Hi (GTA). I enjoyed your enthusiastic editing of the "old stuff" video. Compliments on how you are sailing. Once a good surfer, always a good surfer. Nice flat conditions. You have a nice Vintage collection. I don't see a Mistral Equipe in your list yet. :) I also have a nice collection, but with new sails. I completely agree that you have a lot more fun with good vintage gear than the nervous, stressful windsurfing with new gear, I also read that comment a lot in my videos. Hopefully we will meet again on the water. 🤙
Thanks, Ronald! In 2023 I've sailed a few days on a 2021 Tabou Manta with two Gaastra Vapors (2019 and 2021). To be honest: I found that kit easier to sail than the old stuff. Boards are still nervous when railed properly, but I like it that way. Overall, I found the new gear easier to sail at 70-85% than the old gear, it's as if the newer gear takes you to that level of performance automatically. New sails have better stability, combined with more torque down under, so it planes quicker and stays controllable for a bit longer. New boards are a lot wider and have all the volume below the feet (way back towards the tail), they plane quicker and are controllable on high speeds, they maintain speed a LOT better (through lulls) and keep you planing for longer in winds that aren't constant. When going above 85% (which is near 100% of my own abilities and sailing technique), the newer gear sails very loose with the wider boards hovering, dancing on the fin, searching like a nervous hunting dog :D but the amount of control the new sails have surprised me enormously. The old boards that I sail are a lot narrower, a lot more sensitive to stance and foot pressure, etc. It's more physical to sail (fast) and to keep planing in less ideal winds (gusts and lulls). And they don't plane that easily: they take their time to get onto plane, or require active pumping to speed the planing process. The old sails are less stable, when trimmed on overpower they flutter like hell on top, they require more refined tuning and different sorts of tuning too (where newer sails actually have only one correct tuning setup, always with a lot of loose leach). I sailed race boards when I was young, so I'm familiar with One Designs and Equipes :) I love them too and would like to add them to my quiver, but there's one reason (a very practical one) that keeps me from it, at the moment: I have a Debon trailer with an inside length of only 300 cm and the trailer is my windsurf kit storage too ... so I don't have the place to store nor transport an Equipe! :D I went to www.goodolboards.com to buy some new vintage Gaastra's and Geert from goodolboards specializes in restoring 80's/90's race boards. Check out his website or go by his workshop: it's awesome!
Really love the videos, so impressive to see what these older boards can do when they're in the right hands! How do you like / compare your Explosion and Energizer? I've got a Screamer 2 as my 'high-wind' board for the conditions here but was thinking about one of these to round out the quiver between that and the 90s raceboards, so looking in the Explosion 1 (130l), Explosion 2 (120l) and Energizer (110l) range for my weight and so do let me know which I should be keeping my eyes open for 🙂
The Electron was Mistral's "tough condition" slalom / bump & jump board. There were quite a lot of those boards around (F2 had them too, as did Fanatic, AHD, etc.) They were (and are) fun to sail in onshore "wave" conditions too, yes indeed! They jump very well, turn rather well, etc. The 63 km/h is the true speed, but that was on a moderate broad reach, totally flat water. As I noted in the video: I wasn't even trying. I'm confident you can go a lot faster than that. If I do, I'll put up a video :)
Hi Fons, interesting questions! I'm currently working myself in on my quiver (boards, sails and fins). There's quite a lot to figure out, a lot of boards and fins to test, etc. At the moment, the Edge feels faster since its shape is pure slalom (hi wind), the Electron sails with more comfort and is easier (not so demanding in terms of foot pressure, etc). On (moderate) chop, the Edge can be sailed a lot faster, flying over it, railing the board and fin ... the Electron sticks to the water a bit more. I've tried the Electron with a rounder profile fin (bump & jump) which loosened the board up a bit, bit the fin didn't cope with the pressure (railing) I usually put on it. I wouldn't have changed from the Edge to the Electron on the Zonnemaire spot, but I saw a crack in the Edge's nose, 20 cm in front of the mast rail, on the deck towards the rails. I could see carbon fiber so I didn't risk sailing it any longer. That's why I took the Electron (and later the Energizer, when the wind fell). Glad I did because it was fun too! But I'm sure I would have got the same speed with the Edge, or even faster. At this time, my PB's are 61 with my Explosion XR (130 liters) and a 7.8 Gaastra Total Flow F1, 60 with my Energizer CHS (110 liters) and a 7.0 Gaastra Total Flow F1, 64 with my Edge XR (90 liters) and a 5.4 Total Flow F1 and 63 with my Electron CHS (85 liters) and a 6.4 Course Slalom Pro. That's all very alike. That proves to me that I am the limiting factor ;) but I'm learning each day I sail & I commit to going faster! Stay tuned. ;)
