Post number : #1
Topic :  Kona experience
Date :  11/21/2005 8:45:51 AM Author : Bob

Anybody tried the new Exocet Kona?

experiences?

/Bob

 
Post number : #2
Date :  11/21/2005 11:15:42 AM Author : Gerrit

Now I realy need to get to Paris !

Looks like a duck tail .

Can it be sailed with bigger (+10m?) sails ?

Why 2 different models ?
 
Post number : #3
Date :  11/21/2005 4:28:27 PM Author : Oscar

So, how much is it? If you want to attract people it needs to be cheap. If it was like € 600 I would buy one...
 
Post number : #4
Date :  11/21/2005 6:05:07 PM Author : Drew

For the overall length (including the lifted tail), the mast track seems quite far forward. This is the 3rd new longboard I've seen this fall (StarBoard and Tabou). The classic graphics and shape of the Kona is sweet.

I'm looking forward to seeing more details :)

Drew
 
Post number : #5
Date :  11/22/2005 5:43:34 AM Author : Patrice -Exocet

The KONA design is the next logical step to our policy at Exocet.
Our aim was to bring dagger board and long board back to the scene when we started that project 3 years ago
Back then we were all alone, now we have SB and Tabou joining the club, i hope to see many more in the future.

The Kona has a very pleasant ride in many different conditions of wind strength.
The "Duck tail" purpose is for a better ability in ligth wind conditions, it also allows old style free style.
Second reason for the duck tail is that the fin is now very forward giving the board a very responsive tacking ability
The pure "Surf longboard" outline will allow to SURF descent wave.
And finally with wind over 12 knots the board can get full on the plane, it is actually fairly fast and the jibe response is good.
We are still working on the retail price, our aim is to offer the board to a wide range of sailors, so it will go to the un-expensive side.
 
Post number : #6
Date :  11/22/2005 1:14:29 PM Author : Koen B-12

This is exactly what I need as a family toy in adition to my own equipement.

I have a cruiser, but in my case, this board is too much an spin-off of my formula and I have noticed that my wife likes the gentle non-planning surfing and will most likely not make the step to planning mode since this is a hard one to overcome for her (fysical & mental wise). Would also be a great tou for me to take the kinds for a ride or paddle around the lake.

Don't missunderstand me, the cruiser is great if your aim is getting in the planning mode and it is extremely stable, but the Kona will just offer that bit more in subplanning.

Great thinking Patrice, you keep on surprising me.

Please put one a side for me.
 
Post number : #7
Date :  11/22/2005 8:24:07 PM Author : Drew

What is the reason for "6.5" being the upper sail size listed?

I'm not a big fan of really large sails (I'm 68kg; biggest sail is 7.2m), but I would think the Kona would be fine with a lightweight 7m sail? HotSailsMaui should be releasing the 7.0 Super Freak soon...

Maybe build a lightweight epoxy Kona version as well :)

A couple other ideas... a small watertight storage bin with a screw-on lid? Some extra inserts on the nose and tail for tie-down straps?

The word on the StarBoard longboard is that it will have a long fixed fin. I think that is a huge mistake on a board which should be popular with inland lake sailing. Inland lakes are full of shallows and weeds! The centerboard and surf fin are the right combination.

Drew
 
Post number : #8
Date :  11/22/2005 8:59:02 PM Author : Koen B-12

My wife is using a 1 batten 2.5 M? sail from a "windglider" (yes the inflatable one from mistral). It looks ridiculous small, but it gives soo much power in non planning. I think for recreational use and "old skool" sailing, a 1 batten 6.5 will have already plenty of power for the majority of people using such a board.
Don't forget that the idea behind the Kona is easy acces to a very wide public.

Maybe performance can be boosted by putting a bigger fin and bigger sail, but there are alternative boards for that. In my opinion, the Kona is just not about performance but about all the rest.
 
