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Harness set up
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techno900



Joined: 28 Mar 2001
Posts: 4161

PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 4:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ditto to what swchandler said. Once I improved to the point where I could make most of my tack and could make reaches with relative ease, I started going out in more wind. It wasn't long before my arms pooped out, so I bought a harness. I have watched beginners trying to use a harness only to fall trying to hook in in 5-10 mph winds.

It's an obstacle in the beginning and a necessity soon there after.
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Sailboarder



Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Posts: 656

PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 4:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

techno900 wrote:
It sound like you have an early chest harness. My first was like that in 1984 and had a metal plate about 4" square with a hook and was held to the jacket front with webbing. They worked, but in time, everyone found out that having the hook lower, near the waist was much better, so seat and waist harness are now what everyone is using.


I would add to that the fact that mine was simply hurting. Even if they were above a flotation vest, the straps behind would squeeze two ribs each side creating a pressure point.

They are also made to be used with harness lines that hang differently form modern ones. If you use rope instead, you will have a hard time getting hooked because the wind blows the ropes sideways.

I tried reusing my old harness and lines 4 years ago and I can knowingly recommend to avoid this route. I suggest you ditch this.
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micheal_can



Joined: 22 Apr 2014
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 6:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DelCarpenter wrote:
The following was written before several of the above replies so some of this will look like repetition.

Welcome to windsurfing!

The following are not in any particular order:
1. Find local windsurfers to talk to,
2. look at all the YouTube & Vimeo videos about learning to windsurf,
3. use a stand up paddle to help learning to balance/stand on the board before you start trying to use the sail,
4. Find a copy of US Sailings's "Start Windsurfing Right," or find the Berkeley Sailing Club's "Ten Steps Guide to Windsurfing" on the web, or a copy of Frank Fox's "Zen and the Art of Windsurfing."
6. offer to trade a couple of work hours from you for a local windsurfer's time to give you a lesson.
7. learn enough about sailing a small boat to know how to get from one place to another.

Tell us a lot more about the place and conditions where you will be learning, your sailing knowledge, your other sports abilities (especially things that require balance) & your height & weight.

Describe your windsurfing equipment: name of board & manufacture, length of mast, size of sail, tie-on or clamp-on boom, length of boom & its adjustment range, how the end of the mast is attached to the board.

Save up for professional lessons. Maybe you can teach yourself. I have an extremely determined friend who did. But you can save yourself hours & hours of frustration with professional lessons.


You asked a lot, so here it is:
1) I have a friend who might be able to help me.
2) Will do that
3) Was planning on doing that.
4) Thank you for that suggestion, I will see if it is available online. If not, I will source out one in the real world.
5) - you have no 5
6) I have limited time, but using my truck to bring our equipment to the water.
7) Kinda did that. I know how to go upwind. I used to have one of those inflatable windsurfer "toys", and learned a lot about steering it by the mast angle. I also have sailed on a Laser before.

I currently live in Victoria BC. I am not courageous enough to bring it on the ocean. I am using it on the little lakes.

I am 5'11", 215lbs, early 30s. Sadly, balance has always been a problem. I do kayak and canoe, so I do understand how important gentle moves in a boat are. I also swim, dive, and Scuba Dive. I have sailed a few times, on the small dingys.

The only name on the board is "windsurfer". The board is about 9' long, the mast is about 12' long. Adjustment? The end is attached by a U joint that is screwed down to the board. The harness looks like a PFD that has 2 straps that go to a piece of plastic that has a plastic 'hook'.
Everything is likely 20+ years old.

I will get everyone some pictures the next time I pull it out to play..
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 10:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you're measured the board at 9 feet, it is of no use to you; way too small. And even if it IS 12 feet, the standard Windsurfer was too small for you; mine barely floated my 180 pounds then. Surely you mean the board is 12 feet (and we hope it is their largest board) and the mast is 15 feet.
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micheal_can



Joined: 22 Apr 2014
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 10:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

isobars wrote:
If you're measured the board at 9 feet, it is of no use to you; way too small. And even if it IS 12 feet, the standard Windsurfer was too small for you; mine barely floated my 180 pounds then. Surely you mean the board is 12 feet (and we hope it is their largest board) and the mast is 15 feet.


I have not measured it. I know it is longer than 8 feet, because my truck box is 8 feet, and it sticks out a good foot.

I will measure both and post the information. I know it will float me when I am on it.
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micheal_can



Joined: 22 Apr 2014
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

isobars wrote:
If you're measured the board at 9 feet, it is of no use to you; way too small. And even if it IS 12 feet, the standard Windsurfer was too small for you; mine barely floated my 180 pounds then. Surely you mean the board is 12 feet (and we hope it is their largest board) and the mast is 15 feet.


For some reason it wont let me upload pictures.

The board is 12'x2', the mast is 14', the boom is 7'x18"
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Sailboarder



Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Posts: 656

PostPosted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 9:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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DelCarpenter



Joined: 06 Nov 2008
Posts: 499
Location: Cedar Falls, IA

PostPosted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 10:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You might have an original Windsurfer. The last I heard Matt Schweitzer, son of Hoyle, is still having them made. He also runs a series of one design Windsurfer races in Michigan. http://www.originalwindsurfer.com/site/index.html
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 12:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

NINETEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS PLUS SHIPPING FOR A FIFTY-POUND RUBBER RELIC THAT BARELY FLOATS A RELATIVELY NORMAL-SIZED MAN (my deck was awash in the slosh when at a standstill) AND WOULDN'T FETCH A HUNDRED DOLLARS AT A SWAP MEET EVEN IN THE NAME OF NOSTALGIA?

Their best niches are Figure 8 racing and Buoyball, simply because they can survive the collisions (until they split). We used to alter their rocker by bending them by hand; if we wanted it to stay that way, we'd heat 'em in solar ovens (aka Hefty bags), bend 'em, and hose 'em off. Their decks were dangerously slippery, and they'd rather slog than plane.

When there was nothing else available, they were fine. Now, however, literal PILES of FAR superior boards are given away, as in PLEASE TAKE THEM, at the end of each September Hood River swap meet. Homes across the nation have long-forgotten but far better boards in the attic or under the deck. These things aren't restored 1965 GTOs or '57 Chevies; they're '53 Plymouth Belvederes with '63 Chinese tires.
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micheal_can



Joined: 22 Apr 2014
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 2:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DelCarpenter wrote:
You might have an original Windsurfer. The last I heard Matt Schweitzer, son of Hoyle, is still having them made. He also runs a series of one design Windsurfer races in Michigan. http://www.originalwindsurfer.com/site/index.html


It is a One Design.
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