Ah, yes, I forgot to zoom in on the fin question. I'm still making up my mind about the fins I currently have. I've got some 15 fins with powerbox, ranging from 45 down to 19 cm, all suitable for my vintage board range Explosion-Energizer-Edge-Electron. I've used all of them, except the smallest speed fins. They range from the early 2000's to the later 2010's, so my fin quiver spans almost two decades. They're almost all Sélect Hydrofoils. I didn't find them to be different from year to year: they're all very alike. They're high end slalom fins, so they require a decent amount of speed to get their profile to work. Once on the right speeds, they create a decent amount of pressure and lift. I didn't have any spin out, except when I went too slow (e.g. on heavy chop) and gave too much pressure. In terms of pure speed, I found my 35 and 33 and 31 and 29 all to be alike (each of them on the corresponding board). But: I've only recently restarted and have a LOT to figure out still. Some people advised me to go for recent carbon fins (Zulu, Zfins, etc) because they'll make my boards a lot faster (especially on chop): I will try them out but first I want to have a lot more sessions on the water with the kit I've already got now. So stay tuned :)
Hi (GTA). I enjoyed your enthusiastic editing of the "old stuff" video. Compliments on how you are sailing. Once a good surfer, always a good surfer. Nice flat conditions. You have a nice Vintage collection. I don't see a Mistral Equipe in your list yet. :) I also have a nice collection, but with new sails. I completely agree that you have a lot more fun with good vintage gear than the nervous, stressful windsurfing with new gear, I also read that comment a lot in my videos. Hopefully we will meet again on the water. 🤙
Thanks, Ronald! In 2023 I've sailed a few days on a 2021 Tabou Manta with two Gaastra Vapors (2019 and 2021). To be honest: I found that kit easier to sail than the old stuff. Boards are still nervous when railed properly, but I like it that way. Overall, I found the new gear easier to sail at 70-85% than the old gear, it's as if the newer gear takes you to that level of performance automatically. New sails have better stability, combined with more torque down under, so it planes quicker and stays controllable for a bit longer. New boards are a lot wider and have all the volume below the feet (way back towards the tail), they plane quicker and are controllable on high speeds, they maintain speed a LOT better (through lulls) and keep you planing for longer in winds that aren't constant. When going above 85% (which is near 100% of my own abilities and sailing technique), the newer gear sails very loose with the wider boards hovering, dancing on the fin, searching like a nervous hunting dog :D but the amount of control the new sails have surprised me enormously.
The old boards that I sail are a lot narrower, a lot more sensitive to stance and foot pressure, etc. It's more physical to sail (fast) and to keep planing in less ideal winds (gusts and lulls). And they don't plane that easily: they take their time to get onto plane, or require active pumping to speed the planing process. The old sails are less stable, when trimmed on overpower they flutter like hell on top, they require more refined tuning and different sorts of tuning too (where newer sails actually have only one correct tuning setup, always with a lot of loose leach).
I sailed race boards when I was young, so I'm familiar with One Designs and Equipes :) I love them too and would like to add them to my quiver, but there's one reason (a very practical one) that keeps me from it, at the moment: I have a Debon trailer with an inside length of only 300 cm and the trailer is my windsurf kit storage too ... so I don't have the place to store nor transport an Equipe! :D I went to www.goodolboards.com to buy some new vintage Gaastra's and Geert from goodolboards specializes in restoring 80's/90's race boards. Check out his website or go by his workshop: it's awesome!
