PRO WINDSURFER TRIES OLDSCHOOL EQUIPMENT FOR FIRST TIME | vlog²⁷₂₀₂₀
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- čas přidán 8. 07. 2024
- In this video I'm trying out some old school windsurfing gear and comparing it to the latest JP Slalom board. What an interesting experience to test the Mistral Energy from 1994 and the original Windsurfer. Obviously, the 2020 JP is a much, much faster board with more control, but I was surprised how well the boards from 1994 already worked. Enjoy!
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The old guys (95% of the windsurfers where I live) still love those old 90s boards for the exact reasons you described.
I still remember the day, back in the early 80s, when I was out on a friend's sailing dinghy thinking we were going really fast. Then this original windsurfer went smoking past us as if we were motionless. It had a big plume of water coming out of the dagger board opening. That was the instant that I knew that this was the sport for me.
Once you got going really fast the waterline moved behind the daggerboard well and the spray stopped. If the daggerboard (now looped with a strap over your elbow) touched the water though it would flail madly you could break your arm or lose teeth.
The great thing about say a mistral one design is even in 2kts it can be fun..
And in f9 on flattish water...
Obviously forward loops for the likes of Naish Nik Baker etc
I remember in the late 70s or early 80s I left my friends in a 420 dinghy in the dust with my original windsurfer. I mean a 420 is not a slow boat, but it was no competition.
@@morleyeldridge7403
"Once you got going really fast the waterline moved behind the daggerboard well and the spray stopped."
I guess I never went fast enough to stop the spray. Much respect to you.
"If the daggerboard (now looped with a strap over your elbow) touched the water though it would flail madly you could break your arm or lose teeth."
For sure. But a flailing daggerboard, was considered a right of passage back then. Luckily, by the time I got good enough to pull the daggerboard, we had progressed to 'high wind' versions which, being considerably smaller, were a lot less injury provoking.
Not long after, I relocated to to Washington state and took my first trip the the Columbia river gorge in 1986. That was an eye opener. I had my original windsurfer on top of the car complete with storm sail and high wind daggerboard. But never took it off. Clearly would not have worked.
As i started surfing in 1980 and still going this made me smile...the evoltions of the gear are sure a rising fun factor
When I started windsurfing back in 1984, my first board was similar, long and heavy with a daggerboard, tie on boom and a one piece epoxy mast - harness lines and harnesses were not even an option - it's a good thing I was only 14, so I had unlimited energy. Common tricks included head dips, rail rides and tandem riding with my buddy Mike...36 years later I am extremely grateful that gear has evolved even though I still love to ride the "crotch rocket" boards from the 90's!
I had one of the original windsurfers in Dublin. Not with your fancy clamp on boom but a teak boom that you twisted up for (no) tension. We learned out of a book as there were no instructors at the time. Take out the dagger board and sling it over your shoulder for planing on a reach and the water spewing through the hole into your face. If you did not lift out the dagger board at speed the board would lift up at all angles as you discovered. Loved the mistral too
i had the original Windsurfer with the teak boom as well
Same memories😂
The Teak boom was extremly heavy, it was horror !
Hey don't laugh, I still have a lot of this from 1978 (I was 17)! I still don't get on too well with a harness, although now I am old, I wish I did..
I think we tucked our bums in and arced our backs more on these old boards when on a reach, A little like a head-dip but not quite that far. Then the board would lift as you eased the weight out of your legs. It looked cool, with the sail and your body almost parallel to the sea and in "ground effect" with the water, it was, I feel, partially in flight ;). Great atmosphere too, we had an old cottage as a clubhouse and many cold nights with the fire stoked smell of wet wetsuits, toast and stories being told. Not too materialistic, much more simple.
Still surfing with my 30 year old F2's. So much fun with the Bullit, Sunset and Comet.
I currently sail on a f2 Sunset and I prefer it over any 2020 boards
You saw same effect in Nico‘s face coming back from his ride on the Energy.