Post number : #9
Date :  11/23/2005 3:45:32 AM Author : david

It looks sweet Patrice. Biggest hurdle will be letting people know it's available. With many shops into kites now as well, shoppers in windsurf shops are mostlyfrom the extreme side and the family side have alienated long ago.
How will you make the vast majority know that now there is something for them as well? There are only a few like Koen B-12.
Hire fleets in places that have off the beach cats etc?
.
 
Post number : #10
Date :  11/23/2005 6:09:36 AM Author : Patrice

Of course it is not the easiest task but other brands are also starting to promote long boards (even Starboard now).
The more brands the better for windsurf. In my opinion the Kona has potential strong market share with people doing long board surfing, old timer windsurfer and...kayaks, if you add those 3 sports you have then a potential 20 time bigger than the actual windsurf market, any shop who will realize that can make some big bucks by also promoting this style of boards
 
Post number : #11
Date :  11/23/2005 11:56:43 AM Author : Chris

It looks nice...very nice.

Down here in Australia we still get good fleets of Windsurfer One Designs; up to 55 in a championship; 8-15 weekly at some clubs. Nothing like it used to be, but we're actually starting to grow again. We're starting to work with kids rather than relying on the leftovers from the boom days.

While in some ways the Kona is a competitor to us, it's wonderful to see a company prepared to make a statement like this and I hope the board succeeds. The fact that other parts of the industry pretend that the problem with windsurfing is nothing more than competition from other sports is ridiculous - especially here where the population has grown by something like 1 or 2 million since the boom days which means there is plenty of room for better numbers.

This is the most exciting board I have seen since.........hmmmm - Mike Waltze's converted Waimea gun? The original Mistral Pan Am? The first FW boards? Naaa, it could be more important than those because it could return the sport to the ideas that made it great.
 
Post number : #12
Date :  11/23/2005 4:27:15 PM Author : WARDOG

Hi Chris, Patrice, David, Koen...& others...
I also share your excitement...and see the potential for pure fun in light air...
Windsurfing started by putting a sail on a longboard surfboard...why not re-visit that concept and use applied technology of what we have learned in the interim to improve it?

I think the Kona will be everything the Commando concept could have been if it was lighter...and much, much, more...

The stand up paddle surfing and paddling crossover ability is really going to set this board apart...

http://surfingsports.com/images/laird_standup_paddlesurf1.jpg
http://surfingsports.com/images/standup.jpg

http://www.onelastwave.com/Assets/surfingPhotos/surfSP04/LairdAnimation/index.htm
http://www.allaboutsurf.com/0401/articles/paddle/index.php
http://homepage.mac.com/andeamoller/PhotoAlbum11.html

Then add on how floaty and stable it is...with daggerboard...and it will be an awesome teaching board...and subplaning cruiser/freestyler...and if it planes up like Patrice is saying...
What's not to like?!?!

The F2 New Move 280 was going down this path and then vanished...it did develop a cult...with the F2 you could freestyle and ride waves longboard style...9'2" (280cm)WIDTH 62.5CM (24.6") VOLUME 105L...

http://www.irieman-talma.com/objects/gallery/pages/brianjump.htm
http://www.irieman-talma.com/objects/gallery/pages/brifreestylearrow.htm
http://www.irieman-talma.com/objects/gallery/pages/Img0005.htm
http://www.irieman-talma.com/objects/gallery/pages/Img0019.htm
http://www.irieman-talma.com/objects/gallery/pages/Img0021.htm
http://www.irieman-talma.com/objects/gallery/pages/Img0025.htm
http://www.irieman-talma.com/objects/gallery/pages/Img0018.htm

The Kona will be more stable with twice the volume...and it's pointing ability in sub-planing conditions with daggerboard should be awesome...

I can't wait...I have a couple of custom stand up paddle boards with mast tracks coming from Sean Ordonez...but, put me down for some Konas and deliver them ASAP...I think they are gonna be a home run...

