lotofwind said..
If it doesn't have a foil under it,,,,,, why bother as it will not be fast enough for the Olympics . They are trying to modernize the games to get more interest/viewers, so they wont be interested in the older, slow, yawn, done before style of poledancing, that no one ever watched, but the faster more modern style that people may find interesting to watch,,,,,, FOILS.

Ok explain to me why they stopped the cats foiling up wind

lotofwind said..

windsufering said..

Ok explain to me why they stopped the cats foiling up wind

because foils on cats is for pussy's??? Imax ??? lol

**** off idiot

The reason windsurfing is not popular in the olympics is because it's a minority sport . Pure and simple . If kiting on foils got a look in , it would be the same thing.
You just like to razz more than most . Ever cocidered a girlfriend? . Option two , I'm sure there are specific quality hand creams available .

This is the forum that keeps on giving
ps: what's with those new fan dangled MV sails ?
.......... I know , off to bed fat cat

lotofwind said..
Yes kiting would probably actually get some air time for the first one like pole pumpers had, then none after that. I agree, but I haven't said anything about kiting, different sport, been discussing with you guys about poleing?? and for some weird reason someone thinks it comparable to sailing cats??? The cat sailors would be outraged to the comparison lol. They are all really fit elite athletes

I suppose our sport and your opinion of one ( some have taste and others have opinions ) , require wind to be exciting. This can't be guaranteed at the Olympics . The show must go on . At least we can finish in low wind , you can not.
But you can sit on the beach rubbing the underside of your testicles watching us .
I really got to go to bed.

sailquik said..

sailquik said..
And another thing!
ENOUGH with this Ballsheete about 0-30 knots!!

windsufering said..you don't race in 30 knots

FFS! I just said that!!

But to be charitable, possibly you ment to say - 'The fleet does not race in 30Kts." Well, OF COURSE NOT! (Back of hand to forehead)

sailquik said.. I probably sail in 30 knots winds more than 99% of the windsurfers in Australia, and there is NO WAY, I would be hanging on to a Wally sail in a TRUE 30 knots! Get real!

windsufering said.. you don't sail a Wally and that's your choice.

FFS! What has that got to do with anything? Neither would any sane person in a TRUE 30 Knots! That was my point! (Roll eyes)

sailquik said.. Maybe, the big heavy guys can survive a very brief 30 knot bullet gust when the average wind strength is closer to 20 Knots, but that is a very different matter, and very misleading .

windsufering said..they do

Whoopeedoooo!

sailquik said.. If I was at any race board regatta where it was solidly over 25 knots, I would be sitting on the beach watching the macho masochism and carnage of those silly enough to try to race. (And this is exactly what I have done in the past at raceboard regattas many years ago).

windsufering said..that's nice to know , the Wally fleet is larger than the RB fleet too

And why is that 'nice to know' smartypants? is this a 'mine is bigger than yours' competition?
I dont sail raceboards anymore either. Did you get the bit where I said I am getting interested in sailing Wallys again?

Very 'welcoming and encouraging' statements from someone who is abviously a Wally Fanboy. Thanks for your interest.

.
But, again, I agree completely, that the WSOD rig is great in lighter winds,

Mate no one is saying 0 to 30 kts , find one post please !
i think you are spreading that bull ****
You threaten me by saying you thinking about buying a windsurfer Lt ! LOL I don't care what you do ,
l probably sail in 30 knots winds more than 99% of the windsurfers in Australia, yep your dick is bigger than mine !

Sailquik makes some great points. Going Olympic could be terrible for the LT and for windsurfing. It would cut off the LT's chance to grow the grass roots because the emphasis would be on full-time Olympians.

