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For sure, most windsurfing sails are boring and almost invisible. There are some noticeable exceptions. Severne sails look nice, how the colour fades out over the sail. North sails are also quite visible. When monofilm sails came out in the early to mid nineties, windsurfing became an invisible sport.
Arrows did the fade thing 6 years ago...but it didnt come of like Severne.
KA prefix does not exist ( changed 15 years ago ) anymore, it has been replaced by AUS, same with KZ = NZL, KC = CAN, US = USA, K = GBR, KH = HKG etc etc.
yeah, such a great change. 
last year in maui, and a friend i was with exclaimed
"that bald austrian guy nearly ran me over!"
"thats just phil mcgain and he always does that!" 
KA30 and proud of it, ian. 
Just remembered.
We are all wrong. KA-1 was actually Mark Paul's number. He let Tom use it in the PBA/PWA events.
Tom's real number was KA-11. Dave Dorn took KA-111 so that left KA-1111 for a certain young Mr Polakow.
PWA did not exist back then. This photo is probably from the PBA days.
As Ka43 explained, the sailor is Tom Leudecke. Mark Paul was the main man at Bombora. If he was sailing you would see big kangaroos on the sail.
Chris is right, its the Gorge and it's Tom L.
And definitely Warp Speed's, the ducks guts back then
Actually, if it was '85/'86 it was the WSMA - Wind Surfing Manufacturer's Association - that ran the World Cup. I may still have a rule book somewhere.
Those manufacturers who were members in the WSMA and paid into the "pool" got to run a team. There were Hi Fly, Browning, Mistral, F2, Tiga, Bic, North, Pryde, Gaastra, etc. Each got about 8 spots in each WC event.
The only other way to get into the World Cup was via the short-lived "Amateur Funboard World Championship" which featured 3 guys and 1 woman from each nation racing Raceboards and Slalom. The top 10 guys got an entry into the World Cup.
'85 was the peak year in board sales - 25,000 boards in the UK and Oz each, for example.
jeezus chris! you are the windsurfing supernerd! the pencilnecked geek of obscure race facts!!!!! onya mate my alzheimers made me forget half of that important stuff.
Both highly intelligent and gifted chaps....though
The real KA1 - Mark Paul was only fast on a face of a wave, or talking about it.
Mark tried to design boards at Bombora that would plane on a smaller and smaller area - such as the Astrotoy though they didn't work ....
Thomas Luedecrous was a racer and could also design a board to go fast.... until.... he too started designing Bombora's?
the pencilnecked geek of obscure race facts!!!!! onya mate my alzheimers made me forget half of that important stuff.
the pencilnecked geek of obscure race facts!!!!! onya mate my alzheimers made me forget half of that important stuff.
shoot me your address willy, and i'll send you a few to test!!!!!
they were really good, honest!
well...good back then.
i'll wrap them in cardboard, you pay the freight!
why didn't you ask me for a few before you left the goldy?
trust me, i have many fond memories of special boards that i have used over the decades and everytime that i have had a chance to "revisit" one of them down the track, my thoughts have always been......"did i actually ride this thing!"
Cool...maybe I could get a quirky waveboard off you next year when my uncle from the Goldie comes to visit me??
I love the old windsurf books with the bizarro assymetric shapes and football fins and so on...they don't make 'em like they useta!
He he he he he
You guys are cracking me up ... and the memories are bring a smile to my face.
Tom Luedecke was legend! I remember in the 80's you could actually see windsufing on the TV. I remember one time there was a racing series on Pittwater and Tom, Bruce Kendall (NZ) et al were all racing around on those weird tubes of toothpaste ... what were they called?
ANYWAY ... you mentioned AHD. I've still got the AHD Omega (circa 1989/90). This was a great board back then. Still pops up onto a plane quickly. Just wondering how a board like this compares to a current similar style board these days.
Am I potentially missing out on another new world of sailing???
Cheers,
P
He he he he he
You guys are cracking me up ... and the memories are bring a smile to my face.
Tom Luedecke was legend! I remember in the 80's you could actually see windsufing on the TV. I remember one time there was a racing series on Pittwater and Tom, Bruce Kendall (NZ) et al were all racing around on those weird tubes of toothpaste ... what were they called?
ANYWAY ... you mentioned AHD. I've still got the AHD Omega (circa 1989/90). This was a great board back then. Still pops up onto a plane quickly. Just wondering how a board like this compares to a current similar style board these days.
Am I potentially missing out on another new world of sailing???
Cheers,
P