Boards from end of eighties or nineties are still great fun to ride. Modern rigs work surprisingly well, you can ride bigger sails than you would have ever considered in the old days.
For me that correlates with my weight, I had 85 kg 30 years ago with max. sail size of 7 sqm, now I have 105 kg and ride up to 9.7 sqm on my old Mistral Explosion achieving top speeds of around 60 km/h at reasonable wind.
I really enjoy combination of modern rigs and older boards which is great fun and good control in overpowered conditions.
The Bullit was such an awesome board!
F2 sunset owner here too!
@@dirkmeyer3586 Ah, are you sure it's not just the earth turning much faster today, in the northern countries? In your younger years the air was heavier, because you were lighter. And more dense air is pushing harder. Even the water is different, it looks like windsurfers have far less resistance, maybe it is more slippery? I mean, you can't tell for sure.
Man, the memories! I learned to sail on a 2nd generation Windsurfer in 1984-ish and it came with a wonderful upgrade of a mast-step that plugged in (and still came out unexpectedly and hit you in the nuts) and a wobbly tie-on aluminum boom. There was a technique to tie on the boom where you lashed it alongside the mast and then pulled it down into its final position and the lashings would tighten up. I was so happy when I got my first clamp on boom in 1992 with my Bic Presto!
I had a boom you tied with a rope. All you need is, how to do that knot. Rope is pretty strong. Those clamps are nonsense, if you think about it.
Me, too!! 84 Olympic windsurfer brand.. you want to see a girl under 100lbs pull one of those & it toss you around that lake!! Whew!!
I remember the first time I tried. I had a two piece hired wetsuit with what amounted to a very loose v-neck... every time I feel in I got fresh change of water. Lasted about an hour and a half and had to stop cause my ankles were so cold they wouldn't bend properly 🙂 It was April in Scottish Loch mind, so water was snow melt run off 🙂 Same sort of kit you had, and sometimes the rig would pull right out of the deck because the UJ was not screwed or held in very effectively 🙂 OMG when I got my Bic Electric Rock, carbon mast and NP race sails, what a difference. Like night and day.
In the beginning we didn't have harnesses and nobody has been able to make a water start. Booms were breaking, mast foots didn't hold and so on. Good rememberings.
I am one of the old people who had a 2nd hand windsurfer original boards in late 70s here in South Australia.it was a barge . But then moved on to 3 different Bombora boards with Neal pride sails.I even have the same mistral energizer and a wild catz speed board which I am sure you never heard of but a lot of fun in the 1980s and 90s. Love your videos and keep up the good work
Man, even when a Baltic wind is freezing your nuts off, you still give everything to your videos. Excellent viewing. Thanks for posting
It was not that cold on this day. Maybe the the excitement kept me warm 😎
This makes me feel better about windsurfing back in the 80s. No wonder the sport died off in many places-- it was challenging! And we had a wooden (oak?) boom! Everything weighed a ton.
Now I really want to get back into it with all this modern (#expensive) gear!
Great video Nico. I sailed my F2 Sunset Race a few weeks ago for the first time in over 30 years. It was super fun and put a big smile on my face😁
bin bis vor ein paar monaten noch das mistral energy gefahren ein geiles brett ich habe es geliebt leider musste es jetzt repariert werden und ich bin auf ein moderneres umgestiegen
I am moving to windsurfing after 2 decades in aviation/parachuting commercially and in competition.
This video was excellent thank you.
I have purchased an old rig, and old French thing called an Alize... it is massive, heavy and looooong but it only cost $100 with two booms and two sails, fully functional.
As a sponsored athlete in canopy piloting, I would always suggest beginners and my students to purchase older gear and invest more time than money, ang learn he hard way... so that when one got on the modern equipment that is easier to use... it becomes the epiphany that we all need to succeed.
