Best and worst kit owned

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kelvin
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Post by kelvin »

heres a topic for debate ,with my ans-
worst board ever owned----bic vivace 270
worst sail --------------------sailworks bravo

best board ------------------- F2 xantos 295
best sail-----------------------Gastra Manic 5.3m
forget dreaming "its time to loop"
kel www.winsurfing.co.uk
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dro
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best and worst

Post by dro »

worst board ever owned the yellow one
worst sail the pink one that came with the yellow board

best board (this may come as a surprise) THE BIC TECHNO
(not much competition admitedly)

best sail the red and white one that came with the
Techno (Neil Pryde 5.7)

Hope this was not too technical but may be of use to the advanced /expert
members who are looking to improve their equipment

Huw
What do you mean not ENOUGH wind ?
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Viv Powell
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Post by Viv Powell »

:arrow: Worst board ever owned - tricky that one haven't had that many and all have been spot on at the time that I used them, but I guess the Hi-fly Bleriot cos it was soooo heeaavy.
:arrow: Worst sail ever owned - Arrows Newmove 5.5m (or Newwave, honestly couldn't read the name, cos of the joined up writing! :wink: )
:arrow: Worst sail ever tried out - Tushingham Mustang 5m ish - I know I'm a "girl" but I couldn't get used to the thing.

:arrow: Best board ever, owned or otherwise - Got to be my wonderful JP 103 Freestyle, goes like hot s#!t off a shiny shovel :D :D :D
:arrow: Best sail ever owned - tricky!! I always really liked my (sorry, our :wink:, actually no, Steve can have the Arrows and the Sailworks 7.6 and 9.0, which must make the rest mine :D ) Tush Hekler 6.5m, but it is too big to really be a favorite and I really enjoyed the Sailworks Revolution 5m in France this year.
:arrow: Best sail ever tried out - was well impressed with the Ezzy that I tried at Moon Beach last year 5.5m-ish I think.
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MartinF
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Post by MartinF »

Hmm this takes some thinking about.

Worst board - No challenge: Wayler (bought 1982, sold 1989). However, in it's time, it was considered to be one of the more user-friendly boards around. In comparison to modern boards - utterly appalling.

Worst sail: Wayler 5.9m pinhead. Complete with emblazoned slogan "Happiness is a hand-held sail" :-{L . fitted on a 460cm length of scaffold, and had a 2.7m long boom - only very loosely attached at either end. Closely followed by ART 7.4m Pro Race.

Best board: Probably Fanatic Gecko 278, very closely followed by Fanatic Goya Wave 86l.

Best sail: Naish 5.5m Nalu. I hated this sail for several months after I bought it, but it seems to have mellowed with age (like me :lol: ).
It's an ill wind that never blows at all.
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Ian Long
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Post by Ian Long »

Certainly a tough set of questions to answer, I'll cover the easiest first:

Worst sail - Gun Wave Slalom 5.2m - circa 93. Outright winner by a nautical mile. Strictly speaking I still own it, however it is out on long term loan and I hope never to lay eyes on it again. I still wake up at night feeling guilty that I have leant it to someone trying to learn our sport. Perhaps that is why we don't see them at aways days very often now? :oops:

Best sail - Much tougher, a three horse race between the first range of Ken Black / Tushingham designs. Neil Dennett persuaded me to delay my purchase of a Gaastra CSII by about a month and wait for the 5.8 SRi to come out, and it was well worth the wait (thanks Neil). An excellent sail that is sadly missed despite the heartache of trying to rig its #@$%# twin camber inducers. After that we have a Neil Pryde NR Wave 4.7m, a seriously strong and powerful sail that has brushed off numerous catapults and other heavy impacts. The 4.7 was always a pleasure to sail but alas was put out to stud two seasons ago, although we still take it "just in case" on long trips. The more "recent" entry is an Ezzy Transformer 5.3 which should have retired a long time ago but I love sailing it too much. I guess I will have to give this category to the 4.7 NR Wave, it is about four years older that the Ezzy so is doing well to give it a run for its money.