SQ is also right - no one can really sail an LT in 30 knots of true, steady wind. Most people exaggerate windspeed since not many people have a good objective measurement for it, like a yacht anerometer.

lotofwind said..
Yes kiting would probably actually get some air time for the first one like pole pumpers had, then none after that. I agree, but I haven't said anything about kiting, different sport, been discussing with you guys about poleing?? and for some weird reason someone thinks it comparable to sailing cats??? The cat sailors would be outraged to the comparison lol. They are all really fit elite athletes

Please grow up and stop being dishonest. The top cat sailors, while outstanding sailors, are certainly no more elite and no more fit than the windsurfers. And by the way quite a few of the top cat sailors, like America's Cup winner Tom Slingsby and the two current world A Class champions, Gashby and Landy, have spent years windsurfing. Carlos Espinola got an Olympic silver medal in windsurfers and an Olympic bronze medal in cats. Lachlan Gilbert, 2nd in the worlds in the Olympic Tornado cats, was a world class windsurfer. So basically, people who think windsurfing is comparable to sailing cats are dead right - it is. Maybe you should try learning things before showing how ignorant you are.

It sounds strange to have to say this to someone who claims to be an adult, but you're behaving like a four year old who is so desperate for attention they'll pick their noise just to make someone look at them. It's really quite sad.

Well, it all depends on your measurement, and to be honest I've given up really trusting windspeed measurements much. A true 30 knot wind is gusting about 42 knots, and measuring the true wind is very hard and causes lots of exaggeration. Once you correct for the fact that force increases by the square, the height of the Bureau measuring devices and gust strength it becomes apparent that a wind that the Bureau says is gusting to 30 may put only ONE EIGHTH as much power in a rig as a true 30 knot wind measured at rig height. Add your usual hype and the fact that most people have never used a wind speed meter and we see a huge amount of exaggeration going on - we can do an entire Sydney-Hobart without finding a sustained 30 knots, but to listen to some people they see it in Sydney every few sails!

In a real 30 knot wind it will be gusting to 40+, and I don't think any LT sailors will be doing anything that apart from perhaps trying to find the lulls so they can get the sail up and get closer to home. If it's gusting 30, a few people (Stu G, Dennis, etc) could survive and have fun. If it drops to 28 knot gusts (where the wind force is half of a true 30 knotter gusting to 43) then it's a ball of fun for 5-10% of the fleet, a very challenging race for maybe 25% of sailors, and a blowout for the rest. After all, many sailing classes up to 30ft Etchells have a policy where racing is canned in a 22-25 knot wind, and a 30 knotter has about half as much force again as a 24 knot breeze.

That doesn't meant that I think the 5.7 is a bad sail in really big winds - in fact I quite like it because it's so light and because you can ease the boom angle out and sail with the front of the sail luffing. Because it doesn't have full battens you can sail it with only the back end driving and the rest backwinding, as in a Laser or something in similar winds. And because we only have one sail, we won't have been caught out with a 7, 9.5 or 11.5m sail. It's very personal but I reckon a Wally can handle more wind than a Raceboard with a 7.5. for example.

Surfboard wax

It's a perfectly fair question. In a breeze the board is railing and your feet are on the rail; that is, the side of the board. That puts you above most of the chop. The front foot goes along the rail, toes forward, with your back foot touching your heel when you're in the groove in moderate winds. The toes of your front feet give you fore-and-aft balance.

That feeling of driving a Raceboard along in the groove, locked into the straps and with a cambered sail locked in, is fantastic. The feeling of a Windsurfer is also fantastic, but it's more of a delicate art of balance with the feet, coupled with a sail that gives you a lot of feel and sometimes needs a fair bit of wrestling. It's very rare to get wiped off the rail and making sure it doesn't happen is part of the challenge.

Some sailors do wax up the rails, reef booties help.

Hey guys,
as the creator of this post I'd just like to add to the conversation.

As a super heavyweight at around 110kg, I still have fun on the Windsurfer LT.

I've raced all season against some very talented sailors and the majority much lighter than I, and generally I'm at the back of the pack for several reasons. It's no secret weight is a factor on any board and the LT is no magic bullet. however, I still enjoy it. Why? You ask?