WARDOG
http://surfingsports.com
 
Post number : #13
Date :  11/23/2005 6:52:51 PM Author : John I

Fond memories of putting a 9.0 + on an Ultra Cat in light winds.

As far as sail sizes, who knows until you try it? 7.4 Cuben Phantom and this board will rule on those all too often "wave bobbing days.

Bonus: you can teach ad-hoc again. No more sending people to whatever school. Just say, "I'll teach you," if you want to. No more lost interest on way over 1/2 the good intentions whenever someone asks about the sport. what's the Nike hook? Just do it?
 
Post number : #14
Date :  11/23/2005 8:16:37 PM Author : Tom Ingram

Patrice - what about stacking a formula board or other boards on top of this thing on a roof rack? Does the centerboard come out easily so that can be done?
 
Post number : #15
Date :  11/23/2005 8:51:30 PM Author : Gerrit

Patrice

Just one word :

decathlon !!!
 
Post number : #16
Date :  11/24/2005 12:21:25 AM Author : Dave

Very cool! Looks perfect for 5-10 knots wave sailing in 2-3 foot rollers. I'm a shortboard surfer...now here's finally something to pay back the longboard surfers for all those years they have been sitting further out the back! ;-)

Hey Wardog...we're gonna need some of your photos from different angles if you get your hands on one soon. I'd be specially interested to see what the rocker looks like.

Way to go Patrice!!


 
Post number : #17
Date :  11/24/2005 8:48:23 PM Author : WARDOG

Hi Dave,
Too funny...I'm a shortboard surfer as well...who didn't take part in the whole "wrongboard" surfing revival...but, like you said...IT'S PAYBACK TIME, BABY!!!...;-)
Don't get me wrong...longboards have their place...better that people surf than become suicide bombers or drink the Kool-Aid...it's all good...but, I never liked seeing them crowd out shortboard venues...too much of a good thang, I reckon...
We have a couple of dozen right hand point breaks in my region that get light breezes...places not accessible to kiters...this is going to be an awesome surfing craft...over time it will prolly be monkey see, monkey do...but, for awhile it will turn back the hands of time...
Sounds like they are putting the Kona on the fast track at Cobra...Steve G. is saying early Spring for the US...

Come on guys...hurry every chance you get, I'm ready for the two-piece bisect model......;-)

WARDOG
http://surfingsports.com

 
Post number : #18
Date :  11/24/2005 9:29:57 PM Author : John I

Dunno what the two piece will do to the weight, but some folk like heavy longboards. I,for one, do not. Rather strap it to the roof. I guess a jigsaw type connection would be best?

Grabbing waves well offshore of surfers is old hat to me in FL. Some days I get badgered, others, I get cheered on. I always give them the smile and whatever wave they feel they want. Plenty to go around when there's a sail involved. Amazing the difference in "turf wars" when one can catch dozens if not hundreds of waves by comparison. :~]
 
Post number : #19
Date :  11/25/2005 2:24:09 AM Author : Patrice

The Kona should come out around 13/14 kg for a volume of 220 liters.
We are looking to release the boards on the market around early spring.
 
Post number : #20
Date :  11/25/2005 12:04:25 PM Author : Just me

Is that to be understood for the naked board or with footstraps, fin and centreboard ?
Thanks Patriceand keep up the good & creative work
 
Post number : #21
Date :  12/3/2005 5:25:30 PM Author : water-ratt

WOW
i found this site after following WARDOG over from the rec-windsurfing site.

Here is a prediction:
The Kona IS the future of windsurfing.

While i'd love to spend all my time on a 90ltr wave board in logo high Lake Michigan surf, the reality is, most sailors don't live where there are consistent winds or waves. i currently own a the above mentioned board a 109lts slalom board, a 140 ltr freeride board, a mistral one design and two stock windsurfers.

If its whitecapping or windier i'm on a short board, if its marginal i'm on the one design. If it's less than that (most of the time) i'm on the stock windsurfer. It is still a BLAST to sail in 6-8 knts. Old school drop knee jibes are as fun as planing jibes, freestlye is not only fun but will make you a better shortboard sailor.

