Sport Today

Great posting, Ken.  It's a real pleasure to read such an informed and
thorough response.  I hope you'll make a habit of it!

So are you employed by Windsurfing Magazine now?

Bob Galvan

Ken Winner, in an earlier posting, however, stated that WS had done
extensive testing, but chose not to publish these results because of
space limitations in the Journal.

It occurred to me that WS mag might be able to do, on the net, what
they chose not to do in the Journal.  That is, make available all the
results of their testing in a posting to the net, or alternatively,
make these results available by depositing them at an ftp site where
interested readers can get the information.  This would be a very
efficient way to disseminate the results of all these good tests
and measurements.

Perhaps Ken Winner can suggest this to the people at WS and act as
our advocate in this matter.  Ken, would this be possible?

Pierre Jolicoeur

: Ken Winner, in an earlier posting, however, stated that WS had done
: extensive testing, but chose not to publish these results because of
: space limitations in the Journal.

: It occurred to me that WS mag might be able to do, on the net, what
: they chose not to do in the Journal.  That is, make available all the
: results of their testing in a posting to the net, or alternatively,
: make these results available by depositing them at an ftp site where
: interested readers can get the information.  This would be a very
: efficient way to disseminate the results of all these good tests
: and measurements.

: Perhaps Ken Winner can suggest this to the people at WS and act as
: our advocate in this matter.  Ken, would this be possible?

I agree. Great idea Pierre.  Ken?? a reaction?

chad

Every year I keep thinking I will cancel, but.....  I think the mag does a
decent job or reaching the avg windsurfer....lake sailor, 160lb male
who thinks solid 20Knots is nuking.

All this commotion on board tests is funny.  After a certain level, It
is more important to sail the board in the conditions yourself than to
see what others think of it.  An inch here (mast placement) and a
quarter inch there (fin selection ) can make all the difference in how a
board behaves and it takes alot of time to figure out just what a sailor
likes for a given board.  Probably getting all the info CORRECT and in one
place is the major value of WSing's equipment reviews so I can take a look
at what is available before testing for myself (and then going for custom!)
8-)

I still have a bit of a grip about your "not necessary to buy American"
for us US sailors.  I will make EVERY EFFORT to buy gear that is at
least designed in the USA if not made in the USA.  I even do this for
autos since it seems fair game for the Japanese and European consumers
to buy local.  Sometimes you have no choice, but I at least think we should
make the effort.  This goes double for supporting shops that make their
own boards for the local conditions and then give exceptional service on
board repairs (ASD is my local shop of choice, though I know Mikes Labs
and John Forsyte make good boards and give good service as well).

Now if I could only get HP to send me to Maui to test some integrated
circuit designs......

Kirk Lindstrom
8'8" ASD epoxy RKT, 8'11" & 9'3" ASD epoxy CS, Malibu & 8'8" ChallengeFlex
Will trade Malibu for an Equipe or One Design
Wt 213#, Ht.  6'0", Usually sail on SF Bay, Cailf.

Hi Felix,

8'10" Bailey jump, 9'9" Sailboards Maui
Wt 155#, Ht 6'3", Usually sail on high desert lakes near SLC in Ut
Go short or go home

Yeah, consolidated advertising that we paid $12 to get.....8-(
At least I didn't have to suffer the SF traffic to read the mag
compared to going to the Annual WSing Trade Show in SF where you
also get to pay to look over what you can buy....

I think they (WSing mag) are doing the right thing.  Of course the
guys that sail Seatrend are going to think those boards are better
since that is what they are used to sailing day-in-day-out.  Last
few years you't think Seatrend was the way to go....  The present
"list all the major brand gear" is a good service and you can really
only tell which board is fastest in a given condition by sailing it
for yourself - some people are faster with soft rails since they are
more at ease in big chop (me for example) where as if I'm in fairly
reasonable, 20 knot SF Bay conditions then I'm almost as fast as the
racers on my Course Slalom gear (hard rails, flat bottom) that is the
same that they are racing on.

Kirk out
8'8" ASD epoxy RKT, 8'11" & 9'3" ASD epoxy CS, Malibu & 8'8" ChallengeFlex
Will trade Malibu for an Equipe or One Design
Wt 213#, Ht.  6'0", Usually sail on SF Bay, Cailf.

The top speed of a board is dependent on footstrap placement, mastrack
placement, fin type and location and personal technique. However, if the
same person tested each board with the same fin, the most aft footstaps,
the same sail, one could calculate the average speed of a board with
a degree of certainty.

Sail speed could also be determine in similar way. Use the same
board with different sails in steady wind. Calculate average speed
in a series of trials. Then, tell me which is the faster sail and by
how much. Wouldn't you like to know the speed rating of a sail?
Even better, use a wind tunnel and calculate the air drag coefficient for
close reach, beam reach, etc.

For many people durability is a real problem. I would like to know which
board is fragile, which is not. I don't want to spend my time fixing
boards instead of sailing them. Simulate common occurances - boom hitting
the nose, flat landing the board, fin hitting an IO (immovable object), check
for seam splitting, etc.

Boris
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* "The views expressed here are my own, and not those of my employer."      *
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I believe Sailworks are also designed here and built overseas.  I could
be wrong.

Windwings are completely built in Berkeley.  I have been in the shop and
seen it happen.

Waddell, Sailworks, and Windwings are all VERY cool sails.  They get better
and better every year because of the dedication and hard work of the
companies.  Makes purchases a bit of a problem!

Kirk out

I'm pretty sure Northwave, Windwing, Waddell, and JBD are all
on-shore operations.

Rolland
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99.99% sure that Waddell is made in Hong Kong /China.  Headquarters
moved from CA to the Gorge this year/season.

Kirk