Windsurf Magazines - 2015

In North America there are NO more windsurf magazines ...

WAIT, READ ON !! ...

Windsurfing Magazine disappeared around the end of 2011, early 2012 with Josh Sampiero as the editor. He moved on and am NOT sure what he is doing now ... Facebook says that he is now living in Austria !! after Florida that is ...
Here is a sample from May 2011...

WindSport Magazine stopped in early 2015 with Pete DeKay as editor.
Here are some samples:

In the fall of the same year Pete started a new Magazine called Windsurfing Now and offered a free "première issue" and has Dale Cook of Sailworks doing his Hucker jumps at the Gorge on the cover :

It was well received on the iwindsurf forum.

http://www.iwindsurf.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=30594&highlight=windsurfing

The WindSport Magazine was run out of Toronto, Ontario, CANADA, but the Windsurfing Now asks one to pay in US$. It seems to be headquartered out of Stratford, Ontario. This is their link: http://www.windsurfingnowmag.com/.

The premiere issue seems very oriented towards the average joe windsurfer like myself - trying to get back to the "grass roots". My issue was with Canada Post. They were oohing and aahing on the iwindsurf forum and neither Pete nor myself had received ours in the mail !!! I did my subscription and am looking forward to the first official release ... The premiere was restricted to N. America. Same thing for the subscription ??

In Australia they started a magazine not long ago as well. I tried to get a copy/ subscription, but it seemed limited to that neck of the woods.
http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/General/Australia-now-has-a-windsurfing-magazine/

There are OTHER international windsurf magazines, but they may NOT be in the language of your choice !!

UK: http://www.windsurf.co.uk/

France: Planche MAG - http://planchemag.fr/ - very liberal ??

                      Wind MAG: http://www.windmag.com/

Germany: http://www.surf-magazin.de/

Guess this is a reflection of where windsurfing is still popular ie EUROPE. Perhaps I should start my own French / English Canadian version ??
Hard enough to get people to a windsurf blog :-)

If you know other windsurf magazines that I should highlight, please let us know :-)

Quiver Analysis After 2015 season

It was mid-September (when i began this post) and we had unseasonably warm beginning of the month.
The fall winds and temps had not started yet ...
So, like every year I looked at what worked and what did not
What am I missing, broke or ??

77 % of 2015 sessions so far were on the longboards - mostly Mistral Equipe = KEEPER
(A Mistral Competition SST with more volume was purchased , tested and SOLD.)

84 % were on sails in the 8.x range - the HSM SPF 8.5 is a keeper too...

The 10-oh and 6.3 were each used once, which means larger and smaller are NOT required.
Sails are covered and wished the NP 490/90 mast was not broken on the way to Hatteras...
It was replaced on site with a Chinook 490/30%

In terms of boards ...
The winning MEQ longboard was already discussed...
The JP SLW92 was used three(3) times...

The AHD 160/79 was used four(4) times... and SOLD

The BEE 124/63 was actually used twice - once with 6.3 and other ??

I have been trying to use the 8.x sails on the JP SLW
The idea is to sell the AHD and BEE and get something in the 120-135 liter range ...
In terms of width no more than 80 cm...

2014 SB iS 107 carbon - too small for me
2012 SB iS 117L $1150 with board bag, fin ?? 228x81windsurfing quebec+quebecwind
2011 StarBoard iSonic 117L $900 228x81 dinged and thus too $$ windsurfing quebec
2011 StarBoard Futura 133 in Ottawa - 248x76.5 - iwindsurf $700
2008 JP SuperSport 136 $800 46 cm fin 251x79 cm ?? windsurfing quebec
2000 Fanatic Ultra BEE 137 $150US 289x62 cm - too narrow

Looks like the StarBoard iSonic 117W is the winner, but for next year.
Should I put the AHD and BEE for sale this year ??
AHD for $550 with 48 cm fin... got called within one hour !! asked to include board bag
BEE for $225 with 34 cm fin or FUC for $150
This would give me about $700 towards the next purchase ...
Bought the SB iS 117W after some MAJOR coaxing from Geoff from NY state :-)

Georges says I should have charged $700 for the AHD - beat up or NOT !!
and after beginning this "report" managed to have a good outing with the JP SLW92 and HSM SPF8.5

MUST also mention that this was the first year that I made the trip south to Cape Hatteras in North Carolina in the spring. The reason I specify spring is, my windsurf buddy and colleague , Antoine , makes the journey in the spring AND the fall. I managed to break a mast on the way down and windsurf seven days out of 7 !! However, this did NOT curb my spending :-(

Need to adjust my wind vs equipment chart = started ...

announce	if less	right on	if more	sails	masts	fins
20 kph	MEQ	JPSLW	JPSLW	8.4 and 10-oh	490 & 520	56&66 DT
20-40 kph	JPSLW	SB iS	SB iS	10, 8.x & 6.9	490 & 460	56&46 DT
30-50 kph	MEQ	SB iS	BEE	8.x, 6.9 & 6.3	490 & 460	40 cmsDT/PB
40-60 kph	SB iS	BEE	BEE	6.9 & 6.3	RDM 460	40 & 32 cm

So, YES, my boards leaned towards the light wind category of windsurfing. As discussed, most of my sessions were with the Mistral Equipe longboard. Geoff has offered me his F2 Lightening, but I am not sold on the idea yet. This would be for 2016 and not too $$$ anyway. Is there anything I have to change ? NOT really. Would like a lighter mast for the HSP SPF 8.5 since i/we busted the excellent one on the way to Hatteras. Fins will need to be purchased for the SB iS once I get it under wraps ... But that may take some time - for me to feel in control of this racehorse ...

