forum warning.

bombora x-its are best avoided.

they turned more people off windsurfing than the bombora dromedary.

When you have a look on ebay its amazing how many bomboras are around. I had one and have still got one gathering dust in the shed.. they were a dominent board brand in there time...

I used to have a custom Bombora slalom prototype with the cool mark paul graphics and it was my pride a joy.. looked great wasn't the best board - proto for the astro toy (stepped v hull) - didn't matter - IT LOOKED COOL!

Last X-it was 282cm long and 110 litres. It was my first shortboard back on Narrabean lakes in the early 90's and have fond memories blasing up and down the lake. It was a fast board but I found it pretty hard to gybe. They sold them new for around $699 so they had their place. When I first got this board I was sooooo stoked!

Was it the Tri-Fin that came out the the plastic "Footy Fin"? What a huge step in technology that was????????

Not such a bad board, IMHO. Quite "technical" to gybe, but tough and surprisingly quick according to my info from guys who raced against them not too long ago. I'm giving mine to the uni club as they don't have a short board but the few times I've used it recently, it has gone surprisingly quickly in the moderate stuff.

Hi all,

My first shortboard was a Bombora Zot of early 1990's vintage. Very similar to the X-IT but 10cm shorter. Great board for the price really.

Had really sharp box rails from nose to tail, flat rocker which really had it up planning quickly. Im 65kgs and used to get the board planning with a North 6m race sail much quicker that most others down at Wello where I used to sail.

Compared to modern boards it wouldnt even come close in terms of performance. 14kgs vs 7kgs for starters and not very manouverable at all...

quote:

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Originally posted by Steptoes Son


Well I'm glad only a few people are bagging out the XIT.

At this stage of my windurfing career it's my current ride, got it cheap and has been a lot of fun, although the comments about being hard to jybe would explain why I always end up on my face. Thought I was just crap at them.
Maybe a better board would help, not that I'm blaming the tools mind.

Cheers. SS

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Yes, blame your tools!!!! After a decade of getting nowhere, I have improved out of sight since getting my new board. No doubt sailing on those old boards was fun, but the new stuff is soooooooooooo much better.

SS, try leaning well forward as you gybe, watching the inside rail where it hits the water. The X-it tends to catch the waves there and you'll end up at the stage where your reflexes allow you to react as soon as you see the board catching. Well, I think that was what was happening, anyway.

I'm so used to the old lean-forward-and-commit style I find modern boards to be more challenging! Not that I'm saying an old board is better overall; it's just what you get used to and I no longer sail shortboards enough to get back in practise.

I would agree, when I got my bombora south pac 2, was when my windsurfing took its big leap forward, planing, gybing etc, this was the board that got me hooked!

And because i didnt know any better, I thought it was the bees knees, untill I moved to qld in 94 and saw the new no-nose shapes being built by Ian and Mike at Surf FX! It cost me a fridge to buy one of these boards, as the wife got the fridge and I got the new board.

I'm even tempted to give the old Bombora a run at my local speed spot and chuck the GPS on it just to see how quick the old plastic beast is.. I remember they were great in chop as they flexed so much it felt like smooth water...

Could be a touch embarassing if I record a greater speed than my new board!

My first board was a tri fin. Absolutely loved it! So much so I ended up working for the company! Was a good feeling back in the 80's knowing that half the boards on the beaches or lakes I sailed I probably had a hand in making.
Here's a little known fact though, the X-it and the Zot were actually rebadged Windrush boards. When that company folded Bombora (Ocean Action) actually the bought the moulds from the liquidators over in Perth, shipped them over, we ground off the Windrush logo and had new Bombora ones added, then changed the fin boxes to new more modern ones and BINGO! 2 new boards to serve onto the unsuspecting public!
My favourite Bombora was a board called an APC which stood for Applied Polymer Construction. It was a slalom board that absolutely flew but it was a new construction technique and we had a lot of problems with delamination particularly under the feet. We used to get Bob McTavish to make them for us and unfortunately I don't think he ever came to grips with the correct mix for the expanding foam that went into them and consequently they went soft way too quick.

The stepped tail board evolved into the Astro Toy. That design came about from a Guy called Bruce McKee. This guy was one out there dude, a real eccentric kind of inventor type personality who obviously had some radical ideas for the time on what he thought would or wouldn't work. He was widely respected as one the best free skiers going around by the snow skiing fraternity. His real talent lay in shaping surfboards, to the point where I last heard he was based in France shaping boards for a lot of the professional surfers of today. He also designed the Capricorn. He was always tinkering with designs and loved making tiny stepped bottom speed boards. We also had a guy working with us who had a deal with Gaastra which enabled us access to the Gaastra proto speed sails of the days. This sails were heavy buy boy were they powerful. They were the same ones Pascal Maka used. Only problem was we needed over 20 knots before his boards would even contemplate planing.
The APC I mentioned earlier also had a stepped bottom version although I used to use the concave one myself. Maybe that's the proto version you have ka?? My claim to fame is appearing in a photo shoot for the APC when it was tested by Freesail. They published a great shot of me doing about a 2ft chop hop in a totally flat Collaroy lagoon.

For the slalom board for 12yr olds, I would suggest both the X-IT and ZOT's? Both are quick boards and have enough floatation for a 12yr old.

There are so many on ebay going that you could quickly develop a small fleet. Additionally you could ask around here?

David

Which windrush board was the X-IT from? I would assume the storm 10 - I started windsurfing on a storm 8 a few years ago - awesome board very stable but decided to get a newer board only when I dropped it on my foot!!. That and some b*stard made the decision for me by stealing it from the safety bay yacht club

Then why does my old bombora X-it say something along the lines of 'Tom Ludecke Orthagonal Concept' if he had nothing to do with it??