Because i have a stock windsurfer i'm able to sail twice as often as anyone else i sail with. For years i've been wishing that someone would make a stock windsurfer using modern materials, i even asked a surfboard shaper about the possibility.

No more mast foot popping out when i railride, no more carrying the daggerboard on downwind runs, no more sore neck from the 50lb board... i can't wait!

bob pratt
water-ratt

ps. anybody wanna buy a used stock windsurfer???

THANK YOU PATRICE!!!!!!!!

 
Post number : #22
Date :  12/4/2005 10:21:00 AM Author : Bzh

You can find here two pics of the board, taken at the Paris Boat show (including one pic of the Kona double tail):
http://www.windsurfjournal.com/frontblocks/Diaporama/select_photos.asp?gauche=diaporama


 
Post number : #23
Date :  12/4/2005 10:22:42 AM Author : Bzh

Sorry:this link works better:
http://www.windsurfjournal.com/frontblocks/Diaporama/select_photos.asp?gauche=diaporama&cat=\Salon%20Nautique%20-%20Jour%200
 
Post number : #24
Date :  12/4/2005 11:28:43 AM Author : John I

Fantastic looking products from lots of cool folks in the business. Glad to see all the innovations. Hope this new emphasis on "entry to advanced" type boards brings back the ease of entry into our great sport.
 
Post number : #25
Date :  12/4/2005 12:32:04 PM Author : Chris

Given the fact that many people outside this thread seem to have a real problem with longboards, light wind sailing and the whole return-to-the-roots theme of the Kona and similar boards, could we get some for of co-operation among those of us who favour longboards?

The longboards meet opposition from those who feel threatened by them or do not understand the concept (or who just relish having someone to sneer at), and IMHO that opposition is so strong it may need to be countered by a co-operative move by longboarders. Like longboarders in surfing, we may need to step away from the shortboards and establish our own ethos and movement before we can get re-established.

Is there anyone with website skills who is interested in trying to start up a longboard site, with links to longboard sites like Exocet and IMCO and Windsurfer One Designs? I can provide some content but not the web stuff and I'm pretty busy with a Kona-style class and I have to set up its own website soon, too.


*********************************

Bob, don't they have the Mk 2 Windsurfer One Design in your neck of the woods? Made from the mid '80s onwards, they are still heavy, but they have a retracting centreboard, stiffer mast, mast track, and Mylar sail with a fatter head and a single full batten. Still raced in China, Korea, Australia and (sometimes at least) Italy and perhaps South Africa too, in small numbers.

Like the Kona (I assume) it takes away many of the problems of the original version and has all the good points. It's still a lot heavier than the Kona and has much less volume, though.

Please excuse the advertisement, Exocet! :-)
 
Post number : #26
Date :  12/5/2005 7:22:16 AM Author : Koen B-12

some detailled pictures I took yesterday


 
Post number : #27
Date :  12/5/2005 7:24:30 AM Author : Koen B-12

The deco is really beautifull also, a lot of women I spoke loved this board and the way it looked. For some of the younger guys, it was a mental shock, but the "surfboard- like look" made the shock a little smaller


 
Post number : #28
Date :  12/5/2005 7:25:23 AM Author : Koen B-12

the ducked tail. The rear part is not touching the water when on a plane.


 
Post number : #29
Date :  12/5/2005 7:26:02 AM Author : Koen B-12

a


 
Post number : #30
Date :  12/5/2005 7:26:41 AM Author : Koen B-12

b


 
Post number : #31
Date :  12/5/2005 7:27:28 AM Author : Koen B-12

The board has a nice fat rail


 
Post number : #32
Date :  12/5/2005 11:33:41 AM Author : Chris

Thanks Koen, great looking board.

Even matches my favourite sailing shorts!
 
