by In a message dated 96-11-07 12:51:29 EST, you write:
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Hi all.. I have been out of the sport for a few years. I used to sail
Windsurfer equip but ended up selling it all. Is this company still in
existence. I can't seem to find a web page or any mention of them at all.
Thanks in advance
David
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Welcome Back David!
Yes things certainly have changed since the days of banging a daggerboard
on your shins while it dangles off your elbow, AND the water shoots up the
daggerboard hole and into your face.
Thank God ! For improvements. 99% of you youngsters out their may not ever
have to deal with this (thankfully) at all. But it was once the only way
to plain on a windsurfer. Because if you kept the daggerboard down the
board would rail sideways on us. It's still cool however to pull it up
(later ones had centerboards that kicked up) and land on shore with out
getting your feet wet. ( to impress beginners mostly).
Back to Windsurf history 201- Windsurfing International went out of
business in early '87. Hoyle Schweitzer refused to modernize his designs,
construction and equipment. One Design faded away because the board no
longer filled a niche. Once an individual learned how to windsurf- he/she
wanted to have more fun in more wind. You could not do that with a One
Design - like the ol' Hobie Cat, it was designed for another era. Jim
Drake invented it and Hoyle Schweitzer built and sold it. Europeans made
the sport popular world wide. The Hawaiians and Californians and Europeans
each had a hand in re-defining the various improvements along the way.
No webpage for the Company that invented the sport. They no longer exist.
Here's part of the reason why:
Two gentlemen who made and designed boards for them in the early '81,
showed Hoyle how a board could be made light and strong with Epoxy. Gary
Seaman (Gary's Father built the first catamarans for Hobie Alter) and
Bruno Boursier ( of Rio Vista, CA area) were those two men. They told me
this story. Hoyle had a chance to make all of us, Epoxy boards 5 years
before F2 did, and he wouldn't allow the boards to be made. He wanted One
Design only. He thought he could control the market. So did the Russians,-
'Market Forces' rule everything.
Enough of this History - Unless this is PM for you - Just Go Windsurfing !
And enjoy what has developed, for what is out their now is the BEST there
is - for Now.
Scott Carter,(US-LA2) | \
Director | \
LA Windsurf Club, | \
Southern California |US- \
Windsurfing Web Page |LA2 \
(http://members.aol.com/la2wndsrf/home.htm) \
'Carpe Vien Diem!' 'Ol Windsurfer| /
(Sieze the Wind Today!) One-Design |____/
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