Whitsundays circa 1982

It kind of looks like Pittwater/Hawkesbury River entrance from the hills in the background. I don't think its in Queensland because of the wetsuits they were wearing.


Year, early 80s, 81.

How about a small hint Pierre???
Aus4 will know.

Lake Cootharaba

Magnetic Isl?

Glitch said...

OK I'll play Where's the Wally. I'll say Airlie Beach Qld, 1985.

Glitch wins, due to his Google skills or whatever
More than honorable mention to ka43 with 'Whitsundays'...

It had to be at least 1985, prob. early in the year, since the Windsurfer sail numbers were serial numbers. Couldn't be more than late 1985, since Mylars came in that year and none are found in the picture.

Anyways, in all this never found a mention of me old surfing mate

OMG, thats incredible!!!!!!!! I was there sailing yesterday arvo at dusk and it certainly doesnt look like that. The whole area seems to have shrunk enourmously, the only things you can recognise are Marquesas and Flight Deck in the back ground.
Awesome stuff mate!!!!

azymuth said...

Ok, I'll bite, who's your mate?

A known character, who's name I'd rather withhold. We used to sail Wanda and Botany Bay and Newport, and do the Friday arvo races long time ago. Great freestylist, good wave jumper.

Lost track of him. Knowing him, prob. went into hiding after some sheila misadventure...

Yes Narrabeen's changed since. It's probably windsurfing that brought about the changes.
By circa 1990, the area was all fenced up and shrunk, and no longer free.
Used to be an open area when me was young(er).

Bone43 said...

azymuth said...

Ok, I'll bite, who's your mate?

Does he still sail? If not does he want to sell his rig?
I gave/threw my old gear away. I didn't realise that they're as rare as hens teeth now

LOL he used only banged up boards you wouldn't touch.
(I PMed you re. the boards.)

Hot Sails Maui new for 2013 Summer sail being test rigged at the factory. The old triangle sails are still going

pierrec45 said...

ka43 said...

How about a small hint Pierre???

Zippo so far, but I realise it's a tough one.
Actually, if you guys had names too, just for the heck of it.

Apologies, I shoulda said I was gonna give clues. That's the price to pay for not calling me pierrec45

Here's clue #2 out of 3 - yes I know, it don't help much.

The yellow sail 351388 with the Coca-Cola red & white ribbon dates to the December 1984 World Championships in Perth WA. It is a mylar old style 3 leech batten One Design sail. These mylar sails came in around mid 1984. Previous to that they were all dacron. The old style sail (long boom, plug in mast & pull out centreboard) came to an end around mid 1985 when the new modern rig & board took over. All these new high aspect sails (full length head batten) had 3 digit numbers with a small prefix. The longer masts were attached to a track connection rather than a flimsy plug. The board came with a retractable centreboard plus a stiffer skeg (fin). Overall it made the One Design a better sailboard. Having the ability to adjust the rake of the centreboard plus the higher aspect sail on the shorter boom made racing in high winds much easier for us lightweights. With regard to the Airlie Beach reference I can confirm that OD National Championships were held there in Sept-Oct 1987. All or most of the competitors there would have used the latest boards & rigs. Perhaps there was a Queensland State event there earlier with the old rigs but it's not something I can remember or confirm.

pierrec45 said...

Whilst googling for an old windsurfing mate from the past, I found the following oldie on a site.

Guess the location and year. (I know only because the info in the caption.)

the red sail is mylar, the board is a cassette model

pierrec45 said...

Here's one last one that came out of the same search for me mate.

Narrabeen 1983. Wow, brings back souvenirs, before the fence and trees at this spot...

Hahaha, dozens and dozens of cars and if not mistaken I can see 3 of my old windsurfing mates' vans at the front of 'em all! JohnL with white Liteace right of ice cream van, big Don with baby blue Kombi and right of him is PeterL with yellow Hiace! Wow this does bring me back!

Hey Larko I was just there last weekend having a look for old times sake, last time I was there would have easily been 15+ years ago. It does look so small now and lots of new clusters of bush and fences and allocated car spaces + the shed has grown into a building! I had to find reference points on the beach eg. storm water pipe, to work out where i was. Most of the space east of the beach looks like it has been reclaimed by nature. Sand banks galore too, I suppose they haven't dredged for years. I still recall jumping the dredging pipe when it was there! And the walking track all the way to west of the lake! Fark how long has that been there?

Strange to go back there and not one windsurfer in sight.