Post number : #33
Date :  12/5/2005 10:21:52 PM Author : drew

Bob (we've probably crossed paths somewhere over the years) is spot on. I live just a couple hours south of him, and after 28 years of windsurfing have great respect for the old WS board. My last one finally split its skin over the summer (after a friend crashed into shallow water over and over), so the Kona is at the top of my wish list.

The short & wide boards (like the GO) are a great teaching tool, good for beginners, but still don't have the get-up-and-go that a good longboard has in light conditions. I also see beginners (on GO-type boards) having trouble balancing fore & aft, especially the taller ones. A longboard will fix that problem.

Bob, we'll have to see if WarDog will give us a deal on two Kona boards :)

Drew
 
Post number : #34
Date :  12/11/2005 11:02:34 AM Author : giordans

kona is a very good idea for winsurfig. In europe and in italy where i live often we have very marginal conditions, it is a bad thingh waiting on the beach. I remember cruising and learning tricks with my tiga shifth and my first planning with straps. I like kona becouse is the only "new old style board "with wave spirit. In Maui many people use tanden longboard 12 piedi whith tracks and sail to ride hookipa too. I am a longboarder too, i want to know if you can ride like a longboard without sail. In italy there isn't exocet?
 
Post number : #35
Date :  12/11/2005 7:30:53 PM Author : Koen B-12

Hi Giordans,

I haven't yet sailed the Kona myself, but to what I heard from others, the Kona should work as a longboard surfboard.

Regarding Exocet in Italy:

ITALY
Rudy Altabella (agent)
Tel: +.39.(0)536.87.34.36
Fax: +.39.05.36.87.34.36
email: rudywind@libero.it
 
Post number : #36
Date :  12/11/2005 7:35:01 PM Author : Koen B-12

Maybe I haven't mentioned it yet, but price of the Kona will be around 1099 euro (france)



Koen Sonck
Exocet Team
 
Post number : #37
Date :  12/11/2005 7:36:22 PM Author : Koen B-12

And should be available from april 2006
 
Post number : #38
Date :  12/12/2005 11:56:26 AM Author : Oscar

I had hoped for samoething around 799 euros. But if a KONA rig is included it might be worth it.
 
Post number : #39
Date :  12/13/2005 8:24:23 PM Author : Drew

The old WS hull was about the same length & width and was about 180 litres. (Kona is 220l) As a lightweight (68kg) I would love to see a version of the Kona that was the same outline, but *thinner*, like a real surfboard.

I can't imagine myself riding waves on a board of that volume. Long is fine, but it has to be thin.

Oooh, make it in epoxy so it weighs <10kg too :)

Dreaming Drew
 
Post number : #40
Date :  12/13/2005 8:56:11 PM Author : Jeff S

Patrice,
Yes, please keep the surfing aspect in mind ....I'm sure the 2006 mold is done, but I'd buy one that I could use as a tandem SURFboard with my kids, and sail in schlog waves. Not much interest in light wind flat water alone.
(the duck looks good, but those rails seem too thick to use as longboard)

Will follow the Wardog lead on this one


 
Post number : #41
Date :  1/20/2006 7:31:19 PM Author : drew

New info on the Serenity on the Starboard site.

Two new longboards in one year... good news for those of us stuck in lightwind locales.

Very different boards though!

Drew
 
Post number : #42
Date :  1/20/2006 8:42:24 PM Author : Armand - Exo

For those in the area, the Kona will be displayed from tomorrow on at the Dusseldorf boat show (Germany 21-29 January) , by our German distributor WSM Funsport (along with the new 06 Exocet boards).
Patrice and Olivier will also attend the show during the first week end.

