Hi everyone,

I'm new to the sport and have just recently bought some gear.
Have an old Windrush Storm 8- 260cm in length, 60cm in width, unsure on how many litres?
Do you think this would be an alright board to learn on?

Only problem is that the mast foot doesn't attach into the mast set, anyone know a way around this?




Any help would be greatly appreciated

Cheers
Dono

Mast foot is relatively newer generation of gear compared to board mast track and is not compatible.

A windsurfing shop in Perth http://www.surfsailaustralia.com.au/listProduct/Windsurfing/Mast+Bases

has various mast bases but not sure if any of them would fit your board - best to ask them.

In relation to board; having started myself 18 months ago on an "old school board" like the one you have, and then got more serious and purchased newer gear, the answer I would give you would be -"it depends on if you are serious about learning and how much your time is worth?"

You could, and people have in the past, learned to sail on such equipment, but newer gear is so much more user friendly and easier to learn on. For example, the board I purchased soon after starting was 76cm wide, and let me tell you, I was instantly better as soon as I stood on that board than I was before; just more stable.

Windsurfing perth has a couple of JP Funsters for sale a 130 Litre, and 205 Lt. www.windsurfingperth.com.au/en/gear/used-gear/used-boards

That mast base would fit on them as well. Or you could keep your eye on secondhand market for something to come up.


So yeah, if you can afford to get yourself a floaty, wide board, I would highly recomend saving your time, effort, and money, rather than searching for parts for the old board. There are plenty of posts similar to yours regarding what type of gear to get to start on. Generally speaking you want something around 60 litres more than your body weight at least as a learner board. So if you are 90 Kg, then a 150lt board or more would be good. Learner boards also hold their value so you will be able to get a good return on it should you choose to sell it down the track.

If on the other hand you're not sure whether you want to take up windsurfing yet then spending $50-$100 on parts might be alright to start with.

I'm thinking that gregob is correct in that modern boards are much easier to learn on.
But if you had to you could retro fit that base. I think the mast track in the board is metal if so you could cut a piece out of the top big enough for a bigger plate to fit in then just screw into that.
Just had a closer look at photo and you maybe don't have to cut anything. Just remove mast track from board (screws at either end) looks like they have plastic plugs at the end, remove one of these and slide plate into track and reinstall. then you can simply screw base to that. You just need a slightly bigger treaded plate than the one on the base now.
Had a problem like this with the old F2 board I started on when getting back into this great sport.
Good luck and have fun.

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gregob said..
Mast foot is relatively newer generation of gear compared to board mast track and is not compatible.

A windsurfing shop in Perth http://www.surfsailaustralia.com.au/listProduct/Windsurfing/Mast+Bases

has various mast bases but not sure if any of them would fit your board - best to ask them.

In relation to board; having started myself 18 months ago on an "old school board" like the one you have, and then got more serious and purchased newer gear, the answer I would give you would be -"it depends on if you are serious about learning and how much your time is worth?"

You could, and people have in the past, learned to sail on such equipment, but newer gear is so much more user friendly and easier to learn on. For example, the board I purchased soon after starting was 76cm wide, and let me tell you, I was instantly better as soon as I stood on that board than I was before; just more stable.

Windsurfing perth has a couple of JP Funsters for sale a 130 Litre, and 205 Lt. www.windsurfingperth.com.au/en/gear/used-gear/used-boards

That mast base would fit on them as well. Or you could keep your eye on secondhand market for something to come up.


So yeah, if you can afford to get yourself a floaty, wide board, I would highly recomend saving your time, effort, and money, rather than searching for parts for the old board. There are plenty of posts similar to yours regarding what type of gear to get to start on. Generally speaking you want something around 60 litres more than your body weight at least as a learner board. So if you are 90 Kg, then a 150lt board or more would be good. Learner boards also hold their value so you will be able to get a good return on it should you choose to sell it down the track.

If on the other hand you're not sure whether you want to take up windsurfing yet then spending $50-$100 on parts might be alright to start with.

Great thanks for all the information mate.

