Thinking about buying this longboard:

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/spo/4271342138.html

Haven't been on a board with a dagger since the mid 80s.

Looks like a carbon dagger and I seem to recall that the LCS construction was mistral's durable one?

It's a bit of a drive for me to just check out the board, so I'd be grateful for any input.

Can you use these boards with a weed fin?

I'd like to get the "railed over" driving upwind feeling I recall from sailing a windglider way back when... Would a weed fin give me this sensation?

Try this link
www.raceboard.org.uk/Raceboard_UK0003v01.htm
that board is the lighter version of the one design mistral , yes it will rail up wind as long as the centre board is fully down and mast track right forward.

Hi fibersnap,

I have one of these boards tucked away somewhere. They are a very friendly board, rail upwind in a very balanced way and are fast off the wind. The board looks to be in very good condition from the photos. The centreboard isn't carbon fibre (just black paint over glass) but works well with the board. I have used a weed fin in the board and it works just fine on all points of sailing. The only downside of this board is that the tail is quite narrow, so light wind racing performance is geared towards lightweights. Back in their day (late 80,s early 90's) they were the board to be on!

Have a close look at the gasket/slot flusher (the rubber tears off the plastic attachment) and the mast track pedal (the black pedal cracks at the pivot point). Parts are rare!

The price (converted to $AUS!) seems reasonable.

I hope this helps.

Board looks in excellent condition which is remarkable for a board this age. It is an Equipe and they only made those in the lighter LCS (Light Carbon System) material vs the other construction DCS (Durable Carbon System) they used at the time. The IMCOs were DCS, I think the shapes were identical (a longer winded version of bc's reply)
There should be more footstraps than shown in the photos as indicated by the white footstrap plugs. If you get it I would fit more and maybe all of the straps. I used to use them on my Equipe so you may choose to fit them. I used my Equipe a lot and did ot have trouble with it being fragile.
A great board and I would love to sail one again.
At 70 kg I guess I fit into lightweight class and as mentioned by Bushfire I found this board brilliant in light as well as strong winds.

Thank you - i'm still waiting to hear from the seller.

Best board I ever sailed. If you stuffed up at the start and were in the top 8 at the first mark, you would always be 1st at the bottom mark. And the centre board was carbon.

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AUS4 said..

Best board I ever sailed. If you stuffed up at the start and were in the top 8 at the first mark, you would always be 1st at the bottom mark. And the centre board was carbon.

I'd love to have a Mistral Equipe, they are such beautiful boards, so well made and such a wonderful design. Its truly a injustice to have it serving as a paddle board.

Will a weed fin work with it? What size would be appropriate for cruising - not really racing?

The problem at my spot is long thin strands of seagrass.

I may do some light paddling on it if it's glassy but will be ultra careful not to touch the rails - that would be a travesty :)

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fibersnap said..

Will a weed fin work with it? What size would be appropriate for cruising - not really racing?

The problem at my spot is long thin strands of seagrass.

I may do some light paddling on it if it's glassy but will be ultra careful not to touch the rails - that would be a travesty :)

38 fin. It has a Powerbox. Weed fins work well.

I have the One Design version, which I believe almost identical in shape but is more robust and something like 16kg, vs 14kg on the equipe.

It is a brilliant board, and I sail it in all wind and sea conditions with great pleasure.

I agree with the comments above regarding narrow tail and lightweight sailors. The flip side to that is that it hangs in very nicely in windy conditions.

It rails up beautifully. I use the approx 38cm mistral one design fin, and have never used it with a weed fin.

I have only used it once as a SUP. It tracks and glides nicely as a SUP, but is very hard to turn as a SUP. (Gybes beautifully when sailed though).

Make sure all the mast track, mast base and centreboard bits are there and functioning.

Clarence