bic techno around 3000
sean what class did your youth you train come from

interesting thanks

Chris 249 said...

Rough prices;
Kona - about $4000 complete

$4 Gs ??? Wow, expensive in Oz...

I would add to the list: used Windsurfers. The shape of old boards is basically the same, a brand new sail from Windgenuity is not that expensive ($500?). And there you go, sailing and about competitive for racing.

Of course, brand new is better and worth it if you can afford.

swoosh said...

Sean: aren't rs:x boards meant to be the same? how come the guys are buying different boards then? or are they that sensitive to rocker changes that boards from different manufacturing batches for example may perform noticeably different?

p.s. awesome posts in here, its great to have someone who is in touch with the racing scene posting his views.

They are ... but there are 'tolerances' when you build multiples of the same product. I think RSX has the strictest quality control I've seen on tolerances, but you can still get 1-2mm differences in rocker; hard to pick by the naked eye but can mean a few seconds around a race course if you know what you are doing.

In formula/slalom most brands strive for a margin of 6%. That could mean an 8kg board could be either 7.52kg or 8.48kg. If you got the heavy one and your rival got the light one, he could have a board nearly 1kg lighter than you! Things like that make much more difference in OD classes where everyone is on the same gear.

@pierrec45 - totally agree! Used windsurfers is where its at. There must be a tonne of old original windsurfers in people's garages, which is why the class is strong. Formula/RSX/Bic/Kona/Whatever is affordable when its purchased second hand, and the more people we get out on the water, the more second hand gear there will be floating around down the track ...

when sean talks about tolerances on board weights and rocker lines he forgot to mention booms,sails,ropes,fins,center boards,mast,gaskets.
At the end of the day it does not matter if your board is 500 grams lighter than the next guy if you stuff the start up, miss a lift,overlay the mark, wrong side of course port starboard etc etc etc etc

why is the laser class so large, i just checked the sail brisbane and sail melb web sites, sail sydney dont show entrants and and there are alot of entrants from the laser class.

Found this
The Soaring Cost of RSX Equipment
Guest Editorial: The Soaring Cost Of RS:X Sailing - Grant Beck Having been associated with Sail boarding at the Olympics since 1984 I have always been aware of the costs of purchasing the equipment and its subsequent resale value. In the last year I have become horrified at the cost of purchasing the RSX and its indiv...idual components. In 1984 although my memory is getting a little wobbly !!! I can still recall the complete Olympic board ( Wind Glider) costing about USD 800 . At this time an Olympic class 470 complete was around USD 4,000.00 or 5 times the price. The Wind Glider would last as a race board for a couple of years if looked after. The sail would need replacing at least twice during that year along with the boom. Restricted pumping was allowed like dinghy sailing so there was still plenty of opportunity tosavage the rig !!!! In 1988(Korea) the Lechner board was used was and it cost around USD 1,000 and a little more in 1992 in Barcelona. These boards were delicate and you could expect to be replacing one every year along with the foil, boom, mast and a couple of sails.. From 1996 (Savannah) 2000 (Sydney) to 2004 (Athens) the board in use was the Mistral IMCO and the price rose to USD 2,900 by 2004. An IMCO would give one years service before it was unfit for top level performance and during the season once pumping became unlimited the booms and sails would be replaced 2 to 3 a year and the centre board and fin once or twice. In 2005 the RSX became the selected Olympic board and was available in 2006 for USD 4,200. This was immediately over 50% more expensive than the IMCO it replaced . Now in 2009 the RSX is USD 7,800. This is more than 70% more expensive than it was when first introduced 3 or 4 years earlier. For this price you can buy half of an Olympic 470 which lasts years and has fantastic resale value. What's even more disturbing is that the RSX is certainly no longer lasting than any of the Olympic boards before it, in fact it probably has a shorter life than the IMCO. A typical Olympic RSX aspirant is now using this quantity of equipment in a normal year: 1 board 2 masts 2 dagger boards 2- fins 2 -3 booms 3 sails When you consider a board is USD 3,890.00 a mast is USD 700.00 a dagger board is USD 225 a fin is USD 235 a boom is USD 1100 and a sail is USD 1300 it's a real restriction on any one wishing to become a serious RSX sailor. When you consider that the just the complete RSX costs 20% more in New Zealand than a Laser or half the cost of a 470 you really have to question , how have we allowed this to happen. There is no question that at this price must be seriously restricting entry to the sport to a much greater degree than ever before. Now I know the local distributors in NZ are as concerned as I am over the price escalation, they are unbelievably supportive of the class and go out of their way to keep the costs to our sailors at a minimum . So the cost escalation lies somewhere else. Ideas? -- Grant Beck (an old and battered windsurfer)