Questions for those who can remember windsurfing kit from the last millennium
- Does the plastic wrapping on my 90's boards provide any rigidity/ flexural strength to the boards?
- And what will be the effect of its loss?

I have a Mistral Flow 286 and F2 Xantos 310. Both are plastic wrapped construction and as a consequence, very durable. By current standards, I am not sure they could be classed as 'fast' boards but I enjoy both boards immensely. ( In my hands, the Xantos seems to be capable of a mid-thirties peak, and the Flow, a high thirties peak speed)

Both boards are heavy - I seem to remember that the plastic wrap construction lost favour because of the weight penalty? After watching Decrepit sink into the sand up to his knees, rupture a couple of vertebral discs and give himself a hernia when he lifted one of my boards on the beach, I am considering whether putting the boards on a diet might be more successful than putting me on a diet.

The plastic on the Mistral Flow is starting to chip/peel away on the rails. I can see that the resin/fibreglass beneath is sound and obviously very smooth in its finish. I am wondering what will happen if I 'encourage' this delaminating and remove the plastic from the bottom of the board entirely. ( The top deck plastic half is in good condition and because of its protective properties I am loathed to remove it. )
Will there a significant weight loss? Will the board snap/ become a soggy banana and ride like wet spaghetti?
Will a layer of primer and paint be sufficient?
Or do I need to consider a layer of carbon to stiffen things up - potentially undoing any weight loss from shedding the plastic skin?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts/experience with this one

Cross section of the nose of the Xantos 310 when it had surgery to remove the pointy nose - the plastic layer is about 0.5mm thickness.