A bit like training to run, with a small parachute to hold you back... makes you run faster without it.
From the old gear, I will learn what it is that I really need.
I have an empty estuary in pristine nature, no other sails around... so thank you for the productions.
These will help me a lot.
Good work with your career.
Super Video! Super Unterhaltung! Danke, Euch beiden!
that Old Vintage gear is in such AMAZING Condition and the Wooden Mast Foot WOW!
You should see my 1986 alpha a230, I didn’t know the year when I drove 4 hours and paid 300$ for it, but was the nicest of the 4 windsurfers for sale in Saskatchewan. I thought it was late 90’s
Sixty-one and still surfing with my II Division Sailboard Race. And still amazing for younger people. It's a pleasure to go when wind is poor and you can surf. Only over 14 knots change with a modern board and rig.
Dope. My first board was a Windsurfer complete with a selection of baggy triangles and an aluminum mast. I got rolled in the shorebreak one day and the mast became windchimes! I'd go on overseas windsurf holidays, use the latest gear and it was so much easier. upgraded over the years, had a Bic Astro Rock, and I still sail on a Fantic Gecko. The sails today are just amazing - remember cams anyone? Years back I got hold of a scrap Whaler and myself + friend converted it into a tandem. Tandems are such a laugh to sail, try gybing and water starting! In light winds with all that sail up you tank past everyone
Keep this spirit alive, it will keep you young 😉
🙂 love the experience! I startet at the age of 13 in 1979 with a HighFly in Jugoslavia. Then got my original Windsurfer with exactly the same sail colors, I remember when I took out the dagger for my first time and I experienced in Corsica for the first time some sort of gliding. One thing, that I never got right was the wishbone, it wobbled all the time. The board is still in the garage, I have to try it out again as well. The mast foot is still taped so that it sticks better. Thanks for the inspiration!
.. and yes, I used to have a red asymetrical HT board, shaped for Hookipa. I don't remember the shapers name, but he was always out on the water WITHOUT a harness. He was my hero!
75 YO gorge/baja windsurfer.... my favorite ride in 5.0 + conditions is still an 8.6 85l 40+ YO glass Cascade.... heavy, fast, a chop killer... thanks for the memories!
Try racing in a 20 mile race, sailing that original Windsurfer board, 5 months pregnant, no harness, 20 knots. That was me.
Sounds tough!! Good job 💪
Sounds like a Golden Gate Crossing or an SF Classic. Been there!
💪💪💪💪💪🤙
And probabilistisch without à trapeze at that time...
Wow...that's what I learned on and I have to give you props! Wow! Cheers, John ;)
Ha ha ha, I can't believe I remember these old & good times. We surfed in the 70's in Ampuria Brava (near Figueres close to border of France) and where teaching windsurfing at a friends Windsurfing School. The boards where heavy & slippery. No trapeze but a lot of fun.
Before anyone else says something *about the boom* of the original windsurfer set up:
Thomas gave me the gear with that newer boom. I wasn't trying to cheat. Would've loved to try the original boom. Really funny how some people make weird assumptions. Also, I didn't even think about the fact that there were no harnesses back then.
To reach in higher wind you simply pull out the dagger board and carry it on your arm like a purse. Until it hits chop and knocks your teeth out.
@@hackdp I put it out and gave it to the closest guy on the beach 😄
Schade das Du den Holzbaum nicht gefahren hast, Holz Gabelbaum ist bei dem Wind nicht zu tun. Wie hab ich dass früher geschafft? 💪🏼😄
@@hackdp there speaks the voice of experience. Or it twists and twists and cuts the blood flow off to your arm!
@@Nico_GER7 i see the funtain of water out of the hole. That was the funniest moment
On the Windsurfer, in strong wind, we would take the daggerboard out at the top mark, and use our teeth to hold it while going downwind with both hands free to keep the sail. You can do a real powerjibe (and you'll get why is was named that way)!
