Old vs New

What you should consider when using old vs new gear

There is a lot of discussion on online forums about the virtues of new vs old windsurfing gear. This section is dedicated to highlighting the differences that you must consider when rigging and sailing using vintage gear.

History

Let us take a brief look at the history of windsurfing.

1970s - This decade marked the peak of windsurfing's popularity, with many individuals trying their hand at the sport. There were only a few brands available, and the predominant brand was the classic Windsurfer. Footstraps and harness lines were nonexistent. The boards were large, heavy, durable and typically fitted with a centreboard that you could insert or remove. It was during this time that windsurfing's popularity grew exponentially. Sails were simple triangular shapes made of Dacron and typically came in just a couple of sizes. Families could be seen around the globe on beaches and lakes, taking their first shaky steps toward becoming sailboarders.

1980s - This decade represented the most significant period of development for the sport. Numerous new brands emerged beyond Windsurfer. Custom shapers and coorporate brands developed boards in a wide variety of types and price ranges. We had: specialized short wave boards, slalom boards, asymetrical wave boards, longer funboards, race boards, DIV 2 displacement boards, and more. Sails also evolved, with fully battened sails becoming commonplace, shorter booms, improved rubber universal joints, rotating daggerboards, and fins. Sailing became more extreme, with wave jumping emerging as the 'poster child' aspect of the sport. New tricks were being developed, such as aerial loops, alongside a highly publicized Professional Windsurfing/Sailboarding tour. Boards began to transition towards higher performance, and the sailing techniques became more technical. By the end of the 1980s, the sport began to lose its popularity as the focus shifted from accessibility for all to a more high-performance orientation.

1990s - This decade saw a significant decline in windsurfing's popularity, with a strong emphasis on high-performance gear and extreme sailing; the sport increasingly distanced itself from being inclusive. Sails transitioned from the colored Dacron and Dacron/Mylar composites of the 70s and 80s to more advanced materials, often nearly transparent, utilizing Monofilm construction. A crucial advancement in sail design during this time was the introduction of a loose leech, which allowed wind to escape during gusts, thereby preventing overpowering. The latter part of the 1990s increasingly concentrated on wave sailing, shifting away from the provision of gear and the promotion of the sport as accessible to all.

2000s - The 2000s marked a period when windsurfing was nearly considered a defunct sport. With numerous coorporate brands ceasing board production and most custom shapers no longer producing sailboards and simply returning to surfboard building. The few remaining manufacturers focused on high-performance wave equipment, making it challenging for newcomers to find appropriate gear for learning. While learner boards existed, their availability was limited and their prices were high. In contrast, the 1980s saw every brand offering at least one, if not more, boards suitable for beginners.

During this time, boards became shorter and wider, with few featuring centerboards. The sails continued to develop in line with the trends of the 1990s, emphasizing stability in gusty conditions and lighter, more manageable masts and booms.

2015 - Present. The sport has evolved into a niche activity. Once bustling beaches worldwide are now home to only a few windsurfers, who gather in well-known locations such as Gerlton, Maui, Pozo, and The Gorge, alongside solitary sailors on various lakes and oceans. Compared to the boards of the 1980s, modern boards are significantly wider, and the rigs have diverged into two categories: 'micro' high-wind lightweight rigs for extreme wave enthusiasts and large sails for other conditions, featuring very loose leeches that allow wind to pass through. For instance, when I sail with my vintage 1980s equipment, it is common for new school sailors to rig a 6.5 or even 7.0 square meter sail, while I use a 5.0 square meter Neil Pryde RAF sail.

ANALYSIS: The sport has transformed, yet gear from all these eras remains available for purchase. A modern board suitable for learning, along with a rig, will cost approximately $4000 new or around $2000 second-hand (from around 2015) . It is important to note that finding modern learner-friendly boards in the second-hand market can be challenging, as they were not widely produced after the late 1990s.

Alternatively, consider using a time machine to travel back to the 1980s. You can acquire a complete old school board and rig at no cost. So, what is the drawback? Well, old school equipment tends to be larger (which means you will require a roof rack), heavier, and the boards are narrower. Some individuals claim that old school gear is too challenging to master. This is indeed the case if you are referring to old school wave boards (just as contemporary wave boards are not ideal for beginners), but when discussing longboards (such as the original Windsurfer or the Mistral Competition, etc.), these are the boards that people learned on during the peak of windsurfing, making the assertion that they are unsuitable incorrect. Regrettably, windsurfing has evolved into somewhat of a fashion sport, with a focus on high-performance equipment and the latest seasonal designs. This is not always the best choice for novices or even the average weekend sailor, who may typically sail on a lake in 5 knots of wind or in the ocean with a inconsistent offshore breeze (where having a centerboard is advantageous). Select what suits you best, and feel free to reach out to me at randaj38@mac.com for further discussion.

Harness lines

You might have noticed that modern sailors on modern gear have their harness lines very close together on the boom...maybe only 6 inches or less apart. But if you look back on how vintage gear sailors have their harness lines they are often up to 2 feet apart ! The reason for this is because on a vintage sail; as the wind picks up the Centre Of Effort moves backwards. As such the sailor also needs to move backwards to balance the change. Thus old school / classic sailboard sailors slide down the harness line toward the end of the boom as the wind picks up. In comparison - modern sails do not have a change in the Centre Of Effort so the sailor stays in one position - usually more forward and vertical than an old school windsurfer.

