PRO WINDSURFER TRIES OLDSCHOOL EQUIPMENT FOR FIRST TIME | vlog²⁷₂₀₂₀

The old guys (95% of the windsurfers where I live) still love those old 90s boards for the exact reasons you described.

I still remember the day, back in the early 80s, when I was out on a friend's sailing dinghy thinking we were going really fast. Then this original windsurfer went smoking past us as if we were motionless. It had a big plume of water coming out of the dagger board opening. That was the instant that I knew that this was the sport for me.

As i started surfing in 1980 and still going this made me smile...the evoltions of the gear are sure a rising fun factor

When I started windsurfing back in 1984, my first board was similar, long and heavy with a daggerboard, tie on boom and a one piece epoxy mast - harness lines and harnesses were not even an option - it's a good thing I was only 14, so I had unlimited energy. Common tricks included head dips, rail rides and tandem riding with my buddy Mike...36 years later I am extremely grateful that gear has evolved even though I still love to ride the "crotch rocket" boards from the 90's!

I had one of the original windsurfers in Dublin. Not with your fancy clamp on boom but a teak boom that you twisted up for (no) tension. We learned out of a book as there were no instructors at the time. Take out the dagger board and sling it over your shoulder for planing on a reach and the water spewing through the hole into your face. If you did not lift out the dagger board at speed the board would lift up at all angles as you discovered. Loved the mistral too

Man, the memories! I learned to sail on a 2nd generation Windsurfer in 1984-ish and it came with a wonderful upgrade of a mast-step that plugged in (and still came out unexpectedly and hit you in the nuts) and a wobbly tie-on aluminum boom. There was a technique to tie on the boom where you lashed it alongside the mast and then pulled it down into its final position and the lashings would tighten up. I was so happy when I got my first clamp on boom in 1992 with my Bic Presto!

Still surfing with my 30 year old F2's. So much fun with the Bullit, Sunset and Comet.

Hey don't laugh, I still have a lot of this from 1978 (I was 17)! I still don't get on too well with a harness, although now I am old, I wish I did.. I think we tucked our bums in and arced our backs more on these old boards when on a reach, A little like a head-dip but not quite that far. Then the board would lift as you eased the weight out of your legs. It looked cool, with the sail and your body almost parallel to the sea and in "ground effect" with the water, it was, I feel, partially in flight ;). Great atmosphere too, we had an old cottage as a clubhouse and many cold nights with the fire stoked smell of wet wetsuits, toast and stories being told. Not too materialistic, much more simple.

Man, even when a Baltic wind is freezing your nuts off, you still give everything to your videos. Excellent viewing. Thanks for posting

I am one of the old people who had a 2nd hand windsurfer original boards in late 70s here in South Australia.it was a barge . But then moved on to 3 different Bombora boards with Neal pride sails.I even have the same mistral energizer and a wild catz speed board which I am sure you never heard of but a lot of fun in the 1980s and 90s. Love your videos and keep up the good work

Great video Nico. I sailed my F2 Sunset Race a few weeks ago for the first time in over 30 years. It was super fun and put a big smile on my face😁

bin bis vor ein paar monaten noch das mistral energy gefahren ein geiles brett ich habe es geliebt leider musste es jetzt repariert werden und ich bin auf ein moderneres umgestiegen

In the beginning we didn't have harnesses and nobody has been able to make a water start. Booms were breaking, mast foots didn't hold and so on. Good rememberings.

That took me back, no batten sails that you had to stop sailing at force 4 because they were so unstable. I had a Windsurfer with slot in mast foot that used to pop out while sailing and smack you between the legs, used a luggage strap to keep it in..so much fun...not. This vid had me smiling soo much..good old days? Maybe, but modern kit is so much better. Thanks Nico loved it.

Dope. My first board was a Windsurfer complete with a selection of baggy triangles and an aluminum mast. I got rolled in the shorebreak one day and the mast became windchimes! I'd go on overseas windsurf holidays, use the latest gear and it was so much easier. upgraded over the years, had a Bic Astro Rock, and I still sail on a Fantic Gecko. The sails today are just amazing - remember cams anyone? Years back I got hold of a scrap Whaler and myself + friend converted it into a tandem. Tandems are such a laugh to sail, try gybing and water starting! In light winds with all that sail up you tank past everyone

This makes me feel better about windsurfing back in the 80s. No wonder the sport died off in many places-- it was challenging! And we had a wooden (oak?) boom! Everything weighed a ton. Now I really want to get back into it with all this modern (#expensive) gear!

that Old Vintage gear is in such AMAZING Condition and the Wooden Mast Foot WOW!

This makes me feel so much better. I'm currently trying to learn on giant heavy canvas equipment from the 80s and it is a *struggle*!

🙂 love the experience! I startet at the age of 13 in 1979 with a HighFly in Jugoslavia. Then got my original Windsurfer with exactly the same sail colors, I remember when I took out the dagger for my first time and I experienced in Corsica for the first time some sort of gliding. One thing, that I never got right was the wishbone, it wobbled all the time. The board is still in the garage, I have to try it out again as well. The mast foot is still taped so that it sticks better. Thanks for the inspiration! .. and yes, I used to have a red asymetrical HT board, shaped for Hookipa. I don't remember the shapers name, but he was always out on the water WITHOUT a harness. He was my hero!

I am moving to windsurfing after 2 decades in aviation/parachuting commercially and in competition. This video was excellent thank you. I have purchased an old rig, and old French thing called an Alize... it is massive, heavy and looooong but it only cost $100 with two booms and two sails, fully functional. As a sponsored athlete in canopy piloting, I would always suggest beginners and my students to purchase older gear and invest more time than money, ang learn he hard way... so that when one got on the modern equipment that is easier to use... it becomes the epiphany that we all need to succeed. A bit like training to run, with a small parachute to hold you back... makes you run faster without it. From the old gear, I will learn what it is that I really need. I have an empty estuary in pristine nature, no other sails around... so thank you for the productions. These will help me a lot. Good work with your career.