Mistral SLE 303

It is now Spring 2024 (with snow in April) and I cannot believe that I have not put up a post about my Mistral SLE 303 yet !?!

This board was supposed to prepare me for the StarBoard iSonic 117W and I did/do NOT care if i bust(ed) it up. That too is a special board and rips !! Was looking for fins to put on that iSonic ...

When I saw a Mistral SLE 303 for sale with the slalom fin, I purchased the fin with the board for less than $100 in 2016. The fin is marked as 46, but measures at 44 and I fixed it up with some MarineTex and then some black paint after ...

Could not find any black paint and so put some grey primer and sanded it again with 400 grit. It is NOT perfect, but ready for the first trials !

Just realized, looks like it had a sunken mast track way back then !!

Here it is - compared to the AHD SL2 132

In 2023 I was wondering if I should sell this board? Tested it & I am keeping it!

https://QuebecWind

    pas besoin de garder notre petite fille parce que ma fille est malade
    WooHoo - il y a du vent
    Ooops = ma fille a besoin d’aide …
    Elle reste à Rawdon = pas loin du chalet
    Woohoo = qu’est-ce que je vais faire ?? ma femme a resté avec eux 
    Je vais sortir la planche 1997 Mistral SLE 303 qui j’ai acheté en 2016
    Mais PAS utilisé souvent = resté au chalet
    J’ai amené 2 ailerons DT - Mistral slalom 44 et Select 48
    La voile va rester 1998 GAastra Flow-3 avec 7 m² qui j’ai acheté en 2009
    Le mât ?? NP CC 490/90 = oui CC en bas et flextop en haut lol
    Et le vent ? est sud 15 à 30 km h pour la session en matin
    Quand le vent a monté à 35/40 km h je suis sorti encore
    C’est FUN fun !!
    Je ne vend PAS la planche lol ni la voile roflmao

"The board is 303cm long and 62cm wide. This is the board with the steps in the hull that I believe was shaped by Mathias Holmberg for Mistral in the late nineties. It was in the beginning of the course slalom-era and the 303 was superseded by the 311 which was more course oriented." from the www lol

Not sure which model of the SLE the board in this video is ...

 

SLE stands for Special Limited Edition. When I purchased the board, the seller marked it as 140 liters. Based on readings in the past, I had marked it as maybe 159 liters ...Supposed to be 7.8 kilos and VERY fast - has won races. The sail range is something like 6.5-9.5... However, anticipate best with 7.0-8.5 range...

 Board has a special shaping on the bottom ...

What about the year ??  The SLE 297 seems to be from around 1997.. and that seems to correspond with the arrival of the SLE line ...

I still to verify if the fin box is tuttle / TT or deep tuttle / DT !!

Here is a slalom racer (I presume), Maciek Rutkowski (Polish, I presume) taking an SLE 78 out for a ride, no WAIT; racing against his buddies and beating them @ the pro level with THAT board !!