After people giving me shite and calling me amateur, I have come to the same conclusion. I know how to have fun on the water and how to get back to "le point de départ". However, know now more than ever that I MUST improve my skills and THAT is why I purchased that iS 117L/wide !!
NO MORE MR NICE GUY !!

Had to lock comments here too - need to find a way to force approval of comments - too much junk

ArcticSail for windsurfing on ice and snow

Personally, I NEVER heard of these "boards" before this year. And there were TWO for sale on kiji (our local e-bay). Went to see the first one which was closer to my house...

It seemed to be made out of polyester or some kinda plastic and was about 22 inches wide and 8 feet long (weighed about 12 pounds). It had two places to put the mast base which is attached via metal plate. He had NO mast base at all.

Here is a pic that was taken from kijij:

As you can see, it had three(3) adjustable foot straps with forward and back positions. The footstraps are easy to adjust... The board was made in the province of Quebec and seems to be "Planche Mansonville, Quebec". This model only had metal tabs under it for when ice is encountered. You will understand why I say only when you see the other model.

Here is a video I made for myself so that I could analyze the board afterwards ...

So, the board was not $$$ and interested me, but the issue was the mast foot. I was UNABLE to take any of my "modern" mast feet apart - without breaking them which i refused to do ...

Asked the two(2) Pauls if they were willing to drop the price since there were two on the market. The further one accepted and so , went to see it - 45 minute drive. This one had a mast foot that could potentially be taken apart.. It only has one place for the mast foot which is the back one and has metal runners underneath for the ice:

I managed to take apart the mast foot from the ArcticSail and an older mast foot laying about to put together a potential starter. Ideally will purchase the Chinook U.S. Base Cup Kit for about $20 to fit the "modern" mast extensions. ALL my mast feet do NOT come apart $%^&

It seems there is little to NO literature on the web about these boards. The closest thing I could find was from a German magazine where they "speak" about sailing up the hill - and also mention the infamous snowfer - which is too $$$ for me. There was a used one in town, but it was too $$ even used.

Here is Udo Fritze sailing on ice in 2009 - is it the ArcticSail or snowfer he is using ??

Feb 14th 2009 - 04:15 pm - ice windsurfing captured by an ice sailor from Udo Fritze on Vimeo.

Ironically , when I sent Georges the information, he informed me that he gave one of these away. It was laying about in his shed at the chalet. It was "not in good shape". 

Obviously, I have NOT taken it out - we are still in FALL SESSION. 

AND we were wondering IF we are gonna get a winter - managed to windsurf on DEC 11th !!

Still NO ice n snow on DEC 18th and they are announcing 11-12 degrees C on Dec 24th !!

Need to finalize the mast foot, take proper measurements and wait for snow :-)

Me wife says I windsurf ALL year long ...
There are actually two small breaks in the year - when too cold and ice forming & when ice is melting

Found another mention of the ArcticSail here:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.windsurfing/uq6pxwwLdgs

Seems there was a business case about the Mistral SkiSailer that is NOT readily available - put together what i could find ... It seems to have been the pre-cursor to the ArcticSail and snowfer.
Click icon to make it FULL SCREEN



Somewhere I read the ArcticSail could also be used on water ? WHAT ?? Maybe that's what those red plastic tabs are for - make a fin :-) Or the V is like a HyperSonic creating resistance sideways.

In mid-October 2015 Bruno of 2-rad gave me an old spare that was laying about:

He confirmed that the metal needed to be heated in order to separate the parts. Damn, I always forget the name of the stuff used to hold these parts together %^&*( Think it's called locktite. Luckily, NO need to heat and managed to put it all together:

The ArcticSail is ready for testing. Just need some ice n snow now :-)

(may need to change the clip with the spring - it's a little bit tight - done and better !!)

Went to the chalet and picked up my home made sleds. When I put all my winter windsurf boards beside each other it seemed like the mast bases were all about the same distance from the tail/back of the sled(s).  It is about 120 cm to the start of the mast base and so, about 125 cm from the back. (Currently the snow version was with the mast base further up, but i was also experimenting with longer board) Modern shortboards often tote 135 cm as the magic number.
One of my sleds is for the ice and the other for the packed not too deep snow. None of mine worked well in deeper snow (more than 4 inches). The ArcticSail board is to do it all !! :-)

Did a closer check of the "board" that i purchased and noticed the sticker at the back of the board is NOT the same and my theory or guess that it/they are from Mansonville, Quebec is correct !!

The company was LPA Plastics ... and seems they are still around !!!

http://www.frasers.com/supplier/l-p-a-plastics-ltd-16573694250?type=B

Will send them a question about the ArcticSail !!!
Tried that, but also found that the company amalgamated with Johnson's Outdoor Inc in 2003
https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/scr/cc/CorporationsCanada/fdrlCrpDtls.html?corpId=0164461
Sent them a question form as well :-)

No answers ...
Here's a pic from the top of my board:

Will most probably be moving the foot straps to the further back positions.

Here is a pic with the three(3) winter sleds. I am READY TO GO !!!

Found Canada Patent L.P.A. 82 2664 on the tail of the ArcticSail board , but cannot find ANYTHING on the web about this and NO-ONE ever answered my e-mails about the board.

Send Johnson Outdoor another e-mail via their site in Dec 2015
"Can you please tell me about LPA plastics from Mansonville, Quebec. 
In particular I am interested in a product they used to make called the ArcticSail...
Just wish to know more about the history of the product and the company
Thanks in advance
joe windsurfer"

The first test was NOT good. It was quite icy and as already said, the board is heavy. Should have used a larger sail than what I use with the ice sled on the left. Also, it tended to spin out. Does it have a slight rocker ?? The spin out surprised me !!