I wasn't around for the 'good old days', they look good, that sort of one board & sail simplicity appeals to me, someone should bring the 'good old days' back.

can i spy an AMPRO mast on the roof rack sailquick? they where the beez kneez
i backed my car over mine

sausage said...

Sailquik,
What was the fuel economy of that old kingswood all geared up like?

Thanks for the photos of ye old days. Great set of pins too on 334546

Hi Sausage. I recon it was gallons per mile.
Not my car, I was behind the camera but I swear I was just as fit, young and good looking as those other dudes.
You like those pins? Try these. Same guys next girlfriend!

gee the sand dune in the background was alot smaller back then

pretty cool old school photos sailquick - do you have anymore of SP (or is that a totally stupid question...)?

Yeah Im amazed at the size of the dune too!

pretty cool freestyle moves on those old boards! did you actually plane on those old school boards?

I remember doing a road trip to adelaide with frank hammond from Horizon sails - he reckons back in the day he made tons of those triangular sails.

WOD said...

Great stuff.

Is that Phil Lynch on 327840?

Gene Laity. My current neighbor at SPt 20 years later!. I am certain he still has a OD tucked away somewhere in his shed.

Sail #3xxxxx = 1983, perhaps 1984.

That sort of freestyle is not beginner, esp. on the first pic, so it must have been a local comp of sorts? Don't recognise any of them's blokes (nor sheila).

To me, windsurfing is every bit as much fun now as back then, in fact a lot more. Small gear for stronger winds and freestyle, old ** gear for lower winds and freestyle and fun and teaching newbs.

But nowadays, many sailors around me (and in fora) are much, much less happy - forever bitching about conditions and not having the very latest gear as pushed down their throats by magazines. That's their collective problem. A few still enjoy conditions and gear at hand.

In those days everyone could learn easily, even though it was terrible gear to learn on. Most could do some tricks and hold those ugly boards in strong winds. Nobody hoped that changes in equipment would gybe in their place, since it was all the same. Nowadays, I find people rely on their latest purchase to do freestyle and gybe for them. It prevents them from trying and introspection - after all the magazines and web sites tell them it's gonna be easier to gybe. Right?

So that's the diff, and happiness and fun to be had is a matter of personal choices. It's gonna spring here soon. Many sailors will lay out yet their latest acquisitions on the beach for a month before even considering sailing. By then the spring winds will have abated, and then they'll bitch they're too good for the summer winds. Ironic, huh?

Woops, one more: one can very definitely plane on them's boards. Requires a lot of strength and specific skills, as I find there is much aft resistance even on a plane on those planks. Nowhere like shorter boards. Would you agree WOD?

As a dare, I was able to plane one for a local freestyle show last summer, sailing back to the sail - had never done that before. Everyone had a good laugh at this. Coming from a freeride small board, it took me 15 minutes just to get used to sailing one again...

pierrec45 said...

Anyways, Sailquick, where is this at, Gosford? And who are they, and what was the occasion? Just curious...

Snowy River mouth, Marlo, Victoria.

Gene Laity and his US girlfriend Tina. Just playing around during our annual Easter surfing and sailing trip to Cape Conron/ Marlo. Early 80's

"The good ol days", when boardies were shorts not these stupid half way down your calf "boardlongs" of modern times.

[br

Somebody please feed the dog !!

windjunky said...

sailquik said...

pierrec45 said...

Anyways, Sailquick, where is this at, Gosford? And who are they, and what was the occasion? Just curious...

Snowy River mouth, Marlo, Victoria.

Gene Laity and his US girlfriend Tina. Just playing around during our annual Easter surfing and sailing trip to Cape Conron/ Marlo. Early 80's

Was at Cape Conran only a few weeks ago, and just out from the snowy river mouth was a pod of humpback whales leaping out of the water... spectacular.

And yeah... the Sandy point dunes look seriously different in those pics. Friends of ours that live in Colorado now, visited us at Sandy over the break and commented that the dunes further down the inlet were looking incredibly "green" and well vegetated compared to only 2 or 3 years ago when they were last here.

Aloha...Tina here in Hawaii. I stumbled on to your blog and, much to my pleasant surprise, found old photos of Gene, me and others posted on this site. What great memories of my times in Victoria! I'm adding this old freestyle photo of me doing splits on the rail from back in the days. Tell Gene and his family g'day and here's wishing you and yours all the very best from Hawaii.

NotWal said...

Are those "leg warmers" Tina or shin protection?

I think I need some of those. My shins are always covered in bruises. I look like a hockey player who left her shin pads at home...

NotWal said...

Are those "leg warmers" Tina or shin protection?

They're shin protection...that was a Mistral one-design board with a sharp mitered edge on the side of the board...not exactly condusive to rail rides. Without shin protection, one wrong move and it wasn't pretty.

great pics

I still have fun on one board (evo 75) and four sails (4.2, 4.7, 5, 5.7) though
if that aint working I allways got a 9m kite and one board,
and allways got a few surfboards handy.

I started sailing with a Tencate Runner (eighties, back in the day) - what a total dog of a rig and board - weighed a ton - left it on the verge for collection