Hi all,

First post here. Like so many others I'm returning to the sport after a 15 year hiatus. I picked up a Mistral Competition a while back to play with and make sure I was serious... Well, very quickly it was clear that I'm back to stay!

I was exceedingly lucky to find a Mistral Equipe in excellent condition. (Yay!) I'm now turning my attention to sorting out a dedicated rig for it.

I'm aiming for the one board, one rig, all winds simplicity. The world of gear has expanded to the point that I can't really see what is best for me. I'm thinking that the standard Mistral IMCO 7.4 would suit me fine, however I don't see them for sale anywhere.

SO.... Does anyone care to update me on sails? Thoughts? Comments? Ideas?

I'm after something that can be tuned for a wide range of wind, something that will drive the Equipe upwind on the board, something quite durable and reliable - all of these are more important to me than having the ultimate in light wind performance.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers, Mikey

WELCOME BACK

there are NOT many longboard sails on the market
I wrote a piece on it from the North American perspective
joewindsurfer.blogspot.com/2014/03/longboard-sails_4.html

my most used longboard at this time is a Mistral Equipe I LCS-XR
my most used sail on it is a HotSailsMaui SpeedFreak 8.5
used to use a MauiSails TR-6 8.4 and tried a SailWorks Retro 8.0 until it cracked at the seams
the HSM SPF 8.5 does what you asked about
it is a very light sail and so can be EASILY uphauled
it is a soft sail in the sense that it can handle quite a large range of winds
have used it up to 20 knots many times

here is a small clip with the TR-6 8.4



seems I did not make any short clips using music with the HSP SPF
here's a longer one - unedited @ Cape Hatteras, North Carolina USA



ENJOY your TOW
we get out when even the kites do not

as you can see in the clips, I am NOT a little homeboy, but instead a BIG beluga weighing in at about 105 kilos/230 pounds
if you are lighter, you may want to stick to the 7.x range
for me 8.x is IDEAL !!
i would even go to 9.2 for myself if i found one at a reasonable price ...

You sound very similar to my expectation to the sport last year after my return after 14 years.

One board with one rig.... Yeah right :-)

I now have (almost) the full monty with three boards, and six sails all loaded into the trailer...

Mikey, harness the love of a great sport and don't limit yourself to only being able to capitalise on a narrow window of opportunity.

The Mistral comp board will widen that window but as I said, make the most of it.

Enjoy - but be warned, you will be addicted (again!)

in my case - did I say that was my only board ??
(however, that setup CAN cover quite a large range !!! )
nah !!
next is JP SLW92 with a MauiSails TR-4 10.0 - as in the profile foto

Thanks for the replies!

There are some good links there for me to follow up on Joe, cheers. Yes, I'm a bit lighter at 78kgs.

Haha yes, there is always that possibility Tony! However my lifestyle is a bit um... alternative, in such a way that excess stuff starts to get in the way very quickly. I won't be stepping outside the one sail one board regime without a good fight.

p.s. My Equipe is a '91. Clearly the same dimensions and shape as the IMCO One Design. Putting a tape over it I measure 3.72m long, 630 wide. Yet it has this decal alongside the mast track. Does anyone know what is going on here?

One sail solution for an equipe could be either Severne 8.5 raceboard or neil pryde rsx 8.5.

Edit I think 8.5 is conservative in size at 85kg I would peronally opt for a 9.5 as a one sail solution

Both those sails have a tight leech and a large range of tuning for different conditions. They are both used in Raceboard regattas commonly around the world

Cammd is on the money.

Where are you and what sort of sailing do you want to do? How much do you weigh, and how do you class yourself in terms of boardhandling? Can you whack the Equipe through a full planing gybe in 20 knots or do you just like to cruise? Either is good, but the answer may affect your sail choice.

i use a Severne RB 8.5 on an IMCO and reckon it is ideal for where i sail.

i also have the 9.5 (cammd's old one ) but reckon that is better suited to my bigger board.

that decal is weird, the later Equipes were 372cm/235litre then 375cm/258litre.

i have a 1995 US magazine that lists the Competition at 12'5"/27.5"/250L.

