In July 2017 I purchased this board to become my chalet/lake board.
In the past there were BIC Dufours, Fanatic Ultra CAT, Mistral COMP SST, Mistral Equipes, etc... all tried on the lake.
This board is flatter on the bottom than some and some people are calling it slalom ...
There is an option of thrusters, but I did not receive them when I purchased the board.
Perhaps I will try that option one day ...
That picture was from seabreeze Auzzie forum:
https://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/General/BIC-200-SL-info-please?page=1
On the web they are saying this is one of the boards that was the demise in the popularity of windsurfing.
Before this there were DIV ones and twos and everyone seemed to be on similar boards.
Now the equipment made all the difference.
In the last few years the KONA One has revisited the idea of one board for all.
In some areas of the world this is helping windsurfing gain popularity again ...
Before we get too sidetracked here ...
What are the specifications of the board:
Year: 1984
Volume: 200 liters
Length: 310 cm
Width: 66 cm
OFO: 39 cm - measured by me
dagger: 54 cm fully retractable - measured by me
fin: 24.5 cm - measured by me
weight: 17 kg/ 37 lbs = HEAVY
Some of the specifications were taken from here:
Like the BIC Dufour there are two "holes" in the deck where the proprietary mast base can be placed.
There is no mast track and obviously no option to use modern single bolt or other mast base.
This is the mast base that came with the board:
I will use my converted mast base in order to use "modern" sails ...
Previous owner used smaller sails like 4.0 to 6.0 m².
As usual, I plan to use the HotSailsMaui SpeedFreak 8.5.
Previous owner also warned me that one could not really stand on the front of the board - like a modern sailboard. For this reason, I prefer putting the sail in the back "hole" at all times !!!
The rails are quite thick - something like a Mistral Prodigy. Am trying to remember what impact that has on sailing...
All this will be analyzed when I get the board on the water ...
Okay, managed to get the board out a couple of times in the country. mid-July 2017 ...
In very light wind it is NOT as steady as the MEQ2 and some skills are required.
As Gabriel said last week, on his FIRST outing EVER on a windsurfer, windsurfing is MUCH more work when there is NO wind !! He was on the MEQ2 with the GA Flow 3X...
In a little bit more wind, the board went better. As the board is flatter on the bottom than the Dufour, I tend to keep the dagger down. Am curious to see how the board handles a bit more wind or even a bigger sail - was out with the Gaastra Flow 3X cambered sail. Seemed like a good combo.
The board seemed to take on water, but I believe this is the dagger chamber ...
At 17 kg/37 lbs the board is quite heavy. Although it does not feel heavy on the water.
With the dagger the board goes upwind quite well !!!
So far , so good ... May make it as my lake board - not so sure about for others - like newbees.
Need to leave the MS 490 mast ?? Ideally need a boom to leave @ the chalet too ...
If I leave the mast, then I cannot use the TR-6 8.4 back home ...
Left the mast and qwertyjjj may have a cheap boom for me ...
Picked up the "cheap" old boom from qwertyjj and now just need to put it all together.
had no uphaul nor harness lines ... paid more for harness lines and uphaul than for the boom :-(
BUT the 2017 summer season is quickly drawing to a close ...
means i have about 2-3 months NO windsurfing - after that I go on the ice = woohoo
which was NOT a good season this time btw :-(
it seems Ken Winner was involved in the making , testing or trying to popularize the SL210
it was a little longer and wider - probably a little more stable ...
In early 2019 local rivers were flooded in Montreal and so, I went up to the chalet and sailed this board with my GA Flow 3 sail. I had lost some weight - forty (40) pounds actually - in preparation for a hernia operation. The winds were good and the board actually did pretty well. May still get that F2 Lightening for up north just the same :-)
Cleaned the BIC SL200 board and took a pic with a red maple leaf on it in August - early fall ??
Yes, the GoPro mount has been installed and we are just waitin for some wind
in order to make the first BIC SL200 video from joe windsurfer !!!
took a quick vid, but the internet is REALLY, really slow here - 0.6 Mbps upload
that's about 2 hours upload for a 495 MB file - yeah right - probably MUCH longer than that !!
In the past there were BIC Dufours, Fanatic Ultra CAT, Mistral COMP SST, Mistral Equipes, etc... all tried on the lake.
This board is flatter on the bottom than some and some people are calling it slalom ...
There is an option of thrusters, but I did not receive them when I purchased the board.
Perhaps I will try that option one day ...
That picture was from seabreeze Auzzie forum:
https://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/General/BIC-200-SL-info-please?page=1
On the web they are saying this is one of the boards that was the demise in the popularity of windsurfing.
Before this there were DIV ones and twos and everyone seemed to be on similar boards.
Now the equipment made all the difference.
In the last few years the KONA One has revisited the idea of one board for all.
In some areas of the world this is helping windsurfing gain popularity again ...
Before we get too sidetracked here ...
What are the specifications of the board:
Year: 1984
Volume: 200 liters
Length: 310 cm
Width: 66 cm
OFO: 39 cm - measured by me
dagger: 54 cm fully retractable - measured by me
fin: 24.5 cm - measured by me
weight: 17 kg/ 37 lbs = HEAVY
Some of the specifications were taken from here:
 |
| Clique to enlarge or go to url |
Like the BIC Dufour there are two "holes" in the deck where the proprietary mast base can be placed.