This is maybe my favorite video so far. I just got into the sport last year and bought a Windsurfer LT (one of the new ones) so I really got a kick out of this. Keep up the good work!!!
That took me back, no batten sails that you had to stop sailing at force 4 because they were so unstable.
I had a Windsurfer with slot in mast foot that used to pop out while sailing and smack you between the legs, used a luggage strap to keep it in..so much fun...not.
This vid had me smiling soo much..good old days? Maybe, but modern kit is so much better.
Thanks Nico loved it.
100 % agreed
Also, no harness lines, lol
Well done for giving it a go. I first got on a Windsurfer back in 1980 and was instantly hooked. It was so hard, but I could see the potential! Yes, the original boom was two sections of laminated teak. You couldn't get a solid connection to the mast as it was just tied on with rope, so as well as the sail flapping, and the board rocking, the boom slops up and down - everything moved! Titling a long board away from a turn is called a flare gybe, and with practice can be quite quick. Without a harness, you just stand inside the boom and lean back! Ah, the old skills that have been forgotten! The 90s slalom boards may be trickier to get going, but are so smooth at speed. Thanks for making me smile at the memories.
Greetings from Maryland Nico...I really love watching your channel! I’m 52 and my hands are completely destroyed from windsurfing for 30 years! No wonder it took me so long to get good! That old gear is hard! Keep up the fun. Brian
One day in the 80s my father arrived at the house with the Windsurfer board made by Ten Cate in the Netherlands. I tried it but my little brother was the champ with it. After about 5 years we started calling it the submarine. There was a black plug in the back that had come off. And the foam inside sucked up the water. The Windsurfer was more under the water than on top of the water. I remember the first year we went on holidays the Windsurfer was inside of the travel trailer (Caravan). Afterward my dad put in on top of the car below a sailboat we also took with us on holidays. This was around 1975 probably even earlier.
This makes me feel so much better. I'm currently trying to learn on giant heavy canvas equipment from the 80s and it is a *struggle*!
Get rid of it and get some decent gear.... will greatly amplify your fun 🙂
I have only 15 years but I started windsurfing with an old board and I love that board.
That old gear was me. No body harness and a sail that weighted alot with heavy mast. I never really got the hang of it unfortunately. Good memories of when it all came together though.
Hi Nico! Great video. As someone who has been windsurfing for almost 40 years, it brought back great memories.
I’m really enjoying all your videos. Keep them coming.
Also, when using a windsurfing one design, a good trick to keep the mast base in is to add an old thick sock on it. Just in case you feel like going again, lol. Cheers
OK! This was the most fun video I've seen in a while. I just loved seeing you experience the gear that I learned (struggled) on. My brother and I have a shed full of old gear (including one of the original Windsurfers), we are chopping up the old boards to make foil boards now, lol. Anyway, that was so much fun, thanks!
I really enjoyed this test. You make those early windsurfers look like heroes!
This is such a fun video - Thank you Nico 😊👍
Fantastic experience and video! Congrats!! 👍
My original Windsurfer has the first wishbone version made with teck wood slides. Wonderful genuine windsurf !
One of my favorite CZcamsrs!!! 🤟
Thanks for the amazing content.
With those old boards with daggerboards, when you want to go off-wind in a blow you have to duck down grab the loop on the top of the daggerboard, without dropping the rig, and sling it across your shoulder - referred to as an "off-the-shoulder daggerboard". If you get it right you can generate a lovely jet of water from the slot over your head. If you get it wrong the daggerboard keeps hitting the water and repeatedly clouts you round the side of the head. EEEE ! we had it tough in those days!
It's also a good foot massage when you cover the "jet" with your foot...I also remember getting smoked by the daggerboard when leaning back too far after pulling it out and trying to carry it...lol!
