It's been a long time between drinks since I last windsurfed and I finally got out again last week for the first time in 20 years. I'm one of those classic sailors that came from the "Golden Age" who surf sailed with bright pink panels on his laminated wave sails but left the sport when a new career, a family was started and fickle winds eventually saw me put away the gear. I kept the gear coz I pledged to myself to return to the sport one day, a sport I loved and lived for for so long. Time has finally come!
I had a go last summer with my old semi-sinker gear but it sank as the board remembers me being 20kg lighter, I'm 100kg-110kg. I eventually broke the boom in my first attempt to get off the beach, my sailing return lasted all of 5 minutes so back in the shed the gear went again.
This time around it was like starting all over again in 1978/79 on a Wally but this time on an equally old TC Hunter mutha ship that found its way into my garage instead of the tip. My 16 year old son accompanied me to the local lake to also have a go. It was a gusty 5 knots but thought bugger it and climbed on board, pulled up the sail with the uphaul and wobbled away. Feet were rocking over time trying to keep the board steady while the arms leaned the sail forward to catch whatever breeze was around and slightly sheeted in. I was surprised my body was doing what my memory was telling me to do! A tiny wake appeared on the sides of the board and I was off. I had a grin from ear to ear...I was sailing again, albeit in slow mo.
I tacked, did a lots of sloppy jibes and zig zagged for around 15 minutes and didn't fall in. My son so pleased for me, he knows how much I've been wanting to sail again, grabbed my mobile phone and recorded the momentous occasion.
On return I let him have a go. I instructed him and the bugger sailed off for around 30 metres then fell off. Wow he picked it up quick, he's a very fit sporting boy who knows he can out do his dad in just about all sporting pursuits.
Then the wind came up to around 10 knot gusts and he lost the plot and that was the end for him, he just couldn't move off again. Then it was my turn, I sailed back and forth, fell in a few times but man was I pleased I could out do him at something! He looked at me in one of his rare looks of admiration.
So now when time allows I'll keep on going out and get my sea legs fully back again. I'm pleased I could still do it in light winds and I'm keen to get myself back out in the surf once I get my confidence again.
If funds allow my ideal board would be a Kona, I've resigned to the fact that short boards will be too much for me as time is still a big issue to keep the practice up. To get the most water time I'm thinking longboard. But in the meantime I've been eyeing one of the last generation Wallys (footstraps and kick up c/board) and see how that handles 1-3 foot surf without the c/board of course with early '90s larger wave sails (my old sails) in 10-15 knots.
As you can guess my budget is really low so ignoring the square fat arse TC Hunter, what other longboards of that era can play in small surf? I was thinking even an old Mistral Take-Off might still do it or a mid to late all round funboard will keep me occupied till I'm a bit more flush. I plan to use my old Gaastra Wave sails on them. Models like Mistral Maui/Competition SST/Malibu, F2 Strato or Comet, Tyronsea 330 etc. etc? Whichever it must have foot straps so I can eventually burst around the ocean in higher winds...I was even thinking of old raceboards like an Equipe.
I can't buy, literally, into the argument that modern gear will be better, my budget just won't allow it at the moment. I'd like to get lots of change from $500.
Any other boards to get me out there (surf) in light winds?
hi nosinkanow,
excellent that your up and away again. gotta love the sport. there seems to be lots of people in your position coming back into it after dong exactly what you have done also.
now, to the task at hand.
i am sure there are hi volume funboards from back in the day that would handle surf. i can only tell of my experience though.
firstly,
cross off the list the old one design. fantastic board but reality is, no rocker and V, they go in all directions when surfing waves and usually not the direction you want.
also cross off the list the equipe, as you will break it in the surf and avoid anyhting that has te words race or carbon associated with it.
some of the old mistral funboards might do the trick like the maui.
I often draw the likes of your ilk out to watch, and have them thinking "I should get my old gear out and have a go."
Thanks for the feedback guys, I've crossed off the list the wally (would still be a fun freestyle board, loved it) and Equipe (still a good ocean board) and will wait for something to turn up...in the meantime I'll keep on practising on the TC in the lake till it gives me the dirts. Might take it out in the small surf and see what happens anyway, not sure about the displacement nose though..could be tricky. Glides nicely on flat water, even son says so when he paddled it around on his knees. Surprisingly sprightly in 5 knots for a lump of heavy poly!
Baby steps first.
If any of "youse" think of other ideal old-school longboards please tell me!
Gumtree has OK deals sometimes on old planks.
Keep your eyes on the "incredible the crap they sell" thread somewhere in this forum 
Brilliant! Good luck to both of you. I have been back into windsurfing for a few years. now and would recommend to you a Bic Techno. They come in bigger sizes 148 lt and 160 lt yet the shape is still agile so you could have a play in the waves and big swell and you should be able to pick one up under $500 (especially the older blue models). I have a new one but it was using a friends blue Techno that convinced me to buy one. Be aware they do not have a center board, not sure if that is important to you.
ps. my first board was one of those square tail TC Hunters, man it was heavy but bomb proof.
i was thinking about your problem and have an idea.
the real problem with onedesgins is the lack of rocker and non retractable centreboard.
if you were to pick up and very cheap original one design you could add some rocker to it. look at a few mals to see how much rocker and where it starts. then set up some pieces of wodd as a template. i reckon an 10-20mm of tail rocker would be plenty. then add 150-200mm of nose lift.
what you do is wrap it in black plastic and leave it in the sun to heat up. when it is very hot, take it out of the plastic and force some rocker into the tail and the nose. then pour a bucket of water over it to cool it.
the rocker should stay. obviously you may wreck the board but i reckon you could have a couple of goes as it's plastic.
if you can get a cheap board for $50 or so on ebay it would be worth it.
i know a guy who used to do this to his one designs for surf sailing.
then take out the centreboard and push a piece of foam into the cassette to seal it off.
the thing you will find id the more rocker you add the slower the board will be to plane.
