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The Best Singlehander I've sailed this year |
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Sam.Spoons
Really should get out more Joined: 07 Mar 12 Location: Manchester UK Online Status: Offline Posts: 3398 |
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Topic: The Best Singlehander I've sailed this year Posted: 02 Oct 21 at 12:09pm |
I'll say it for him, I reckon the E2 was the best long board ever, I loved mine. When I raced there were a couple of F2 380s around, very fast in the light with a bigger guy onboard but I believe they were a bit fragile. I went from Div 1 on a Superlight to RB with an F2 Lightning WCR before the E2, the F2 was an excellent board, not quite as fast as the Equpe but easier to sail to it's potential.
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Spice 346 "Flat Broke"
Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
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Oatsandbeans
Far too distracted from work Joined: 19 Sep 05 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 382 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 02 Oct 21 at 4:05pm |
So Sam you did the UKBSA div 1 circuit- I probably raced against you back in 1986-ish
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iGRF
Really should get out more Joined: 07 Mar 11 Location: Hythe Online Status: Offline Posts: 6496 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 02 Oct 21 at 8:48pm |
Probably, but I'd have never admitted it at the time, The Fanatic Cat was the better board, lot of our guys locally all former Mistral Sailors ride them to this very day .Until very recently I was still riding the PanAm which was a version of the Equipe 2 with that extra layer of bubbles in foam which made it faster, like it does in dinghys but nobody gets why. ;-)
But you had to know how to work the three stage rocker which the Cat Lacked, but the Cat was a better board for folk who were not absolutley top knotch or as 'kinetic' shall we say. It pointed a tad higher but wasn't so brilliant off wind. Fact was until the courses changed to straight up and down, no reaches, the PanAm could still hold its own against the later Starboard Phantoms that came to dominate the dying era of the long board race world. In the 'Day' there were only the two boards, the Cat and the Equipe, F2 were off the pace most of the time,their designer wasn't really that committed to the long board racing scene imv. |
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Oatsandbeans
Far too distracted from work Joined: 19 Sep 05 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 382 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 03 Oct 21 at 6:24am |
Yes that’s right about the cat, I had an ultracat and it was great in a bit of breeze -fast and easy to sail . I can’t even remember what happened to that one-
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CT249
Far too distracted from work Joined: 08 Jul 06 Online Status: Offline Posts: 399 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 03 Oct 21 at 10:07am |
I've still got an E2 in one shed, and Robby's own custom Pan Am Mk 1 prototype in the other shed. But like the IMCO, the slalom boards or the Lechner, none of them have come out since I got my Windsurfer LT.
Going from memory, the LT is like the famed Mistral Superlight "Mk 1" but with concaves and flatter rocker. The Mistral may be faster in light winds, but the bigger fin, concaves, flatter tail and thicker rails of the LT make it a ball of fun downwind in a breeze, and easier to sail at other times. Although I have been dead against major upgrades in other one design classes, I was always dead for this upgrade, and it's been great. The big points are compared to the old board it's simpler and easier to sail, lots more fun to sail most of the time and for most people, and still dead simple and tough. Sure, it's not super quick but it will still hit mid to high 20s (in knots) and it will do that while being incredibly simple and offering great sailing and also great tactical competition. One other point about the class is the level of competition. At the first (and, due to Covid, only worlds so far) I think we had 15 former Olympians, including the guy who was then ranked #1 in the current Olympic class - and he only won one of the three disciplines in which he competed. The board sails to close to the same yardstick as a Laser; not 100% competitive in light airs but in a breeze even quite good sailors like the current A Class Classic world champ, an Olympic medallist, cannot compete on corrected time.
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Oatsandbeans
Far too distracted from work Joined: 19 Sep 05 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 382 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 03 Oct 21 at 10:30am |
So the new windsurfer is like the superlight but with concaves- that sounds like the competition SST to me (!
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CT249
Far too distracted from work Joined: 08 Jul 06 Online Status: Offline Posts: 399 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 03 Oct 21 at 11:44am |
If we ignore the very significant differences in fin, outline, rail shape, rig, simplicity, etc. :-)
For example, I can't recall the SST or Superlight (1) sitting on the fin like the LT does, which isn't surprising when you look at the difference in size. It makes the LT a different sort of board reaching in a breeze. The other critical thing is that in the case of the LT, the class and its marketing are being handled by Starboard, Cobra, Mistral, Exocet, the class, Naish, I-99 (Cesare Cantagelli's brand in Italy) etc as a joint venture to regrow the sport. The deal behind it is pretty good; anyone who can get together the minimum order can buy a bunch of boards but no one can use their marketing clout or bucks to over-ride the class. It's genuinely being done to help the sport, and it's great to see both kids getting into it, and old guys rejuvenating their love for sailing.
Edited by CT249 - 03 Oct 21 at 11:47am |
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Oatsandbeans
Far too distracted from work Joined: 19 Sep 05 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 382 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 03 Oct 21 at 11:58am |
I have just checked out the website-it really is back to the future (around 1983 I would guess). It is tempting but the only problem is my body isn’t working like it did then😝
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skslr
Posting king Joined: 24 Jul 06 Location: Germany Online Status: Offline Posts: 138 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 04 Oct 21 at 9:09am |
I have absolute no idea of wind surfing, but compared to the windsurfing sails I have seen this season this sail looks remarkably similar to a dinghy sail. The sails of the Fusion dinghy even have the same colours!
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L123456
Really should get out more Joined: 30 Apr 12 Online Status: Offline Posts: 500 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 04 Oct 21 at 9:31am |
Does it still have a dagger board that you remove and hang off your arm downwind?
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