Thanks Cammd and Chris,

Good recommendations, funny how no amount of searching gave me my answer but now I google with those two sails in the search and see that they are well and truly accepted for my use. Awesome.

Chris, I'm in Pittwater north of Sydney. I've never been a fan of zipping back and forth in one little patch of water. heading for the horizon or out on a 20 mile round trip are more my style. I'd be keen for some triangle racing if there was anyone to race. I'm 6'1" 78kgs, I was a sponsored sailor back in the day so I guess I'm not too bad boardhandling wise.

I'm being a bit reluctant with 9.5's as it does just seem so big compared to anything from 15 years ago, I'm sure I'll get over that soon enough.

Best place to pick up one of these sails in Sydney?

You live in a great location to sail your equipe, NSW has probably the best fleet in the country I think there are weekly club races at numerous locations in Sydney plus a nsw series, the first event for the season I think is this weekend. Details for that will be in the NSW section of this forum.

The Nationals are at my home club in Brisbane again this year Nov 27-29, again there is a thread in the general section, plus we are full steam ahead for the Raceboard World Championship in Brisbane next November 2016. Great bunch of guys and girls around the country sailing raceboards and regattas are for me the highlights of my sailing year, I'm never going to win one but love being a part of them. I can't recommend enough considering doing some racing, always a great social occasion with like minded people and it just adds another dimension and sense of purpose to your sailing.

PS: we have a retro division at the Nationals for boards pre 1995.

Never say you won't win Cammd, anything is possible. I'm too getting back into windsurfing after a long absence and really want to race in the Retro class but are still chasing a good board. I have found here on Lake Maquarie that they really only cater for Formula racing so if and when I get a board we can race each other.

Does anyone have any experience with Barracouta Sails?
I've just had a short email exchange with Neil and always prefer to support local if possible.

How does a Barracouta compare to the equivalent size Severne Raceboard for instance?

I'd go for the 8.5 if you're not doing serious racing. This will give you the best range on this board as it is quite a narrow board.
I've sailed a One design imco with a rs:x 8.5 rig recently and I wasn't going much slower than the guys with their 9.5 and raceboards...

I've been using an 8.5 Ka Koncept on my Mistral OOD with great success. The Ka Race would be better if I was competing but the Koncept has been a nice match for when the winds a bit light. Used this sail at Lake George over the summer on a 110lt slalom board in 25-30kts so its quite stable in the higher wind speeds. You do see these sails come up in the buy/sell section at great prices

FJDoug is going very quickly and has more recent experience at the front of the NSW fleet, so his info is reliable. I'd tend to go 8.5 as well, certainly while you get back into the swing of things (which will surely happen). The last time I did the Raceboard nats was 2010 (yikes!) and the 8.5 seemed to be a pretty good all-round sail; I'm fairly sure the 9.5s were allowed then but only a couple of them were going faster. With the 9.5 you may run the risk of getting caught out too easily if the breeze picks up.

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Tinlyds said..
Never say you won't win Cammd, anything is possible. I'm too getting back into windsurfing after a long absence and really want to race in the Retro class but are still chasing a good board. I have found here on Lake Maquarie that they really only cater for Formula racing so if and when I get a board we can race each other.

Tinlyds said..
Never say you won't win Cammd, anything is possible. I'm too getting back into windsurfing after a long absence and really want to race in the Retro class but are still chasing a good board. I have found here on Lake Maquarie that they really only cater for Formula racing so if and when I get a board we can race each other.

Tinlyds, are you interested in an IMCO One Design? One of the blue ones (German built, said to be the best along with the pink ones) is available here in Canberra. It needs a new mast step trigger and perhaps a centreboard pivot, and new CB flaps would be a help. The board, centreboard, ageing mast base, mast, ageing boom and one or two 7.4 sails (from good to very good to crap condition) could also be available.