@@funafter5081 Hi - here is a video of the Sailboard Open from 1983 at Hollowell SC, there is a short demo of the technique towards the end, czcams.com/video/5neDN5HsuLQ/video.html
Yes, that was so much fun and amazing when I got that right the first time! 😀
One cool move was also to stand on the opposite of the sail and lean back into it, that impressed the girls; I'm telling you! 😂
Omg you have been growing sooo much... i have been here from almost the start when the video's where a bit awkward😅 but sooo fun. You work so hard!!❤❤❤
And here I am still sailing around on the mistral escape that I won in a lottery that my dad signed me up for back in 1995 when I was just 2 years old and I use my dad's old sails from the late 80's. I would love to try or even own something more modern, but all in all it's still a blast :)
Great video!! Thnx both!
Hi Nico, thanks for that video, I enjoyed it! Honestly, having sailed multiple slalom boards in the 90ies and being able to compare modern ones, I feel they were more accessible back then... This most likely has something to with the much wider product range nowadays which puts less emphasis on slalom boards for the average recreative windsurfer. Back then, there was not that much choice so everyone who wanted to go fast simply used a slalom board. So that’s why a lot of people still treasure and sail these boards. A few weeks ago, I went out with my old Sputnik 270 and Thommen 260 on a modern 6.2 Slalom sail and had a blast...
Hey. Nice to see you enjoying old gear. That mistral board was great! We had the same fun 25 years ago as we have know. Windsurf always has been a great sport. Congrats for the channel!
I'm still proud owner of a Mistral Screamer... actually it's my only board. Four years ago I was on Lake Garda in Italy, and soon I had people gathering around my oldie, making jokes about it. I guess, they were quite surprised, when they realized, how fast this thing can be =:-) .
However, three years ago I was on Naxos (Greece) and had to rent my windsurf gear. I did expect to have an easy ride, but soon I found out, that it's not so simple jumping two decades of development. To my shame I have to confess, that I swallowed half of the Aegean sea that day.
The Screamer was a fun board👍
My father is still using his old Mistral screamer to this day and he taught me how to windsurf with it 🤙
What a fun experience! 😂 Who still has such old gear in the garage??
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Still sail my mistral energy with a NP V8 6.5 great fun🤙
I have a garage full of 90” boards.
This was super cool! Laughed out loud about the new 2021 sail,it was great!
I still sail my old GEM (Greene Maui Epoxy) 95l Nevin Sayer model board. It is a real gem, although super difficult to balance because it is so narrow.
I bought a starboard isonic first after started surfing again. But its the biggest piece of crap i ever surfed on.
Still have a Mistral Shift in the garage. On days of hack with a modern sail it’s fun
Come on man! The old school booms are what made it all a real challenge.
Would've loved to try that...
Yes Nico, great video as always, but I definitely don't remember having a carbon boom back then 😂
Back out there now with a wooden "wishbone" attached to the mast with a clove hitch, to allow the boom to move up and down too, and realise just how much you can get the balance point to move about. It was like fighting with a bag of cats 🤣
En fixing the boom to the mast with a rope. Never get it as tight as the modern booms. Spending a lot of time to fix it properly. And than you realized that you should put it a little bit higher or lower. And surfing the old gear al the time without harness.
I am sorry for that sacrilege... :-(
That was mine, 1984 original Windsurfer brand Olympic w/the Original red/white/blue symbol of Olympic on it. Sunset colors of yellow, orange, red & black. My Sunny girl & I wore all yellow & black gear down ti my waterproof Swatch watch in 1986. Cliff Wurst sold it to me & he was a professional surfer for Mistral. So, I paid for half of what his discounted price was. I hardly used my “small sail” except for my brothers to learn on. It was one of the original “trick boards” they had. I loved watching him & Dale turn it on it’s side & speed thru the lake!!
Amazing. I used to ride the original Windsurfer when I was 16 years old ( 59 now!) . Incredible to see the old fashion mast insert, the daggerboard. And as someone correctly pointed it out... you did not used the wooden boom. Excellent video !!