Really love the videos, so impressive to see what these older boards can do when they're in the right hands! How do you like / compare your Explosion and Energizer? I've got a Screamer 2 as my 'high-wind' board for the conditions here but was thinking about one of these to round out the quiver between that and the 90s raceboards, so looking in the Explosion 1 (130l), Explosion 2 (120l) and Energizer (110l) range for my weight and so do let me know which I should be keeping my eyes open for 🙂
Hoe zet je uw snelheid op video met de insta x3?
I used to have a chs electron as a wave board! did you really hit 63km/h on it?
The Electron was Mistral's "tough condition" slalom / bump & jump board. There were quite a lot of those boards around (F2 had them too, as did Fanatic, AHD, etc.) They were (and are) fun to sail in onshore "wave" conditions too, yes indeed! They jump very well, turn rather well, etc.
The 63 km/h is the true speed, but that was on a moderate broad reach, totally flat water. As I noted in the video: I wasn't even trying. I'm confident you can go a lot faster than that. If I do, I'll put up a video :)
waar film je dit mee?
Camera is een Insta360 X3, gemonteerd op m'n helm.
So, which is the fastest board and how much does the fin influence your speed?
Hi Fons, interesting questions! I'm currently working myself in on my quiver (boards, sails and fins). There's quite a lot to figure out, a lot of boards and fins to test, etc. At the moment, the Edge feels faster since its shape is pure slalom (hi wind), the Electron sails with more comfort and is easier (not so demanding in terms of foot pressure, etc). On (moderate) chop, the Edge can be sailed a lot faster, flying over it, railing the board and fin ... the Electron sticks to the water a bit more. I've tried the Electron with a rounder profile fin (bump & jump) which loosened the board up a bit, bit the fin didn't cope with the pressure (railing) I usually put on it.
I wouldn't have changed from the Edge to the Electron on the Zonnemaire spot, but I saw a crack in the Edge's nose, 20 cm in front of the mast rail, on the deck towards the rails. I could see carbon fiber so I didn't risk sailing it any longer. That's why I took the Electron (and later the Energizer, when the wind fell). Glad I did because it was fun too! But I'm sure I would have got the same speed with the Edge, or even faster.
At this time, my PB's are 61 with my Explosion XR (130 liters) and a 7.8 Gaastra Total Flow F1, 60 with my Energizer CHS (110 liters) and a 7.0 Gaastra Total Flow F1, 64 with my Edge XR (90 liters) and a 5.4 Total Flow F1 and 63 with my Electron CHS (85 liters) and a 6.4 Course Slalom Pro. That's all very alike. That proves to me that I am the limiting factor ;) but I'm learning each day I sail & I commit to going faster! Stay tuned. ;)
Ah, yes, I forgot to zoom in on the fin question. I'm still making up my mind about the fins I currently have. I've got some 15 fins with powerbox, ranging from 45 down to 19 cm, all suitable for my vintage board range Explosion-Energizer-Edge-Electron. I've used all of them, except the smallest speed fins. They range from the early 2000's to the later 2010's, so my fin quiver spans almost two decades. They're almost all Sélect Hydrofoils. I didn't find them to be different from year to year: they're all very alike. They're high end slalom fins, so they require a decent amount of speed to get their profile to work. Once on the right speeds, they create a decent amount of pressure and lift. I didn't have any spin out, except when I went too slow (e.g. on heavy chop) and gave too much pressure. In terms of pure speed, I found my 35 and 33 and 31 and 29 all to be alike (each of them on the corresponding board).
But: I've only recently restarted and have a LOT to figure out still. Some people advised me to go for recent carbon fins (Zulu, Zfins, etc) because they'll make my boards a lot faster (especially on chop): I will try them out but first I want to have a lot more sessions on the water with the kit I've already got now. So stay tuned :)