Cheers
Armand
 
Post number : #43
Date :  2/2/2006 12:37:49 AM Author : Paul van Bellen

Love the idea of the Kona.... however have to go with Drew and Jeff S, please look into a board that that is floaty but has thinner rails...something like the boards that Laird uses to stand up on would be close to the mark I reckon.... This would be a wicked board! I mean how many people live in an area of smallish waves and 10 kts of wind. I'm imagining the board now...I'd like to have this on the board please;
1. A centreboard, but as flush in the board as possible to help get back upwind
2. I reckon u might not need footstraps... maybe just wax the whole thing to get closer to a "surfer style" feeling...I guess u would have the plugs there just in case u want footstraps.
3. Thin rails like a longboard
4. Try to weigh no more than 10kg's?
5. Not too much volume..I mean for a 80kg bloke I would think u don't need more than 150L....over 200L becomes a handfull?

Basically a board that can be riden like a surfboard, the board doesn't have to jump, but u don't have to paddle out either!

I'm getting excited just thinking of the board...please bring something like this out...I reckon a board like this would get heaps of wavesailers excited....

Cheers from Coffs Harbour, Australia.
 
Post number : #44
Date :  2/2/2006 1:34:35 AM Author : Paul van Bellen

If u could make a board like this with a retractable centre board that would be perfect!surfingsports.com/standup_paddleboards/index.html
 
Post number : #45
Date :  2/3/2006 1:23:15 AM Author : Pete

Gotta agree with Paul's 5 points above. I live a few hundred k's south of him (in Sydney), and can walk (with my trolley) to a launch where there is a spot about 500ms away rarely sailed...because it doesn't ever get much more than 8-12 knots because of surrounding hills, but it has waves that go for a couple of hundred yards when the swell is right. The KONA would be perfect for it as long as it's not too heavy. When are they going to be available in OZ?

Pete
 
Post number : #46
Date :  2/3/2006 5:30:10 AM Author : Paul van Bellen

Hey Pete,

Glad there's someone else who thinks a board like this would be great! Which break are u talking about? Sounds interesting...
 
Post number : #47
Date :  2/3/2006 11:58:02 AM Author : John I

Last sunday I sailed the S-4 and AirX 7.0 in some really light winds that slowly picked up. Waves were head high and peeling nicely. Wind was 5-10 mph at first and picked up to 10-14 later.

Kona would have been good inthe really light stuff. It'll be interesting to see how it compares vs the S-4 in the 8-14 winds. The shorter hull allows for some pretty snappy moves up and down the line. Obviously not a wave board, the S-4, but it keeps me wave riding on alot of dayz. :~]
 
Post number : #48
Date :  2/6/2006 6:29:10 AM Author : WARDOG

Post 44:

Hey Paul,
We've figured out that retractable daggerboards are not necessary for longboard wavesailing in light air...we don't lose any ground at all with sidebiters...next step is to further test my 10" FreeWeed keel fin setup...
http://www.surfingsports.com/images/wardog_freeweed_10_abase.jpg

The long waterline is also key...

http://surfingsports.com/images/jeffhenderson_longboard_wavesail.jpg

Here is what Winter on the Cali Coast looks like:
http://surfingsports.com/cali_standup_paddleboarding/index.html

Overheard amongst the buzz on the fence line as the biggest guy on the beach (Kev at 235lbs/107kgs) sailed into his first wave with a 5mph breeze...
"Looks like kiting has just been cancelled"...;-)

On the other end of the spectrum, pretty kewl to watch Jenneifer, who has never ever stood on a board on the H20 before...become the first grrrl to standup paddle at the lake she lives at on the Central Coast...how many sports that the top watermen in the world participate in, could a "never ever" successfully also do on her/his first day?...

She ordered an Exocet Kona to standup paddle and learn to windsurf...
The longboard is back!