I still have parts of my teak mast base universal from 1982 from South Africa! Inow sail a starboard 2019 carve 144 and have bought a foil.
Yep, I remember the wooden beam. It bent like hell when there was a wind gust. Good memories.
Heck, that was my dang paddle when i didn’t feel like “jibbing” zigzagging back across lake. I’d either toss that big A sail out & lay in it for a tan & folks from ski club go.. uh huh.. you ready to come in or come back in a hr after you tan more?? Gotta love our water friends.. hard to miss that huge color block in the water!!
Brilliant, old gear is so cool, I had an F2 comet before I got my foiling gear.
For the Ten Cate, the original wishbone was also in wood. Started with this gear in 1979, 13 years old. And the fun was just as intense…but not the speed😂. And let’s not forget : without these boards, windsurfing wouldn’t exist today.
Great video, Nico. I learnt with a large Windsurfer in the 80's with a wooden dagger. Big issue! And then with a narrow Mistral Hookipa in the 90's, so good memories! 🤙🏻
BEfore we moved 3 years ago (no lake around here), I still rode boards and sails from the mid '90s... this brings back a lot of memories.
That's how I started with some old boards bought from France about 3 years ago and although on the first day I didn't stay on the board for more than 10 seconds a whole day I fell in love with this sport. I'm not at your level but I persevere and I follow you with great interest. I was a long-distance driver and time did not allow me to go out on the lake in my country. Now I work in Germany with a fixed schedule and Lake Konstace is 14 km from me.
awesome Nico, brought back some very good old memories from when I started windsurfing back in 1983... omg...
I learned it in the seventies on the Ten Cate surfboard with the wooden mast-board connection. Later a Mistral Competion and Kahiluha.
And you are Stephan v.d. Berg, using another name and not mentioning you can surf quite good?
Started back in the seventies. No battens, displacement Hull. Center of pressure really moved back if you luffed. Without loops your arms got a workout. Need to extend the boom and tighten that sail. It got fun when Fanatic came out with a full batten sail on a cat. Mistrial had similar. Had a narrow Westwind 90 that was hard to start for a 110 kg, but man it would fly in 35 kits and above.
Great video!
I remember sailing kit like that! No wonder many people who took lessons back in the 70’s and 80’s never went near the sport again!! 😂
I rember hanging my windsurfer behind my bicycle in the 70's. Bike for 17 kms. Windsurf for 6 hours and then bike home. I always slept very well.😂
Awesome video
Great video. Brings back memories. Thanks a bunch.
Thank you for the stroll down memory lane!
Your original windsurfer was one of the newer ones. My original windsurfer had a teak wishbone (boom) in addition to the teak mast step. The one you are trying has the metal wishbone. Soooo much lighter and easier to handle. The original dagger board had a strap across the top. We used to partially raise the daggerboard with our feet when sailing downwind.
Yes, yes, yes 😎
Great to see a Windsurfer Regatta (my first board-1979) sailed in the same conditions as modern kit - never had the capability to video in those days. I loved the board (at the time), but it was a pig when the wind picked up! I remember being ridiculed when I made a 'storm' daggerboard after reading "The Wind Is Free" (Ken Winner), but it made a difference in stronger winds. Then trying to make a harness...! Thanks for the video Nico - loved your presentation style. Hang loose, Tarmac
Man that was fun to watch. I love your enthusiasm! I learned windsurfing on a 1980? Ten Cate with wooden boom and aluminium mast, so heavy..I guess it doesn't matter what you use, as long you have fun.
Heehee, great video!!!!!
I'll confess that I haven't been out for a couple of years now, and have put on weight. But I'll be 68 tomorrow, and so I will take one of my several old boards with me next week when I visit my mum and sister. They live by the sea and there's a lake near by as well. So no matter what the wind is doing I should have a chance to go windsurfing!!!!!!
