Hey guys.

So, I have this beautiful oldschool fully-battened HiFly sail that I really want to use for light wind longboard cruising. It takes a 490 mast, and I've been advised that my modern 490 (IMCS 29) is too stiff and may damage the sail. "Damage" could mean anything from stretching/bagging it out to actually exploding it.

It seems to rig up ok, I know there won't be a loose leech anyway, and as mentioned I only want to use it for light wind cruising. See the photo below; it needed a tad more downhaul than you see in the pic, after which it looked reasonable. The battens rotate ok and nothing bad happened.

Structurally, the sail is in really good condition, looks to have hardly been used. No corroded grommets, the seams look perfect, the fabric panels look almost like new.

I also have a really old WOD 1-piece mast, but it's only about 460cm and a modern extension won't fit inside it. Most WOD masts were about this length, and a 490 would be hard to find, from what I can gather.

I have other sails, it's just that I really want to use this one. Any advice or suggestions would be be welcomed. Cheers

I'd make an extension for the WODmast, of fixed length, using a section of old mast the same dia? Could work nicely

Ok. No expert in the older Hi fly sails.
From looking at pic it does appear to require abit more Downhaul & a bit more outhaul. Maybe buy a 2nd hand 250-300 mast extension to accommodate the slack suitable to your mast. Only a suggestion as not familiar with Hi fly sails, however did own a Hi Fly board back in the 80's.
Maybe tighten the battens further if possible?
There'll be something to generate a few bitsnbobs together to make up a decent sail for your board & yourself to skoot around on & surely to get you going for some fun. Good luck.

Tweaking the sail to the appropriate wind conditions. Sail looks great condition.

Old sails only had a little downhaul and a lot of outhaul.
Id go more outhaul.

See if it will take a 460 with a heap of extension.

Try a standard stiffness 460 with a TIP extension as well as a little base extension. Dont do it all with Base extension as it will push the stiffer part of the mast up too high in the sail.

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Wet Willy said.. >>> It takes a 490 mast, and I've been advised that my modern 490 (IMCS 29) is too stiff and may damage the sail. "Damage" could mean anything from stretching/bagging it out to actually exploding it.

Yes a modern mast will be a lot stiffer than the one that sail was made for. But neither was that sail made for heaps of downhaul. If you only use the same amount of downhaul tension that the sail was designed for you're not going to damage it. Outhaul may be a different matter, it's probably going to need a fair bit. I would set the sail up, so that the sail just touches the boom, when you put your weight on it, adjacent to the middle of the harness ropes. That's way more than your pic above, it looks like the sail will wrap around the boom once the wind is in it.
Can you borrow a modern mast and see how much tension is needed to rig the sail properly? Certainly don't overdo it, those old seams could give way.

Other wise, there's probably plenty of old extensions lying around somewhere. just a matter of finding them.

I actually use this diameter mast, and I use a modern chinook extension, with the top cap and the top part of the adjusting flange removed. This should slide up an old style mast OK.

What size is that sail? I had the same color way in a sail on my second board decades ago.

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Imax1 said..
Old sails only had a little downhaul and a lot of outhaul.
Id go more outhaul.

Agree, buy a Windsurfer LT mast.

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Paducah said..
What size is that sail? I had the same color way in a sail on my second board decades ago.

Mine was a 6.4 and I think I'm seeing the same on this pic when I enlarge it. I think 460 + 30cm extension is what was intended which is why it seems so wrong on a 490. I rigged mine on a glass 460 back in the day. Even the 5.9 had a long luff of 485 www.iwindsurf.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=108641

2" more downhaul, 1" more out.
Still tight leech. That's how it was designed.

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decrepit said..

Wet Willy said.. >>> It takes a 490 mast, and I've been advised that my modern 490 (IMCS 29) is too stiff and may damage the sail. "Damage" could mean anything from stretching/bagging it out to actually exploding it.

Yes a modern mast will be a lot stiffer than the one that sail was made for. But neither was that sail made for heaps of downhaul. If you only use the same amount of downhaul tension that the sail was designed for you're not going to damage it. Outhaul may be a different matter, it's probably going to need a fair bit. I would set the sail up, so that the sail just touches the boom, when you put your weight on it, adjacent to the middle of the harness ropes. That's way more than your pic above, it looks like the sail will wrap around the boom once the wind is in it.
Can you borrow a modern mast and see how much tension is needed to rig the sail properly? Certainly don't overdo it, those old seams could give way.

Other wise, there's probably plenty of old extensions lying around somewhere. just a matter of finding them.

I actually use this diameter mast, and I use a modern chinook extension, with the top cap and the top part of the adjusting flange removed. This should slide up an old style mast OK.

Brilliant! I'l try this.

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sailquik said..
Try a standard stiffness 460 with a TIP extension as well as a little base extension. Dont do it all with Base extension as it will push the stiffer part of the mast up too high in the sail.

I hadn't thought of that. I'm pretty sure I still have a tip extension, but it's stashed with my other gear in Singapore. Won't be able to get it for a while. Thanks!

So many good answers! I really appreciate it.

Final result: I'll get my tip extension, and modify a base extension, and try my old 1-piece 460. Sadly the tip extension is in Singapore so god knows when I'll be able to get it. But it will happen!

Cheers all! Happy New Year!

Are you a member of the windsurf club in Singapore?
But of mine just visited for 2 months and came back to Cal USA on Dec 12.

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LeeD said..
Are you a member of the windsurf club in Singapore?
But of mine just visited for 2 months and came back to Cal USA on Dec 12.

Yeah, I lived there for 15 years, learned to windsurf there. I just came back to Oz right at the beginning of the covid thing.

Cool.
Do you know Boon Lim?
5'6", 170 lbs., 2 daughters living now in Singapore.
Summer months, I sail with him 100 days a year for the past 6 years at Berkeley Ca.
He tried living near Tarifa last year, but it didn't work out.
He now lives in Santa Rosa, Ca.

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LeeD said..
Cool.
Do you know Boon Lim?
5'6", 170 lbs., 2 daughters living now in Singapore.
Summer months, I sail with him 100 days a year for the past 6 years at Berkeley Ca.
He tried living near Tarifa last year, but it didn't work out.
He now lives in Santa Rosa, Ca.

Hmmmm...nope, doesn't ring a bell. I might know his face.

Cool, big world.
He sent pics of him and club from around Thanksgiving.

Just buy an alloy tube for the tip extension. Sadly even old sails that seem to be unused can fail the first time you rig them, due to glue breakdown in the laminate.

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decrepit said..
>>> I use a modern chinook extension, with the top cap and the top part of the adjusting flange removed. This should slide up an old style mast OK.

So bought a new one of these today, it's changed a bit since I last bought one. it has a snappy snap on length adjustment. Trouble is, it's the mast over the sleeve that holds the locking pins in place. So I didn't do what I advised above. Instead of cutting the sleeve off, I just removed the whole thing and replaced with the old fashioned pin through the middle type, Fortunately the hole diam is the same and it was a simple swap over.

This means it's still usable on a sdm mast, just put the topcap and snappy adjuster back on.