it seems that a lot of guys are running there back strap across the board because there arn't any wide strapps on the market, and at times you will find two back strapps are to wide and one isn't wide enough, after chatting to mr love i made him up a strapp 100mm wide, its only a proto and up to him to modify it, like cut it down or resand it, but there is enough strapp to work with
you will notice the difference in the standard gaastra strap

Good straps are pretty expensive... wide straps are near-impossible to find... maybe you would be interested in making a few for the rest of us...! I know that I'd be keen on them.

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mathew said...

... wide straps are near-impossible to find...

mathew i sent mr love some bits and pieces to show him how there done , his strap was a bit of an over kill on the layup and is very stiff and weighs 70grams the ones on my board are allso stiff but 40 grams
martin said he will have it on his board for speed week so you can check it out then

with the conventional gaastra straps my CA55 weighed 6.4kgs the board is now 6kgs, each gaastra strap holds about 60grams of water meaning the board would be on the water at around 6.8kgs

The wide back strap is nothing new, my old bic allegro speed board from the early 90's had a wide strap and i'm pretty sure neil pryde also made them at the same time.

The wide back strap is nothing new, my old bic allegro speed board from the early 90's had a wide strap and i'm pretty sure neil pryde also made them at the same time.

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jimbob SA said...

The wide back strap is nothing new, my old bic allegro speed board from the early 90's had a wide strap and i'm pretty sure neil pryde also made them at the same time.

thanks for the info jimbob im sure there would be guys out there wanting to get there hands on them , you know jimbob the reason for this post is "weight", the normal gaastra strap holds 50 grams of water so i would imagine a conventional wide strap would hold 100grams, the kevlar strap weighs 73grams all up and there is an over kill in the laminate, the strap could weigh 50grams

as you can see the CA is now sailing about 800 grams lighter wet

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jimbob SA said...

The wide back strap is nothing new, my old bic allegro speed board from the early 90's had a wide strap and i'm pretty sure neil pryde also made them at the same time.

Indeed - but who sells them nowadays?

I have seen some people use kitesurf-straps, which are wider than windsurf-straps -> to good effect. Again, they are expensive.

Being able to make lightweight strap to suit your foot size, is a good thing. The only problem with these straps is that they aren't easily adjustable...

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mathew said...

jimbob SA said...

The wide back strap is nothing new, my old bic allegro speed board from the early 90's had a wide strap and i'm pretty sure neil pryde also made them at the same time.

. The only problem with these straps is that they aren't easily adjustable...

thats true mathew you know the way i see it is where i sail you need boots till about october and after that you don't need them, so if you have the two possitions because your foot doesnt get any bigger or smaller not like your guts over winter

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keef said...
thats true mathew you know the way i see it is where i sail you need boots till about october and after that you don't need them, so if you have the two possitions because your foot doesnt get any bigger or smaller not like your guts over winter

I'm thinking more along the lines of:
- general freeride / slalom sailing, where you want to be out on the rail a bit further
- wave / freestyle where you need to be in-board a little further.

which depends on the conditions / location / wind / etc.

I think the "velcro strap through an eyelet" idea would be a relatively simple addition to your design -> you would only need a max of 1-inch of adjustment...

mathew it could be done but the way i see it the strap would have to be cut in 1/2 , these straps are around 35 to 40 brams and stiff and im happy with that like keep it simple