Bennett's board also has a mast track...nice thing is, you don't have to use it with these boards...just wait for a piss wind and plug in a sail:
http://surfingsports.com/santa_barbara_paddlesurfing/index.html

Bonus shots...two dudes fighting over fat chicks...
Lines are drawn in the sand, and there are heavy consequences for crossing them......;-):

http://surfingsports.com/cali_bullseal_fight/index.html

I should point out that these tasty morsels are a favorite of the man in the gray suit...the landlord of the sea...the Great White Shark...;-)

WARDOG
http://surfingsports.com
 
Post number : #49
Date :  2/6/2006 10:54:42 AM Author : 249

Wardog, how do reckon the original WIndsurfer One Design shape will go as a stand-up and light-wind waveboard? I've never tried standup in the surf, and it's been soooooooo many years since I last used a Windsurfer OD in the surf (about 1979, in fact :-p ) that I've forgotten what is was like.

http://sports.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/WindsurferOD/photos/view/e155?b=1

Outline and rail shape seem similar to the Bennett board. Weight is about 45lb but the board is indestructible. This is the "modern" retracting-centreboard model but I assume we'll have to take the board right out as it protrudes about 1/2" below the bottom.

At the last state titles we talked about scheduling a season-ending weekend down the coast this year, with a bit of a wavesailing expression-session contest thrown in. We should do it just to be in the vanguard of the longboard revival, and use paddles if the wind is light.

What about potential damage to the mast when a big board is flipped over in the shorebreak?


 
Post number : #50
Date :  2/6/2006 11:46:12 AM Author : John I

Wow, those are some great shots WD. The Santa Barbera ones in particular are arousing. The shots where no one is on the water, yet its frothing wind screams, "quit your job, come play," are like a sirens' song... Better stop looking at what I'm missing. :~]
 
Post number : #51
Date :  2/6/2006 3:47:50 PM Author : WARDOG

Hi 249,
That's the spirit! Go for it!!!

The revival is on...as John says...quit your day job...SURF'S UP!!!...;-)

I like that shot...I'll try to post here, because Yahoo Groups may be more work than some people want to do...and the pic is worth seeing...

<img src="http://surfingsports.com/images/windsurfer_od_australia.jpg">

If that doesn't work, here's a link that will...
http://surfingsports.com/images/windsurfer_od_australia.jpg

"What about potential damage to the mast when a big board is flipped over in the shorebreak?"

Dood...I wouldn't worry about mast damage if you use a RDM or a base pad...
I'd worry about my BODY if I got his by that setup...it's prolly over 60 lbs with the rig...and the hydraulics of waves...

The 45lb thing is an issue...but, that didn't stop anyone from surfing for the last few decades or centuries...;-)

The first surfboards were 75-100 lbs...

Tom Blake hollowed out paddleboards and attached a sail in the 1930's...developed the first water housings and the "surfer lifestyle":

Back to the roots...

http://www.surfingsports.com/action_doc.asp

http://surfingsports.com/images/tomblake_windsurfer1.jpg
http://surfingsports.com/images/tomblake_windsurfer2.jpg

http://www.legendarysurfers.com/
http://www.legendarysurfers.com/surf/legends/ls07_blake.shtml

In the early 1930s, Blake described the boards that were stored at the Outrigger Canoe Club - the center of surfing in Waikiki, first established in 1907 - during his tour of the beach:

"At the club is to be found a row of some two hundred upright surfboard lockers, filled with boards of all sizes, shades and colors; the average being ten feet long, twenty-three inches wide, three inches thick; quite flat on top and bottom, with edges rounded and weighing up to seventy-five pounds.

"They are made of California redwood, white cedar, white sugar pine and a few of balsa wood. Ninety per cent being of redwood because of its lightness, strength and cheapness. Ten dollars will buy the rough plank to make a redwood board. Some of the boards are hollowed out and decked over to lighten them."

WARDOG
http://surfingsports.com



 
Post number : #52
Date :  9/29/2006 2:16:31 PM Author : ari

Tried it in Cabarete reef waves, 6-8 knots, with a 6.0 sail.
It was great. I will never use it with a bigger sail than 6.0.
Actually the ride cost me around $500.00. On one wave ride I forgot to Kick in the dagger board, the board turned to a rail ride, and I lost control of it. Broke the sail and lost my sunglasses.
 

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