leto said..
That Duotone ad just feels like they are advertising Hogwarts. Almost felt asleep. I also like that any equipment one makes still cannot bend physics.. a 5m sail made of plutonium-silk nanotubes versus 5m one from monofilm 10 years ago are grabbing exactly 5 square meters of wind pressure. Same with boards where you have very limited variables to tweak that all affect each other and probably on some odd years tweaking yeilds lemons and some other years, great boards.
The only way to know is always stay 2-3 years behind "cutting-edge" windsurfing progress. On average all my equipment is about 8 years behind.
Plenty new surplus and quality second hand equipment to mix-match, you'll save some decent coin for sure with a wait and see approach. I agree with your overriding sentiments that not everyone is an early adopter, nor should they be. But not everyone is willing to compromise for budgetary reasons.
An issue for those of us that don't play a conservative waiting game is that you can't always get what you are after. I've been around long enough to know what I need and where/when to compromise. For me the result is integrated board+sail combos that all work in a similar fashion and I don't second guess/learn different set-ups for what can be some pretty serious conditions year round. But I have the luxury of living where good sea breezes are a way of life, summer days are always on the coast somewhere and we get to truly dial in our kit.
I held out a season longer because of the new gear that's been in the works. Not gonna call it an upgrade it's just time for new sails.
