Beautiful 16kt breeze yesterday, rigging up on the beach I checked my gear and found my boom was stuffed. The moral of this story is to check your gear when you come in, when there is time to repair or renew before the next breeze!
Desperate for a sail I racked my brains as to how to get on the water.
Tried the 5.4 rig, but too small, then it struck me, my varnished teak antique from nearly 40 years ago.
The ropes on the boom fell apart as I tried fasten it, so a bit of modern Dyneema helped. However the laminated wood was still smooth and in perfect condition, but it was heavy and much too long, even though the original sail was only 6sm.
Using the sail was a horrible experience, the floppy boom mast connection made it impossible for the 'fine tune' adjustments that we are so used to. No harness lines made me remember that we never actually stayed on a board long enough to need them!
You guys don't realise how good you get it today, next time you see any really old bugger windsurfing, thank them for being part of the developments than have made modern windsurfing so good. The antique goes back on the wall.