Also I just had to mention this observation. The 80's harness lines were a simple velcro arrangement with all the brands following the same basic principle of attaching your harness lines to the boom and allowing you to adjust and replace the rope length. My challenge to modern gear designers is how come so many new harness line systems require you to pull the end of your boom off to install them and once the harness rope wears or breaks you have to throw the system out ? This doesnt seem like 40 years of progress. Now I do understand there are adjustable and replaceable system available but the difference is that in the 80's ALL systems were like that. By example ... last week I set my entire Mistral Take-off rig up in about 2 minutes (yes even with the tie-on boom - which I hate) but it then took me 10 minutes to pull it apart and fight to get the modern harness lines off my other boom and then re-install them on my Take-Off boom. If I had some of the 80's velcro ones there would have been no dissassembly required and I could have had them on in about a minute.

Downhaul and Outhaul

Modern sails require A LOT of downhaul. In fact once you get the downhaul set correctly on a modern sail you hardly need any outhaul at all. In many cases you might only be stretching the sail with outhaul a couple of centimetres. Vintage sails on the other hand need both large amounts of downhaul AND outhaul. When rigging a vintage sail, alternate applying a bit of downhaul then a bit of outhaul. You might need to do this 3 times. Expect to have to stretch the sail up to 30 centimetes in the case of old soft sails with the outhaul.

WARNING when de-rigging a vintage sail (especially a dacron/mylar composite) release the downhaul and outhaul in increments. If you release either of these in one go the sail will distort and potentially tear the mylar away from the dacron. You had to be mindful of this even when these sails were new, but with 40 year old glue holding that mylar to the dacron and most sails already having some delamination you want to avoid doing anything that will stress them more than neccessary.

Mistral Mast Track Components

Mast Bases and UJ's

Back in the day, every sailboard brand had its own propietory form of mast base and even Universal Joint (UJ). (Lets be thankful that at least mast diameters were standardised). Be careful when purchasing vintage gear that these components are still in good shape (at least the part that goes into the board). Generally the UJ itself was the rubber hourglass 'Boge' style which is still readily available today and can be replaced. Note some sailboards like the Mistrals of the 80's had complex mast tracks on the board and moving carrier systems to connect the UJ to the board. If you own a board that has something like this you can still buy replacement parts from 3rd party sellers or find bits on ebay. Alternativelly a lot of folks just scrap these technical solutions and put in a brass plate that is fixed in position in the mast track (IE you cant adjust it while moving). For what it is worth, the adjustable systems are really good but you have to be prepared to handle possible failure because after all, they do contain plastic parts that are 40+ years old.....but given you are reading this and are interested in classic gear, that risk can apply to most parts of your gear. (Note in 3 years I have only had one failure and it didnt leave me stranded).

Final note on Universal joints....Almost any style of universal joint can be rebuilt. There are mechanical, rubber, and even rope UJ's. I remember the Bombora brand used rope UJ's that were fantastic because they were (A) Strong (B) you could see when they were wearing out.

1982 Mistral Take-Off with 2015 Neil Pryde Combat Wave

Mixing vintage and modern gear

One thing you will hear from a lot of sailboarders is that new sails are much better than vintage sails. I think it is worth discussing this further. The truth is that most modern sails dont work very well on vintage long boards because the COE of these sails is further forward and requires you to stand in a forward leaning upright stance. Vintage longboards have their footstraps much further back than modern boards so you need to be able to rake your sail back to even get into the footstraps. (IE you want a sail that has the COE further back)....you guessed it vintage sails (pre 1995).

Apart from changes in contruction materials; what are the practical difference between newer and vintage sails ?

1/ The COE stays static in new sails and moves back in vintage sails - this significantly impacts both your stance and how far back you can get on your board.

2/ New sails have a loose leech (back of the sail) which means they release the wind in heavy gusts thus giving you a wider wind range. You can take a modern 7sqm meter sail out in 20 knots which would be impossible with a similar vintage sail. Typically a vintage 5.5 or 5.0 would be the sail of choice.

3/ Vintage sails are more powerful, especially in light winds. They do not release any wind when they get hit with a gust. This is great when sailing in optimum conditions but can be a problem when sailing in overpowered conditions as the tight leech design can actually increase drag.

4/ Vintage sails made with dacron and even dacron/mylar composites are more tear resistant and are resistant to aging compared to todays monofilm sails. (Even though you hear about folks complaining that their dacron/mylar composite sails are delaminating, the fact that they still exist says something - you wont find any 40 year old monofilm sails because sunlight damages the material making it brittle, combined with the fact that the monofilm is easily damaged by fins and other sharp objects slicing through it)

5/ Weight is and interesting one, there is no doubt that those vintage sails can be heavy when they are wet, but at the same time an old dacron sail without and battens is pretty light when it is dry. Overall a modern dry monofilm sail is compareable to a vintage dacron/mylar sail when it is dry. But once the dacron gets wet it tends to absord the water compared to the monofilm which repells it.

Booms

There is no question, modern booms are superior to vintage booms. This is mainly due to the fact that modern booms clamp onto the mast without needing to be tied on (like the one in the picture). The old tie-on booms were difficult to get tight and were the cause of a broken mast more than once. 'nuff said !!!!

Note: Because todays sails have generally shorter booms it can be difficult to find a long boom (>250cm). I have one sail (1982 Mistral 5.7 that requires a 260cm boom). For this one sail I have an old tie-on boom that I use. For my other 30+ sails I have 2 modern booms that I use. Chinook Sport 130-190cm and Chinook Sport 180-240cm. Both are tough inexpensive booms that work on both SDM and RDM masts without need for a shim.

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