There was time that equipment doesn't matter much
Heart does.
Looks like carbon wasn't invented yet but quad fins
Freestyle twin top board wasn't but front loop was
even harness was

nostalgia ...
I wonder who is the oldest windsurfer on our forum ? Or remember at least those times and been on the water then...
Could you share some memories or pictures ?
once on the web your picture never dies ....

Did you watch the video? In it Robby Naish was saying he got a new board every week and a new sail every month. In six months what you had was obsolete and you had to go and buy the new one which was heaps better. It was a fashion and gear focussed sport back then.

Contrast this to today where people are doing quite fine on boards and sails that are five years or older. My main boards are 2005 and 2006 models. I have no real need to update them. My main sails are 2009 models and again they serve me fine. They will probably serve me fine till they fall apart.

Aaaah the good old Windsurfer with the 15 kg wood boom and the sloppy old dacron sail! But geeeeeeeee I had fun learning!

I had the chance of living those early years, as a youngster who learned at the cottage.
The clip covers two very distinct eras.

There was little fashion and all fun up to a point, about 84 maybe. Other than a few experiments, the one-design was all you had. You either raced, freestyled, or just sailed around socially for fun. Mags didn't have board reviews. Most people taught girlfriends and friends. We had groups of 20 dudes calling each other to decide where the weekend would be spent.

That changed with the diaspora. By then the 1-design were replaced by Superlights and even Div IIs, racing and clubs were dying. Racing on Friday night died at B-Bay around that time. Some started showing up with the ever-renewed gear (there was no point before!).

Now is a different fun. Yes equipment is easier, but no sportier that's for sure. People do not teach others much any more (anyone disagree?). There is more equipment comparison on the beach than socialising, and actual sailing for some. Groups of windsurfing friends are now small, i.e. 5. These are the modern days.

Yes I sail real old 2007 freestyle equipment - I am reminded constantly by straight line sailors. Remind me to update my puny 2 board quiver before my moves start deteriorating... I still sail old 1-design gear harness-free under 15 knots - much much sportier than modern equipment.

Glad I lived both eras !

Did you spot and difference in technique ? or we do the same today?
they do planing gibe, easily, but position on the board is much more backwards
looks like their board is a bit slower too
anything else ?
I have one of those boards but doesn't work with modern rig very well.

djdojo said...

I raced against Bjorn at the height of his powers (although "against" is probably not how he remembers it) and I can assure you that his gear was well ahead of everyone else's. He had proto sails, the rest of the Pryde team had production. He had about ten super-light carbon race boards at each event while most others had 4 or 5 if they were lucky.

The top several guys would get better fins than the rest of us even from the same company. Bruce Wylie's Curtis and Maui Fin Co fins that he was kind enough to lend/sell me were way sweeter than what mere mortals could buy at any price.

The top guys will always access better gear no matter what the rules. That's partly through their hard work. I recall guys going through containers of one-designs looking for the ones that were a fraction lighter and with a more favourable rocker due to production inconsistencies.

A big part of why I now kite is the minimal equipment.

I'm sure it's true about the Bjorn guy, and then only once he had proven himself on top anyways. Otherwise quite false. I was at a modern-day top freestyle event 2 years ago, where a top PWA guy tried amateur gear. I can assure you he was way on top regardless. It's 99% skills it seems.

As to guys trying to take advantage of 1-designs: when boards were drawn at random (most Windsurfer Worlds in the 80s, and the recent Kona Worlds I believe), it was still the same mob winning, in pretty much the same order. Yes a ding here or a dip there can make a .1% diff for the top couple spots, and they're looking for it. For instance I remember guys changing the shape of the nose in early Windsurfer regattas. But it's largely skills for those who are good.

I know, because I was seldom first and it was always the same guys ahead regardless.

Here's one last anecdote: circa 80s Narrabeen, some (frustrated) guy telling the other that the reason he was faster was the gear. The other guy retorts: OK let's swap rigs and take a bet then. Frustrated dude packed up and left. I'm pretty sure the top guy was a big aussie name from before me, as he looked so good (Wylie, Wilmott? not sure). Hilarious though.

I sailed against Bjorn when he was the tiny little kid you can see halfway through the first vid. We were both using F2 gear and F2's manager had us training together before the '85 production worlds. Even then he had been anointed by Robby as his likely successor and he was doing really well on production gear. I think that's his dad in the clip - he was there keeping an eye on Bjorn and Britt. He was a cute lil' kid in those days!

I started in 1978 as a 15 year old. I'm now 48. I have lots of pics, but they are in mags and not scanned.

Was it better? It depends very much on the person. For me, yes. The sport was growing incredibly quickly and was very popular, giving it a huge buzz and lots of great events. We had around 400 sailors to some events, and we were getting used to riding TV helicopter downdrafts. Guys were winning cars, Euros had sponsored BMWs and Audis (which made for some very interesting driving which I only saw from the back seat) and the whole scene was pumping. The pace of development in many areas was huge, but the mainstay of the sport was older concepts that were suited to everyday sailing for non-experts.

The gear was crap in some ways, but actually better than modern gear in other ways. It out-performed modern gear in the light and fluky winds that most places get on most days, and it was versatile. When it moved away from that, the sport started to crash.

The sport was also much more diverse. At the top level, for instance, you had 330 litre Division 2 boards that were designed for flat water and light winds and were at one stage the "grand prix" board. At the other end you had converted surfboards. We had guys like Arnaud de Rosnay sailing across oceans sleeping on 13' boards, and events like surf slalom at the other end of the time scale. Most people sailed 22kg 12 footers but some sailed 6 footers.

And really, we didn't think the gear was crap, because everything is relative and it wasn't back then - it was hot then, just as when I was a kid we thought a Bombora Chopper (Windsurfer One Design with the back cut off and extra rocker) was the absolute duck's nutz.

Racing then and now...
Surprisingly even top camera isn't the lastest invention