Im advised the new centreboard Im using has changed at the top knob at the rear. These are a hard plastic fin to help with retracting the centreboard. The tip I have been given is to cover top with a tennis ball so it doesnt apply so much pressure to the plate when located all the way down on the plate.

RichardG said..
Baratti Beach Park (Piombino, Tuscany, Italy): highlights of the 3rd italian national race. winds 20-35knots. Its not Hawaii, its Tuscany, Italy but nice waves outside around the gybe mark. This is the thrill of one design racing but nevertheless hearkening back to the sensations, excitement and drama of the days of the Pan Am Cup style racing.


www.facebook.com/windsurferclass/videos/315349423134241

if that doesn't sell a few LT's i don't know what will.

Hopefully we can have a Nationals !

John340 said..

windsufering said..
Hopefully we can have a Nationals !

Not likely, Nationals require open boarders

Not just the Wally class !

Gestalt said..

Chris 249 said..
Ok guys, what about we buy all the Decathlon 3.1 kids rigs for $99 (see the thread). If we get half a dozen of them at the Nats I'll donate trophies for a class. We've bought two of them for our grandkids.

ok, so you are a 10-12 yo kid. which rig do you choose. the sail that looks like it was designed during an episode of playschool and offers nothing in the way of performance or a sail that looks like the sail Jaeger uses and has performance.

For a start, why assume that you know so much more about what appeals to 9 year olds than the people who run one of the world's most successful sports retailers do? I used to work with graphic artists and marketers; they are not all morons, so why assume they chose the wrong graphics for the Decathlon rig?

Secondly, what proportion of kids who could get into LTs etc know who Jaeger Stone is, and how many of them care? How many of them know enough about sails to think that the transparent one is (allegedly) less cool than the one with black lines all over it? How many of them may think that a monofilm sail looks less like the Opti and the Laser 4.7 sails and is therefore more interesting?

Thirdly, where is your evidence that the Redback is more efficient? It's close to 40% heavier. Is that "more efficient"? It appears to have a much more open leach and less draft, with the draft further forward. All that may be great in a shortboard, but an LT or OD is not a shortboard and is often sailed in conditions which leave a shortboard on the beach or schlogging. The LT or OD need a tighter leach, more draft, and draft further back. So there is no evidence that the Redback is more efficient. You said it's like a wavesail, but the LT and OD go better with other sail styles.

Fourthly, is the Redback actually worth about three times the Decathlon's standard price? To who?

Finally, WTF? All I've done is offer to spend some more of my own time and cash on kid's windsurfing, and you complain about the idea. Jeezers......

Gestalt said..

Chris 249 said..
Ok guys, what about we buy all the Decathlon 3.1 kids rigs for $99 (see the thread). If we get half a dozen of them at the Nats I'll donate trophies for a class. We've bought two of them for our grandkids.

ok, so you are a 10-12 yo kid. which rig do you choose. the sail that looks like it was designed during an episode of playschool and offers nothing in the way of performance or a sail that looks like the sail Jaeger uses and has performance.

As an exercise i asked my daughters which one they would prefer and they would like th pretty one with the butterflies thanks not the one that looks like a running shoe design! Make of that what you will.

Maybe they should bring out one with a USB port on the mast to charge an iphone, then maybe the kids would be interested, would bring a bit of modern tech to windsurfing.

lotofwind said..
Maybe they should bring out one with a USB port on the mast to charge an iphone, then maybe the kids would be interested, would bring a bit of modern tech to windsurfing.

USB! That's a bit 1990's, It's all wireless charging these days. It would modernize an LT though

Chris 249 said..

Gestalt said..
God you guys argue over the most inane stuff.

You're the one who has been criticising things the whole way through and rejecting just about everything anyone else says, such as Peter Owen Bab's input which seems to confirm my point that what you and your son like is not what everyone likes.

There's nothing "inane" about discussing the aerodynamics of longboard sails versus wave sails, nor is there anything "inane" about pointing out that one rig is about $800 cheaper than another, or pointing out that the fact that one kid wants to look like Stone does not mean that all kids, or most kids, do.

Ok. Yes what you said.

Zzz.
If we spent as much time as we do bitching amongst ourselves about trivial stuff as teaching someone to windsurf windsurfing would be better off.

All that matters is windsurfing is a cool sport even if the average participant is over 50 and Richie has got on the TDF podium!

The OP's question is facile. The LT has neither saved or ruined the sport. It appeals to those sailors who are interested in one design racing and or low wind cruising. I am not one of those sailors.

I purchased an original windsurfer in 1983. I learnt to sail on Lake Macquarie. I raced locally and in various state and national titles. I sailed a OD because that's what my mates sailed and there were limited alternatives at the time. However, once I began wave sailing in 1985, the OD felt pedestrian in comparison and I gradually gave it away. I continued to wave sail for the next 10 years before increasing family and work commitments got in the way.

I came back to the sport in 2010. I joined a couple of friends competing the the OD national titles on Nelson Bay (Chris 249 provided the board and rig) and caught the bug again. Initially, for a couple of years, I sailed and competed locally on a raceboard on Moreton Bay, but again quickly progressed to the thrills for short boards sailing on slalom / speed boards and GPS sailing. Seven years and 350 plus sailing sessions I'm still hooked.

If anything saved windsurfing, its GPS sailing. Going fast is not only challenging but also fun. Being team based, it also provides a conduit for friendship and competitive rivalry. That the LT, and for that matter foiling, have been able to build on the momentum that began with Hardie and Nebian's creation in 2009 is great.

windsufering said..
The Windsurfer is still the fastest growing sailing class in Australia !
Those that don't promote it in Yacht Clubs are doing their prospective yacht clubs a disservice !

Outstanding

www.seabreeze.com.au/Classifieds/Windsurfing-Boards/~4b3b6/Windsurfer-Lt.aspx?_page=3&search=iVVAl2umBXmHLC7VP1FIeA%3D%3D