This post was started cuz Georges of OKA asked me how to carry a sail to the water without busting a panel. I'm like, "WHAT?"
It appears, recently Georges busted panels on sails he was about to sell and each repair was $85 with a return on the sale of $150 on the repaired sail. At that price, "c'est donné " as we say in French. I would have been happy to give him that money for a Gaastra Matrix 7.5. I asked if the sail was old, monfilm milky, very wrinkled, etc, etc . and all i got back was non, non, non...
Before this, i had heard of this happening to Sailworks/SW sails. One of our sail buddies Evan, no longer purchases SW due to this happening to him !!!
Wait a second ....
Georges once told me he used a UV protection on his sails.
What was it again ?
I had left a label in my windsurf toolbag so that I would remember in case i wanted to try it .. It is called 303 Aerospace Protectant. It is also condoned by Barry Spanier of MauiSails. Could this product weaken the fabric or the seams ?? Perhaps i will try it on my experimental sail - the MS-OH. The monfilm is old and already perforated ...
In any case ....
Someone once said , you can tell how long a person has been windsurfing by how they carry their stuff to the beach. Well, that means i must really look like a newbie then - cuz i always find that the most awkward part of the session #$%^&*(
The idea is to make as few trips as possible with the least effort and the least danger to oneself and to others.
Now, that sounds simple enough, in and of itself. However, i am sure we have all struggled with a sail at one time or another or even had a sail tumble down the beach. In some 30 knot winds i have seen people sit on their stuff so that it does NOT get blown away...
Most of my stuff is large as I am a heavyweight of 95 - 100 kilos {around 210 pounds} and in a lighter wind area. As such, I typically carry the board to the side of the water, the sail into the water and then bring the board to the sail - assemble and GO. In this scenario the board can sometimes be carried on one's head, but not when winds are gusty or higher than about 18 to 20 knots. Surfers have been doing this for ages...
I usually have the mast base on and carry it by mast base and footstrap - with the board on the downwind side of me {or under my arm}. At the beach i put the nose of the board towards the wind and the fin stuck in the sand. Again bin dunn by surfers b4 - under the arm that is ...
In the same scenario, the sail is carried on my back - NOT on my head. This distributes the weight/load and reduces danger of going through a panel. The mast will be on the windward side and since i NEVER sail offshore, the bottom of the sail faces towards the water. When the sail is placed in the water - luff is towards the wind and i put some water in the sail. Make sure it is okay and then get board quickly.
Once in the water I can drag it out the the traditional way. One hand on the mast or boom and the other using a footstrap. Front of sail is basically towards front of board for this to work. In order to align this with the wind , i will put a foto from Tinho Dornellas of callema in Florida.
This alignment applies to getting on and getting off the water. When going in or out I often flip my board upside down and drag it all out by the sail via the boom.
Tinho has an article on the same subject of bringing stuff off the water
http://www.calema.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=140
There is also the Goliath or Superman methodology for carrying the entire kit on your head. I would have thought this was for smaller gear only, butt has seen Formula boards on head.
Once again:
The idea is to make as few trips as possible with the least effort and the least danger to oneself and to others.
TAKE YOUR TIME AND BE SAFE
Just recently I saw a question on iwindsurf about carrying a longboard to and from the water. And once the sail is attached to the board , how does one efficiently bring the equipment in and off the water ?? Since the longboard is well, long, it makes sense to make two(2) trips to the water - as discussed earlier - one with the board and then plant the sail in the water, carry board out to sail, etc .... My fin on the longboard is only 30 cm or one foot long. This means once i reach knee deep water, the dragging equipment ends. My biggest pain lately has been water that does not get deep fast enough !!! Not so bad with the smaller fins, butt a real PITA for anything over 40 cm #$%^&*()
Formula boards are bigger AND require longer fins. As discussed earlier, some people carry them on their heads - NOT SUGGESTED HERE !!! I again make two(2) trips with sail and board. Once attached, i turn the board over so that the fin is up in the air. Drag this out until about waist deep and then flip the board over.