There is no mast track and obviously no option to use modern single bolt or other mast base.
This is the mast base that came with the board:
I will use my converted mast base in order to use "modern" sails ...
Previous owner used smaller sails like 4.0 to 6.0 m².
As usual, I plan to use the HotSailsMaui SpeedFreak 8.5.
Previous owner also warned me that one could not really stand on the front of the board - like a modern sailboard. For this reason, I prefer putting the sail in the back "hole" at all times !!!
The rails are quite thick - something like a Mistral Prodigy. Am trying to remember what impact that has on sailing...
All this will be analyzed when I get the board on the water ...
Okay, managed to get the board out a couple of times in the country. mid-July 2017 ...
In very light wind it is NOT as steady as the MEQ2 and some skills are required.
As Gabriel said last week, on his FIRST outing EVER on a windsurfer, windsurfing is MUCH more work when there is NO wind !! He was on the MEQ2 with the GA Flow 3X...
In a little bit more wind, the board went better. As the board is flatter on the bottom than the Dufour, I tend to keep the dagger down. Am curious to see how the board handles a bit more wind or even a bigger sail - was out with the Gaastra Flow 3X cambered sail. Seemed like a good combo.
The board seemed to take on water, but I believe this is the dagger chamber ...
At 17 kg/37 lbs the board is quite heavy. Although it does not feel heavy on the water.
With the dagger the board goes upwind quite well !!!
So far , so good ... May make it as my lake board - not so sure about for others - like newbees.
Need to leave the MS 490 mast ?? Ideally need a boom to leave @ the chalet too ...
If I leave the mast, then I cannot use the TR-6 8.4 back home ...
Left the mast and qwertyjjj may have a cheap boom for me ...
Picked up the "cheap" old boom from qwertyjj and now just need to put it all together.
had no uphaul nor harness lines ... paid more for harness lines and uphaul than for the boom :-(
BUT the 2017 summer season is quickly drawing to a close ...
means i have about 2-3 months NO windsurfing - after that I go on the ice = woohoo
which was NOT a good season this time btw :-(
it seems Ken Winner was involved in the making , testing or trying to popularize the SL210
it was a little longer and wider - probably a little more stable ...
As mentioned earlier, this board at 37 pounds is HEAVY. Since it is marked as SL and wiped out some other boards from the market, I assumed it would be fast. As I am quite heavy at about 240 lbs/105 kilos ... this board does not glide like some of the other older boards I have had - BIC Dufour, REIX D2, Fanatic Ultra Cat and the Mistral Equipes and as such I am a little disappointed ...
As I was thinking of buying another board and replacing this one, I also came to the idea of bringing the Fanatic Shark 145 to the country. If I am planning on having something for me and not to worry about others ... the Shark would always be a good one to practice with !!
The ideal lake boards so far were the larger longboards - Fanatic CAT and Mistral Equipes ...
The BIC Dufour was okay and fun, but I did beat them up ...
In early 2019 local rivers were flooded in Montreal and so, I went up to the chalet and sailed this board with my GA Flow 3 sail. I had lost some weight - forty (40) pounds actually - in preparation for a hernia operation. The winds were good and the board actually did pretty well. May still get that F2 Lightening for up north just the same :-)
Cleaned the BIC SL200 board and took a pic with a red maple leaf on it in August - early fall ??
Yes, the GoPro mount has been installed and we are just waitin for some wind
in order to make the first BIC SL200 video from joe windsurfer !!!
took a quick vid, but the internet is REALLY, really slow here - 0.6 Mbps upload
that's about 2 hours upload for a 495 MB file - yeah right - probably MUCH longer than that !!
Astro rock was my 2nd shortboard and the first board I ever did a planing jibe on. Amazing.
ReplyDeleteI still use my sister's Veloce 328 to teach small beginners, or for intermediates getting back out on the water:
https://windsurfing-en-provence.blogspot.ca/2017/08/beginners-in-gale.html
I am glad to be rid of my vivace 270 though, that board was too fast / narrow / scary.
The Techno 148 was the official board of the HiHo races in the 1990s - 2012.
https://windsurfing-en-provence.blogspot.ca/2012/07/hiho-windsurfing-week.html
And my Techno 148 is now my foil board. Overall I agree, an amazing family of boards.
Hi
ReplyDeleteReally fun to read this in 2019! I was looking for something else and ended up watching a pic of this board... I had a 200SL back in 1986/1987. I even went to try it in actual waves (south west of France, where I still live today). It had a 5.5 m2 yellow sail, if I'm correct, it was a strange board... With stronger wind (I'd say4/5 bft), it was kind of taking off when going upwind, your were on the edge first, and then it just...took off...
I was able to put my feet in the straps, I can't imagine doing that today on such a board, looking at the pics!
It was supposed to be an "evolution" of the Bic Show, if I'm correct. I'm not sure Ken Winner had anything to do with this board, he was involved in the 750, the "dream board" of Bic in those days! But you needed the waterstart, and I didn't know how to do it.
The board was funny indeed, but I'm quite sure I lost some months riding it, I should have use something better, but it was the less expensive of the so-called funboards of the day!
So in those days, you had the Bic shwo, the worst, then the 200 SL, then the 210S (never saw one!) and the "Ken Winner replica" (750), which was supposed to be a real funboard, I've never tried one.