Mistral Competition TCS, 375cm, my oldest one, swapped for my original board.
Mistral Competition SST, 375cm, a bit lighter. (bought off Ebay for £35 + 300 miles driving)
Mistral Ventura, 330cm, fastest thing I've ever sailed. (bought from a local "recycling" shop for £35 including a boom)
Mistral Tarifa, 320cm, never sailed it yet, (£10 from council recycling)
Lody 280 hand made wave board. Long but kind of narrow and beautiful graphics. (10 from local council recycling)
My original Mistral Superlight 380cm 16kg 260l, which I don't own now. (see top line) Bigger but lighter than any others, ever! (I really need it now!)
Should I send you one?
Fabulous! My family went to the Gorge every summer of 1990-2000. We have lots of gear that age. Since then, I have some 2006-2018 gear as well. I tried a 1990 New Malibu against a Bic Techno 148. The Malibu cut through the chop well, but didn't really release. The Techno rode right over the top, and I did get overpowered when the wind came up, but never on the Malibu!
Great video, I had a good laugh....I still have my 80's F2 Comet and 5.6m F2 sail, and it's still a workout using it. I'm not the best 'surfer but it's always a great day on the water.
the speed of that footswitch at 7:38 is unreal!!! Amazing skills!
Nico is a pro... Daily business for him.
@@sharewavestv indeed, but impressive nonetheless! It is mad to see what level the pros are on !
Thibault Quelavoine 100 % agreed
The secret to learning on the original wind surfer was being fourteen. Worked for me.
Me too. I was 13. I still have the board, and the old teak booms
I've been windsurfing for a few decades and I learnt the basics on a Windsurf one design which I continue to use on light wind days. I also own some newer gear and it is fabulous fun in the sun. Thank you for sharing your experiences and knowledge Nico.
Cool vid, .........(*_*) Australia.
yes an other world it was huge and big fun in that era !
What a awesome video Nico!! 🔥
I had an old Mistral in the 80s. It was like riding a pier.
I used to own a Mistral Energy at the time and it was considered a fast, quite early planing board then. If you think that was narrow you should try what I replaced it with, a Mistral Electron. Even narrower, only 263cm long and about 85 litres. I still have it in pristine condition, so if you are ever in the UK you are welcome to a try.
I also own the electron(263, 88lt...super fun to use it with 6.0m2 sail!!
That name brings back memories!
Don't forget that switching from a modern board to an old one is just about as hard as taking someone from 1977 and switching them straight onto a new board. Someone in 1977 couldn't handle a modern board properly without adjusting their sailing style and learning new techniques, and in exactly the same way someone from today can't handle a 1977 board properly without practise. The stance, reactions, technique, point of concentration, board heel, rig heel and many other things are different, so you can't just assess the 1977 board without changing your style quite radically to get the best out of it. The other thing is that in other conditions, the old board performs much better than the new one. Try sailing on a lake in shifty 8 knots of wind; a well sailed 1977 board would be gliding nicely when the modern board is schlogging.
I've started windsurfing in 1980 on a board and sail like that, but is was new and fun.
I'm a sailor from the 90's. Always wanted a Mistral but too expensive. Settled for Tiga as our windsurfing shop sold them. I also used a custom board as my first "proper" board. It as 8"7"!
Always used Gaastra and Pryde.
Things have certainly changed. You can use much larger sails now than back in the day that always had you overpowered. Not now.
Great funny video.
really cool video because you can see what has changed over the years!!🤙😃
nice cut, nice images, entertaining to watch
What a throw-back. So great to see some vintage gear. Time to get back on the water for me! Just wish it wasn't so hard to find gear here in the States.