Getting a wider board sounds like a good investment.
Cheers

Welcome to windsurfing Dono!The board isn't ideal for learning for a couple of reasons.... - A good leaner board should quite wide (75cm+) and be able to easily support you and your sail's weight in a reasonably stable manner, (if you like maths, take your body weight, add 50kg and then convert it to liters, i.e. I am 95kg, so I would need AT LEAST a 145L board to learn on)

- learner boards tend to have either a center board or a big (~40cm) single fin to allow you to stay upwind before you learn to plane

- You should be able to slowly walk around the front of the mast without sinking the nose of the boardAs for the mast base fitting into the mast track....the fitting you have isn't the original, see www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/General/What-happened-to-Windrush/You may be able to Macgyver it by putting a wider nut on the thread. It may be that you have to put the nut sideways into the track first before screwing the base into it.If you have the cash I would recommend going out and buying a newer board (JP Funster, Starboard RIO or Go, 150L+), you'll progress much faster and have a whole heap more fun. By the looks of things your rig will transfer across without too much hassle (in fact it will probably be easier).....

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tobyr said..
I'm thinking that gregob is correct in that modern boards are much easier to learn on.
But if you had to you could retro fit that base. I think the mast track in the board is metal if so you could cut a piece out of the top big enough for a bigger plate to fit in then just screw into that.
Just had a closer look at photo and you maybe don't have to cut anything. Just remove mast track from board (screws at either end) looks like they have plastic plugs at the end, remove one of these and slide plate into track and reinstall. then you can simply screw base to that. You just need a slightly bigger treaded plate than the one on the base now.
Had a problem like this with the old F2 board I started on when getting back into this great sport.
Good luck and have fun.

Thanks Tobyr will give that a try

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BFlood said..
Welcome to windsurfing Dono!The board isn't ideal for learning for a couple of reasons.... - A good leaner board should quite wide (75cm+) and be able to easily support you and your sail's weight in a reasonably stable manner, (if you like maths, take your body weight, add 50kg and then convert it to liters, i.e. I am 95kg, so I would need AT LEAST a 145L board to learn on)


Thanks for all the info mate. It sounds like it is going to be worth the investment for the bigger board. Will see what I can do to the old board for when I progress

I started learning with a Mistral Maui, which is a similar board, even if narrow was pretty stable if you dropped the centreboard down. You can insert an aluminium plate inside the rail, make a threaded hole in it that fits the mast base, that's what I did and it worked well. Otherwise probably a large washer would work as well. Good luck !

I learnt on this kit last year through youtube (plus some dinghy sailing experience):


Its doable but I am however, a stubborn 17 year old guy who lives right by the yacht club where my gear is so that definitely made things easier.
Once i got onto new gear it is so much easier even though the new gear was a narrow 80L slalom board and a bunch of cammed race sails.

A wide board will be much much easier to learn on (75cm+ wide) and 40-50L above your body weight.

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TheSailingMoose said..

..... I am however, a stubborn 17 year old guy who lives right by the yacht club where my gear is so that definitely made things easier.

OMG, An example of when being a stubborn teenager can be a good thing!

on my Mistral Equipe i decided to retro-fit the mast track to take modern base - like yours

it is NOT adjustable on the fly, but solid
basically a metal plate with hole large enough to pass the bolt
put popsicle sticks under nut to hold to plate , attach , slide past popsicle sticks , remove sticks and put it where u want it :)

there is a good crew of bunbury locals.
mostly sail out of ridley place at australind.
any windy ish day feel free to come down as all willing to help with
equipment and sailing tips/advice.

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ratz said..
there is a good crew of bunbury locals.
mostly sail out of ridley place at australind.
any windy ish day feel free to come down as all willing to help with
equipment and sailing tips/advice.

Thanks everyone for the responses have managed to cut a piece of stainless steel to the right size and tapped it so the mast foot fits, thanks for all the ideas.

That sounds great thanks ratz. Which wind direction is the best to sail in there? I'm hoping to make it out there tomorrow or thursday arvo.

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Dono said..

ratz said..
there is a good crew of bunbury locals.
mostly sail out of ridley place at australind.
any windy ish day feel free to come down as all willing to help with
equipment and sailing tips/advice.

Thanks everyone for the responses have managed to cut a piece of stainless steel to the right size and tapped it so the mast foot fits, thanks for all the ideas.

That sounds great thanks ratz. Which wind direction is the best to sail in there? I'm hoping to make it out there tomorrow or thursday arvo.

Anything but easterly dono
Im a local and teaching my son on a 70cm wide F2 Phoenix, a big yellow board. If you see us down there come over and you can have a go for comparison purposes

supposed to be s/sw on thursday so prob not too bad for a learner.
prob will be passing through so if you are there will stop for a chat.
only supposed to be 10/15 knots so a bit light on to get my fat carcase going
but spot on for a beginner.

Cheers for the help guys.
Managed to get out on the water for the first time today, hard work but lots of fun.
Cheers to the help from the guys down there today- especially john.