Aww this is killing me.
The next thing you need (after the boom) is a new uni-joint.Do it before you hit the water again if you haven't already.If that thing is 20 years old your lucky it didn't leave you stranded on your 1st day back on the water.I bet the old glass mast is leaving prickles in you every time you even brush next to it.Thats going to snap like a piece of chalk when you go out in the next 15 knot blow.The sails are already delamenating.
Do yourself a favour ,do some research, go to a few windsurf shops check the "buy & sell" here etc. and get your self some gear thats at least in this decade.You will be surprised how much your 500 bucks will buy!
It will be the best thing you will do for you newfound love of the sport.
Your progression will be fast and your enjoyment will far exceed your frustrations.
Hey no need to get defensive.Just trying to help.
I re-started the same as you but your 15 years on again and i destroyed a heap of that old stuff then!!! Had some huge swims caused by failing old gear.Pealing screwed in fin boxes and mast tracks out etc.
All i'm saying is you can find bargains out there that may have limited life yet so much nicer to use thats still in the last decade.
Go hire some learners gear thats current and you will see the differance.
You don't have to go all out and you have the basics.So over a year you can build quite nice bit of kit just buying a bit here and a bit there.
Sorry mate it wasn't a personal attack and i wasn't fishing for an argument.
Everyone ,including me, that read your story is truly stoked for you.
We all have that feeling every day we're on the water.
Why would you do it otherwise?
Live the dream!!! 
& its scary to total up all the $ Ive sent that I didnt have! 
Sounds like you have more realistic expectations for your $ than I did..Good luck in your quest!
& its scary to total up all the $ Ive sent that I didnt have! Sounds like you have more realistic expectations for your $ than I did..Good luck in your quest!
hi nosinkanow,
i do tend to agree with stribo, your old gear will disintergrate in the surf.
back to the one designs,
yes the rails are not the best for waves. adding some rocker will help a lot though.
I'm not even close to the skills I had and basically have to start again...sort of somewhere between a beginner and intermediate physically but still thinks advanced. Frustrating isnt it!..It would be ok if we didnt know what it was like to be able to gybe etc..
I've secretly been using you as an inspiration, seriously
Thanks. I thought I was driving everyone nuts! I admire the fact that you are aiming to get back out in the surf. It was on my to do list for this year but the winds have been so fickle around here it may not happen.I wonder if my 125ltre rocket would handle a foray out the back in flat surf.. But oh what would I do if I ran it onto some rocks!!
Gestalt's idea should work - if I had storage space for another board I'd have done it some time ago, because (as Jeff from Hot Sails, a longboard wavesailing veteran) says, the Wally is quite similar to the current SUP style boards apart from weight and rocker. To get a 'flat' Wally to go in the surf requires standing a long way back, rather than carving. I've had some classic late-afternoon sails in waist to ankle high waves on a Wally. It's nothing like high performance, but it's a great way to sail into the sunset!
As Gestalt says, you'd probably want to stay away from anything like a full-one Raceboard (ie IMCO, Pan Am, Lightning etc) because the flat rocker and thick rails makes them quite slow to react in the surf, and they are more fragile.
New gear may be great if you're in WA or sailing in a breezy open location, but if you're sailing at a lake-type location like Narrabeen or Iron Cove (where I saw a TC Hunter recently) the new gear simply isn't better. Not even Formula normally works all that well there on a typical day, and something like a Techno 293 with 7.8 is slower than a One Design most of the time (although great on a full planing reach, of course).
The problem with a One Design is getting one second-hand. There were about 15 new boards at the nationals a week or two ago, but often the older boards are being handed down to kids or friends. New boards are around $1800, fully rigged, which is out of your range.
Maybe try some of your old-time friends; quite a few people have an old bare board under the house. A One Design without CB and rig isn't worth much, because by the time you source a new set of decent gear you may as well have bought a complete new set. In your case, if you're just lookng for a board for the surf, that's not an issue.
PM me if you want a run on a One Design at Dobroyd.
try going to yacht clubs there maybe old stuff floating around and work out a deal with the yacht clubs they would be happy to get rid of the gear that no one claims
nosinkanow I just did a little costing via the seabreeze adds for nsw for what you want and the gear is out there. sail $175-210 several less than 5yrs old,board $100-$150,boom $100,mast to suit $100 Total $475-$560 and all much easier to sail that the TC
The issue of getting "modern" gear without having to shell out too much seems to come up a lot. It's the same many consumer items these days that you buy them new and in a few years they are worthless (unless you are trying to buy one!) I am shifting house at the end of the year. I have probably 4 boards 6 sails and tubs of assessories that will get passed up in the garage sail and end up at the tip.
e.g I have a North "Style" 5.8. Its had 3 seasons of use (although it is an 04 model) but it performs the same as the sail I bought last month and probably would last another season but how much could I sell it for? $50?
There must be tonnes of stuff like mine around in sheds that would suit guys that have other priorities for their cash!
It is hard for guys who have been out of the loop for a while to know how to source this gear.
Might not be the best session but at least im out there!
I recently learned of site called freecycle where people give away unwanted things rather than take them to the tip, might be worth a look