If you want the board you could borrow my other IMCO (one of the pink ones) which is sitting in Valentine until the blue one can be delivered. Funnily enough, my wife thinks that 8 bikes, 5 boats and about 12 windsurfers is enough......

Yes i could be interested, I'll do some research. By the way your new Equipe did you get it from Stockton in the last week? The reason being is I looked at one there and the guy sold it on me when he was supposed to give me his best price. It was really good but I didn't want all his old crap just the board.

Disregard my post about the Chris, i was confused, it was Saltyheaven I should be asking.

Thanks everybody, there is some really good advice among these replies. I'm feeling much more able to make a sensible decision.

Still hanging is if anyone has experience with Barracouta sails...?


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Tinlyds. Sounds like we are talking about the same board. Perhaps you are also the person that I sent a quick gumtree reply to regarding a lightning in the rack at Windsurfnsnow? If only we lived nearby we would be able to share until another comes available.

Haha yes you did send me the pic, but it's a 1986 model and won't be nearly fast enough compared to the boards of the early 90s unfortunately. You should sell the Equipe to me and make a profit

If you can't find an old raceboard get a new one. The Starboard Phantom is an awesome board and in my opinion well worth the dollars, I would wager if you worked out the time you get on the water vs the dollars it costs to purchase (dollars per hour) it would be one of the cheapest new boards on the market and they are truly a pleasure to sail. Best windsurfing purchase I ever made.

Yes I agree they're an awesome board Cammd, but the everyday sailor can't afford to keep up with the front runners. That's why retro racing is for me with a max 7.8 sail and just having some fun. I think I'll try and get a comp up and running on Lake Macquarie, I'm sure there is a plethora of old boards out there just eagerly awaiting the opportunity to perform again. I'm hoping to get to the Nationals but I have a long road ahead getting all the gear and remembering how to sail again.

Phantom or Retro? both are great!. Working full-time I have set days off. It's brilliant to know that I can sail rain, hail or shine on my day off. It's amazing how often you score wind when you think you won't. So much so that I often look forward to a light wind day because that offers another set of skills to practice. Hard to believe that you can look forward to a light wind day.

*actually you can't sail in hail.

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Tinlyds said..
Haha yes you did send me the pic, but it's a 1986 model and won't be nearly fast enough compared to the boards of the early 90s unfortunately. You should sell the Equipe to me and make a profit

There's a small chance I could be drawn into that as a discussion, not saying it would bear any fruit as I've been having an absolute blast on the board this weekend. Let me consider it for a bit.*


* It would depend on me finding a board that would keep me happy. It could maybe be an IMCO as I'm not intending to race much, if I could find a good division 2 board I would be very interested.

In the meantime, if you could be bothered driving down one day you're welcome to borrow the board for a run.

A guy has offered am Mistral One Design 2000 model for $800 in Sydney, white with the red stripe. Too late model for what I'm after, but looks like its in good nick.

Sent you a pm Steve.

Hi Salty,
I am sailing on a regular basis on a raceboard in Pittwater. From Sandy Point in SE and Taylors Point in NE.

There is a large crew racing Saturdays and Wednesday twilights out of Dobroyd Aquatic Club.

Arnie

Thanks Arnie! I'm car free so am restricted to what I can get to by water. We will meet up on Pittwater though, thanks for the PM.

Posting this lastly here just to round the thread up for any future readers.

I've sold the Equipe on to Steve (Tinlyds) so that it will be raced. I've picked up a 7.4 IMCO sail which I'm going to use with a Dobbleman DB2 Division 2 board that I've just picked up. I'll see how I go with the 7.4 and remain open to shifting to a larger sail at some stage in the future.

Circles and roundabouts that's for sure!

Schwarz we have some interesting sailing out from Taylor's Point to look forward to!