What i hate more than anything is - lately my biggest efforts have been getting on and off the water. Nothing worse than draggin your crap off the water when you are tired. Guess this is okay, if you had a GREAT session :-)
It appears, recently Georges busted panels on sails he was about to sell and each repair was $85 with a return on the sale of $150 on the repaired sail. At that price, "c'est donné " as we say in French. I would have been happy to give him that money for a Gaastra Matrix 7.5. I asked if the sail was old, monfilm milky, very wrinkled, etc, etc . and all i got back was non, non, non...
Before this, i had heard of this happening to Sailworks/SW sails. One of our sail buddies Evan, no longer purchases SW due to this happening to him !!!
Wait a second ....
Georges once told me he used a UV protection on his sails.
What was it again ?
I had left a label in my windsurf toolbag so that I would remember in case i wanted to try it .. It is called 303 Aerospace Protectant. It is also condoned by Barry Spanier of MauiSails. Could this product weaken the fabric or the seams ?? Perhaps i will try it on my experimental sail - the MS-OH. The monfilm is old and already perforated ...
In any case ....
Someone once said , you can tell how long a person has been windsurfing by how they carry their stuff to the beach. Well, that means i must really look like a newbie then - cuz i always find that the most awkward part of the session #$%^&*(
The idea is to make as few trips as possible with the least effort and the least danger to oneself and to others.
Now, that sounds simple enough, in and of itself. However, i am sure we have all struggled with a sail at one time or another or even had a sail tumble down the beach. In some 30 knot winds i have seen people sit on their stuff so that it does NOT get blown away...
Most of my stuff is large as I am a heavyweight of 95 - 100 kilos {around 210 pounds} and in a lighter wind area. As such, I typically carry the board to the side of the water, the sail into the water and then bring the board to the sail - assemble and GO. In this scenario the board can sometimes be carried on one's head, but not when winds are gusty or higher than about 18 to 20 knots. Surfers have been doing this for ages...
I usually have the mast base on and carry it by mast base and footstrap - with the board on the downwind side of me {or under my arm}. At the beach i put the nose of the board towards the wind and the fin stuck in the sand. Again bin dunn by surfers b4 - under the arm that is ...
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| https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRVFg7b7y-jo72FZ79hbUt9H8dpo16rMcUEKN-xypQVu55fvrRW |
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| joe windsurfer - pic Edward Tomlinson |
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| http://www.calema.com/forums/articles/carryingrig/cr7.jpg |
Tinho has an article on the same subject of bringing stuff off the water
http://www.calema.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=140
There is also the Goliath or Superman methodology for carrying the entire kit on your head. I would have thought this was for smaller gear only, butt has seen Formula boards on head.
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| https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZH_Wubxnj_QjW4ovzQ8tYsV-zNnmT2PdSVtzXELbC0D1OKzt-4mKVrZ-aQ6Wysd6axEpvQzD6rrGdN0sn8nCSfb1CXYbxf35pLZJ4Jgu-LkhyMYFWzooPtfXgNNU3sxKcPXyrbIw604qq/s1600/aIMG_8412.jpg |
The idea is to make as few trips as possible with the least effort and the least danger to oneself and to others.
TAKE YOUR TIME AND BE SAFE
Just recently I saw a question on iwindsurf about carrying a longboard to and from the water. And once the sail is attached to the board , how does one efficiently bring the equipment in and off the water ?? Since the longboard is well, long, it makes sense to make two(2) trips to the water - as discussed earlier - one with the board and then plant the sail in the water, carry board out to sail, etc .... My fin on the longboard is only 30 cm or one foot long. This means once i reach knee deep water, the dragging equipment ends. My biggest pain lately has been water that does not get deep fast enough !!! Not so bad with the smaller fins, butt a real PITA for anything over 40 cm #$%^&*()
Formula boards are bigger AND require longer fins. As discussed earlier, some people carry them on their heads - NOT SUGGESTED HERE !!! I again make two(2) trips with sail and board. Once attached, i turn the board over so that the fin is up in the air. Drag this out until about waist deep and then flip the board over.
What i hate more than anything is - lately my biggest efforts have been getting on and off the water. Nothing worse than draggin your crap off the water when you are tired. Guess this is okay, if you had a GREAT session :-)
