Doug and everyone else,
Give it a try. The newer wide style boards dating back four or five
years are an eye opener. You won't get wet (as often), as 1 meter wide
boards are 1) very stable and 2) there is a lot of deck to land on. They
plane off incredibly easily, even (especially) for the +42 inch
waistband crowd (I treat my own gut as movable ballast). They can be
sailed sitting down (somewhere there is a photo of Brian "The Dog"
Cunningham sailing his Start sitting in a lawn chair) and some come with
a beer locker (well the Exocet Cruiser has a cubby big enough for one
can) They also sail fully planning at very high upwind (and Downwind)
angles and thanks to refined rocker lines, give up very little to
traditional narrow shapes on reaches. Modern windsurfing sails are
another wonder. Since we can't reef our sails, or change them without
coming in, borrowing some of the sail shaping hardware from real boats
added to intensive design work by our sailmakers has produced incredibly
well shaped, extremely stable rigs with working wind ranges twice what
they used to be. All in all this new user friendly stuff has
revolutionized Windsurfing, it's a blast, a welcome breath of fresh air
in a sport that was stagnating.
Ray


DSK wrote:

brian wrote:

What we need here is a challange.
I challange any wind powered craft to prevail over a Formula
Windsurfer and competant sailor in a series of four Regattas on a
regular/proper windward/leeward course. Wind min. of 10 knots.

The yacht and sailing clubs down in the Coconut Grove might go for
this.


There used to be an annual race that was a challenge among all
one-design classes, but it died out before windsurfers caught on. The
problem I see is that the hot windsurfers (at least the ones I'm
familiar with) aren't really one-design at all, they mix-n-match boards,
gear, sails in all kinds of variations. Obviously there should be a
completely open class which might include giant proas, hydrofoils, kite
boards, etc etc.

BTW if you want to place a limit on your challenge of winds 10 knots,
you might also be aware that other specialized craft have a right to
name their favorite conditions too. Try racing against a Thistle in
winds of less than 3 knots.




jeff feehan wrote:
depending on what boats they race there, you might need more than
10 kts - 12 would be safer.


What about a maximum?



the problem is to predict a date/time where the wind won't drop
below 10 (or 12) kts. around here (long island sound) that's pretty
hard - a good seabreeze day will almost always have lulls below
12 kts. when i sail formula against keelboats, i do fine until
i sail into a lull, and the i get left behind.


It's even more dramatic with a hydrofoiler. But you can see why some of
us are a bit amused by the way some windsurfers (obviously not *all*)
claim a blanket superiority. Must be an ego thing.

Personally, I haven't done any windsurfing for a few years, if the gear
has improved that much maybe I should give it another try.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King