Worst Board - I don't think I have an entry that I would want to put in here. If forced, I would put the Bic Lambada, however that is hardly fair. It is a big beginner board that was purchased to introduce Neroli into the sport and it did that. Alas it didn't know how to go fast and didn't really need the footstraps as you needed far more skill than its target market possessed in order to sail it in the footstraps... How Bic thought they were going to introduce a class of one design racing with it I will never understand, particularly as the fin that came with it was appauling. Martin's and I think, Phil's, Bic Vivace 282s belong in here, but I didn't own them, so they will escape this time, but aren't forgiven.

Best Board - Now I am really stumped. My current favourite is the Mistral Joker, however I don't own one (yet), so that doesn't really count. For a long time it has been my Mistral Electron an 88lt slalom board purchased in 94. It was the "lightweight" CHS construction but now seems very heavy. I can't bring my self to sell this board because in the right conditions it is still excellent. When sailing across the wind, there is very little that beats bearing away and feeling the thrill from the rush of the acceleration as it steps up a gear :D :D. More recently I have had a lot of fun on a JP Wave 78, however its lack and my abundance of volume mean successful partnerships are rare. When it works its great but I probably need to find its bigger brother. Much that I like the Techno, it is purely functional for lightwind sailing and my Screamer2 although great was upstaged by the F2 Ride 277 and has never managed to squeeze out from the shadow of the Electron, so I think that settles it. Electron - I am delighted to see that 10 years on, you still regularly see them at the beach. There aren't many boards that can claim that.
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Brian D
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Post by Brian D »

You Started a good un hear Kevin
In the ?? or so years I have been sailing I have owned / borrowed / tried a pretty fair range of kit,
Most of it pretty good with just a few exceptions on the plus and minus side.
Best Board – Fanatic pure Gecko 1995 vintage. Never before or since have I stepped on a board and found it so instantly Sweet . And for years afterwards it kept on feeling just right to me. Gave good all round performance (for its day) and robust construction – always a plus with me.

Worst board – bit trickier this one. Two come to mind . One An old Chapter 295 custom – a cheap buy that in theory would help me master short boards, Seduced by the Custom Epithet and trendy graphics, I found out too late that in this case Custom Construction did not mean light construction – it turned out a real heavyweight log ,with the acceleration of a Fiat 500 and the manoeuvrability of a railway engine. Given enough sea room it could reach a respectable speed but you did need most of Portland Harbour to do so – never had the nerve or ability for that matter to take it out in the waves.

The other was the first board I ever owned, of French manufacture – a Recif Starsurf – a manufacturer and board never to be heard of since (I’m glad to say). Polypropylene - incredibly long, - incredibly heavy - square tail - rounded boat shaped hull - concave deck , plug in – fly out mast fixing. Pull out dagger board. Every bad attribute you can think of. In fact in the mid nineties Boards Mag did a quick review of all the boards they had tested up to that date and the verdict they gave on my dear old Recif Starboard was just seven words that probably summed up the board “ The Last of the really awful boards” Got to say in it’s defence I that once I got it rigged up and on the water, as a beginner I felt quite safe on it and it also turned pretty well.

Onto sails, and like the Gecko, One sail stands out for me, The North Katana 7.5 An early planing sail that was light and easy to use, straight away it felt right, always delivered the goods for me, never ripped in spite of being a lightweight construction and many many catapults – absolutely loved it. After lots of years of sterling service, feeling that it was nearing it sell by date, did a deal with pond notes and a Tushingham Raptor III , wished I hadn’t.

Sad to say worst sail is not a single entity but a brand – Gastraa – owned a couple, tried a few more even a experienced a weeks rental at Dahab. Never able to get on with them. If the Katana felt immediately sweet Then every Gastraa I have tried felt immediately weird and uncomfortable. Obviously it’s something to do with me cos lots of sailors love em and the world championship has been won using the brand. But as relationships go - for me and Gastraa it’s definitely loath at first sight

Cheers
Brian
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Graham_U
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Post by Graham_U »

Worst Board I've used was a HiFly 363, it was a bit like standing on a very long barrel.

Best board is more difficult, I hope its too be my new Bic Techno2 small, but as its still in the living room its yet to get near the water. The screamer 3 128 I used in Bitez has to be pretty close, although I've had more fun on my Techno1.