It is because I know regardless of the conditions, I now I can go out and have a go with the one board and the one rig that is simple to rig quickly. I roll my sail round the mast like we all did in the good old days, it saves me a few minutes and that is good for me. No hassles feeding the mast through cams the right way tensioning then detensioning outhaul etc to clip in the cams etc.

I don't have to bring 3 sails (just in case the wind drops or picks up) just play with downhaul anouthaul. Don't need a winch on the downhaul to set the sail, you can tension the downhaul with two fingers and one hand tied behind your back.

Sometimes simplicity is what we want and the LT has that in spades.

Sometimes you just want to hang out with a few mates and have a sail and a beer afterwards. There are always plenty of windsurfer sailors ready to race and have a little fun.

Sometimes I'm happy just to cruise around and do a little exploring and checking out a bay I haven't sailed to before, you don't do that on slalom.

sometimes I like to goof around and practice my freestyle when the wind isn't strong enough for an adrenaline rush, the LT gives me that opportunity.

Sometimes I try to encourage a friend to try windsurfing, I can do that with an LT.

I MAY HAVE SAID THE BOARD IS OK IN 0-30knots early in the piece and it is not a huge exaggeration. I have a pretty good idea of wind strength and to be honest, as I get older, I rarely get out in the big winds like I used to.

back in the day, tried sailing an original windsurfr in 30+++ knots regularly with a storm sail and storm (or no Centreboard) because that was all we had, and we managed to have a ball!

at 110kg, I prefer 15-20 knots but am happy to race in 10 knots and have entered a marathon in less than 2-5 knots ( it later dropped to 0-2 knots and I caught a ride back in rescue IRB CAUSE IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN HOURS TO GET BACK.

IVE BEEN CAUGHT in 25-40 knots and yee haaaard loudly as I enjoyed the acceleration and thrill of speed till I fell off a few times. With no foot straps, and the sail set a little loose for lighter winds, I was not prepared for this southerly buster. The Windsurfer in these conditions is harder to ride than say a slalom board where you can lock in and hang on. It is a dance of balance, foot strpeering and rig wrestling in these conditions which is both fun and challenging!

As commented previously by Chris, only a small percentage can handle that stuff and sadly, as I get older, my fitness hampers me, I didn't want to give up but was hassled by the rescue boat who was also rescuing raceboarders and other Wally sailors. A few very good sailors including some on old one designs sailed home triumphantly and conquered these winds after the race was cancelled due to general carnage.

WE HAVE HAD A GREAT SUMMER OF WINDSURFING and so please to see so many women and kids getting into the sport and seeing so many who have bought the LT and are simply stoked at the new found freedom and ease of sailing afforded by the Windsurfer. It is not an arms race, it will never be the best at every or maybe any discipline but for me, it is the best allround versatile best value and is fun to ride.

Ahhhh windsurfing is fun. Sail whatever u like, own as many boards and rigs as you like. I still have numerous boards but somehow, at the moment, I'm content to take my Wally LT, GO RACING with a few friends (107 at the recent Nationals) and enjoy the sun, saltwater and simplicity of windsurfing old school.

the choice is personal. Don't attack people's choice, just be happy with whatever you choose to do.

Cheers, Al
PS
not a Windsurfer fan boy
i own two mistrals, an F2, a starboard and two windsurfers at the moment ( an LT and an Original - haven't owned or raced a one design for 30 years till I got the LT).
i am a fan of the Windsurfer LT though, FROM the brand that started it all and has given me many fond memories since 1979. WINDSURFER! The real Windsurfer for REAL Windsurfers!

cammd said..
FFS the discussion is around sailing the LT in heavy winds, the thread is meant to be a review of the LT, asking how you stay stuck to the board in chop is a reasonable question.

i guess you didn't comprehend the answer.

I'm not as good as Chris, that man wouldn't know how to fall off, he must have gecko feet, so yes I have had my foot knocked off the rail by chop. However, wearing boots and the tremendous non slip deck help.
i haven't applied wax or non slip along the rails but I know plenty have with success.