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 !!