I have started Windsurfing in 1979 at the age of 13 in southern Germany. You have forgotten one thing in your retro test. The antique boom. Up to 1978, the booms were made of two pieces of wood, while I have started with a brandnew aluminium boom - blank, with no rubbergrip on it! The board was called Solarstar, was pure yellow, no fin(!) and with an integrated sword - just magic. The boom was fix with a rope and a knot, I think it was called stopperstek. For that your boom was absolutly loose at the mast. So the highth of the boom was quite changing possibly about 20cm. The controlfeeling, compared to nowadays, was absolutly indirect. This made the control of the sail and the board so much more difficult. Hang loose from Stuttgart and ride on.
Lässiger Dude der Thomas 🤙 Schönes Video
Danke schön!
It's fun to see, when I started the first boards were imported out of the USA and the boom was wood (teak I believe) The board were collered in white, yellow or orange. Ten Cate Netherlands started then to build them themselves and the quality was a thing, every board was different so you really had to select the right one.
Awesone video - keep it up. Started myself in 1981 on a HiFly444. Quite a development the sport took from back then to now. Still the physics haven't changed and hence apart from material changes there have been good board designs in the last 2 decades. Wide and hin became the latest trend but even there, some boundaries would make a board to unique and just useful for specialists. Personally I wouldn't like to ride boards wider than 80cm even in light wind conditions and with a rather large sail size. The market offers everything - your personal taste and preference decides. Gybing such old boards (also F2 Sunset/Mistral Screamer) are a heck of a training.
they actually made a competition for windsurfer class in Czech Republic this year and there was about 65 competitors
Just discovered this channel.
This is super nice !
🤙🏽
Nico! Brililiant video....the boom used to be from wood ..... I had to uphaul the sail with my brother.....but what fun we had!
Around 2002, still as a beginner (I never really progressed beyond this level!), I 'upgraded' to another secondhand, indestructible platform, the HiFly Maxx. Although the increased width made balancing easier, I found it much harder to get on plane, even with a 6.7 than my heavy, old longboard of unknown pedigree with a 5.5. Both were bought as 'ex-school' boards. The old board would get up and go, I could use the harness reasonably well and happily steer on-plane using heel/toe pressure only. It was heavy to put on the roof-rack, but it ripped and was loads of fun. I regretted changing to the lighter, more stable Maxx, right until I quit windsurfing due to a shoulder injury.
I learnt on an orange windsurfer with a teak boom in two parts that were tied together! Happy days 😂😂
Reminds me at the one I learn when I was a kiddo! so much effort with that sail.
Hi thanks for your videos 👌👍. I am now 76 years old. When I was about 25 I imported the first windsurfer (a ten Kainto the. U.K. with my friend (unfortunately can’t remember his name).
Pressed the go button by mistake‼️
The windsurfer was a Tenkate. I think.
Anyway as neither of us knew how to windsurf we launched the battleship in Dover harbour. It was an offshore wind and I remember it was dark by the time we got the thing back to land together with a police contingent wanting to know. What it was all about. I ditched the idea of windsurfing but my friend persevered and eventually started a school in Sandgate.
Great to see the old stuff again. Cheers
Head dip was the cool freestyle move😂😂
I used this video for my presentation in school last year thank you
Loving the new 2021 super unstable sail 🤣
He Nico, ich habe 1974 auf Norderney bei den Charchulla Twins meinen Sufschein gemacht (35 DM....), herrlich, dass du die alten Planken noch mal ausprobiert hast. Das waren noch Zeiten. Danke für das Video. Möchte mal wissen, was aus dem Kiten bis jetzt geworden wäre, wenn die auch so früh losgelegt hätten.
Try MORE OLD SCHOOL GEAR. LIKE the mistral superlight in windforce 4/5 beaufort... you will be surpriced. Also the orange mistral SLE ...
Maciek did it some days later: czcams.com/video/cIt43e3rhPs/video.html
@Nico Prien..... I think Maciek challenged you for an old school race 😁
I saw a list of the best boards ever with the Mistral Screamer at no.1 and the BIC techno at 2. I happen to have both boards and really like riding them. I put my money into the sails.