in SE Qld there seem to be a lot of people on F2 boards and North sails.( and mistrel ezzy etc) W.A. seems to have a lot more local manufacturers and thus more variety in boards and sails..Windsurfing must be a lot more popular in WA to support these sorts of local industries ? For example, how many windsurfing shops are there in Perth ??
depends where you sail RF in SEQ. i sail almost everywhere and i can say it's pretty even brand for brand SEQ. you will see all of the manufacturers of sails and boards on the water.
we also have the most shops per windsurfing capita. 7 in total.
Actually I think Perth has the most per capita:
WSP, 2nd Wind, SurfSail, Windforce/Auswind, SOS, Sails & WS Ctr, Windshack
plus other custom/board specific shops and a number in the hot spots Geraldton down to Margaret River. And we definitely have less population than QLD or Perth v SEQ.
Oh sorry - just realised per "WS Capita" - maybe SEQ would be right then.
as far as slalom gear on the gold coast the brands seem to change each year
2001-2003 probably dominated by mistral flows and other miscellaneous mistral stuff
2004 naish hybrids, starboard hypervomits
2005 F2 SX
2006 starboard sonics and isonics
2007 JP Slaloms and supercross / supersports
2008 Jp stuff has flooded the market and it seems that resistance is futile
wave gear on the other hand tends to seem to stay the same from year to year as the owners seem to be more loyal. The most common new boards lately would be the jp and tabou, followed by exocet, starboard etc
Ha, I can just see 18 afghans sitting on the beach (ok dessert) waiting for the tide to come in.
Bubs don't take the advise of a freestyler in regards to slalom boards [}:)]
They are more a mini-formula than slalom board- whilst they do perform well in small chop they are not as easy as a modern slalom board. Their beauty lies in their range of use I have used mine with 10m down to 5.4m sails. When you get a decent swell running with chop then they can be challenging as the rails are sharp up towards the nose and the concaves tend to stall the board a bit. It would have been good to see starboard develop the concept a little further, i've seen 34knots a couple of times on it so they are certainly no slouch.
They do not plane early- rather you need the power to release the hull from the water. They do have great plane-through though. Gybing is good once you get used to them, the 111 has a more curved rail than the previous 105 with a goal to improve gybe-ability.
If you sail in flat conditions (less than half metre swell/chop), use 6-9m sails and love going upwind then they are great. If you sail regularly in chop go for something else.
Sails & WS Ctr....... peel st, o'connor......ka and kinetic....great place for sail repairs.
missed out severne sails in oz park
also flying objects oz park
last but not least, steve in myaree, for repairs and a great collection of speed needles.
oopps and a bloke in scarbs selling ka stuff
doesn't safety bay have something too
mad....perth has got it all...spoilt 4 choice
be nice to have a shop in hillaries too
Sydney, biggest city in Oz, millions of people, truck loads of windsurfing spots and we have one shop versus 23 odd back in the heyday.
Im happy with that, its all of 2 minutes down the road from my place.
Heaps of choice, nice blokes and handy to sailing spots.
You blokes in SEQ, Vic and WA are bloody spoilt!!!!