Best sale is my Tush Storm 6.5, it just seems right for me. Where as when I used a Disco 5.something on holiday it just seems really wrong.
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zero303

Post by zero303 »

Hey guys! First post so hi and woohoo!

Best board: Gecko 298 - made me feel like a great windsurfer, always in control and always seemed to have a sweet spot I could just get straight into. Otherwise Naish Titan 160 which I demoed today at Axbridge and am currently saving my student pennies to buy!

Worst board: Weird one this - my first dabble in short boards was a Xantos 310 - hated it, kept at it, still hated it and eventually sold it for the gecko. The reason it's weird is because I sailed one a few years later and found it to be incredible!

Best Sail: North Pyro - had a 5.5, 6.0 and a 6.5 - still have the 6.0 and 6.5 as my main sails. Close 2nd was my 4.75 naish nalu (also my first real sail).

Worst Sail: Up Duo slalom - gaaaaaaawhhh, words cannot describe what a hunk of crap that thing was. Heavy as an anvil and had two ultra stiff cams that required you to headbutt the sail to rotate them! Maybe I had a duff one :roll:
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MartinF
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Post by MartinF »

Ian Long wrote:Best sail - Much tougher, a three horse race between the first range of Ken Black / Tushingham designs. Neil Dennett persuaded me to delay my purchase of a Gaastra CSII by about a month and wait for the 5.8 SRi to come out, and it was well worth the wait (thanks Neil).
I had a Gaastra CSII 5.7m from about 1993-1996 - it was ok. I also had its successor - the Gaastra 2X 5.5m from 1996 to about 2001.

The CSII was a twin (removable) cam sail, so could be used for bump & jump & blasting, with the emphasis on the latter. The 2X had 2 fixed cams & was definitely a blasting sail but did little else of note.
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It's an ill wind that never blows at all.
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gerrys
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Best Stuff?

Post by gerrys »

Since we're all taking part, here's mine for what its worth.

Worst Board - That white thing we borrowed once for a holiday in France, but it did at least get us started. But in modern day boards the score 310, just couldn't get on with it.

Best Board, Fanatic Pheonix 320 - mainly because it got me out of a rut and using footstraps, harness correctly. (But I also found I was always planing when others weren't.... :D ) Presently its my BIC techno e medium short board and the Starboard Carve 145, they make a good combination.

Worst Sail, sorry it has to be the Tushingham Heckler, tried them at moon beach and didn't like them at all. My favourite has to be my sailworks 8.5 retro - it just does everyhting I ask of it.....Closely followed by our new Tushingham Thunderbird 6.5.

But seriously talking about sails and things - the mast and Boom can make a big difference in how the sail feels and responds, my Retro 8.5 uses a high carbon content 490 mast which makes up for some of the weight issues. The north small cross section booms have a really nice feel about them and aren't the heaviest.

:wink:
Al Donald
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Post by Al Donald »

At last my input to this thread:
Worst board owned - 1984 Sailboard Sport (purchased new with my student grant!). To be fair it seemed OK at the time, but had a very voluminous squared off tail, which meant it didn't like going around corners. Oh and it had a battenless 5.7m sail with a 2.5m long boom, not that the sail required that length of boom - that was for when you upgraded to the "full" 6.3m "regatta" sail with ... leech battens! Ah those were the days!

Best board - probably my F2 Axxis 267 (93 litres). It's narrow by current standards, but that means is very smooth through chop and also carves very well. It also has good speed and control, and only when things get super scary do you have to change to a wave board. My F2 Wave 255 (85l) works well, but then it's the only wave board I've tried.
Best sails: must say I really like my Arrows sails, probably because they give a similar feel to a cammed sail but without the hassle.
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Phil
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Post by Phil »

Better late than never

Worst board – without doubt BIB Vivaci 282
Worst sail – Airwave 7m race – 6 cams – rigging was better exercise that an hour in the gym! Zero to max power the spit second after the rig had been flipped.

Favourite board – easy – Mistral Flow 266 – very versatile and easy to use board. Now lives in Spain in semi-retirement – has a slight weight problem but recovers during (unfortunate) long rest periods
Favourite sail – Tushingham Slalom 6.6 – pink green and white – my first decent sail
pardon me i've got wind
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