)

I think most of the change in boards has been in the materials used for construction which made them lighter. And they got shorter to fit in smaller cars and wider to plane a little earlier. The old sails were more powerful, so boards probably haven't lowered the planning threshold much, if you take the same size sail. Windsurf mag had a comparison of 90's vintage board and sails against 2000s vintage combos. The older gear planned earlier, but had less wind range. (According to them, at least. As I recall they were claiming you could sail a 6.5 in 25 knots something like that, which I think would never really happen. At least with Captain Rat Fink at the helm.)

In some ways, boards have not gotten better. Modern footstraps suck. Mistral had the right design to lock them in place. Remember the lever-lock fin screw? Never see one of those anymore. And then the adjustable mast track - maybe not needed, but still nice at times.

No question that newer boards are easier to sail and easier to learn on, though its interesting and sad that even though our newbie equipment has gotten better in a lot of ways there are fewer people sailing them, every year. The sport was only really big when the gear really sucked (in the 80's). Maybe that says something, but I'm not sure what.

Finally - the above comments apply to normal boards (e.g. slalom, freeride, etc). Formula boards are a whole different class and for the intended purpose better than anything that came before it.

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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arrogantj
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Joined: 01/24/2012 - 14:11
Posts: 1053
Sigh

Pics of the French cover girl and Keira Knightley and all you guys can talk about is floppy leaches and foot straps? No wonder people find SUPs more exciting.

--- The Arrogant Jerk: Crabby and irritable since 1998.

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webguy's picture
webguy
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Joined: 12/31/2000 - 22:01
Posts: 13784
Relax. We could have been

Relax. We could have been posting pics of ourselves in togas. It would have made the guy at the top look like Ryan Gosling.

New article idea: "The Mankini - good for wave sailing, too?"

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Randy
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Joined: 05/05/2002 - 10:38
Posts: 4656
BTW - has anyone told Kiera

BTW - has anyone told Keira that she has the perfect build for a windsurfer. I don't think she weighs over 80 pounds. She could plane in 5 knots. Maybe she should come by sometime for lessons. I'm sure we could resurrect Learn to Windsurf day if she did. And she probably makes enough money to even buy the McDonough pintail board.

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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webguy
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No place for Keira. UK

No place for Keira. UK already had Bryony Shaw as their RS:X representative.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1039561/The-Magnificent-...

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Randy
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Joined: 05/05/2002 - 10:38
Posts: 4656
Webguy, with all due respect,

Webguy, with all due respect, I think sword fighting on a pirate ship multiple times is a bit more impressive than sailing an RS-X. Keira gets my vote for at least honorary membership in the ABC. (Recall my earlier thread suggesting we allow women to have membership. Even the stuff shirts at Augusta are doing it now.)

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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cp
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Joined: 09/19/2007 - 23:09
Posts: 319
Agreed

"... in the past 20 years sails got better while boards got different."
I so agree, although I would say that the improvement in sails has largely to do with improved dynamic range, which, while most in this community would see as a clear benefit, is a subjective judgement. There are trade-offs, and there are some folk for whom increased range is not the end-all and be-all.

"No question that newer boards are easier to sail and easier to learn on, though it's interesting and sad that even though newbie equipment has gotten better in a lot of ways, there are fewer people sailing them, every year. The sport was only really big when the gear really sucked (in the 80's). Maybe that says something, but I'm not sure what."
I agree, and I have some ideas as to why that is the case.

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