Translator from GOOGLE

Fanatic Ultra CAT Repair

My Fanatic Ultra Cat/FUC board was dying: {especially after a major catapult}





An initial attempt was made to "fill the hole":


Now i will use Mr Ed's comments - he is the one who continued the repair(S)...

"The gray stuff sanded well and I filled the gaps with an epoxy mix and applied a fiberglass patch."


"Once the glass patch's epoxy hardened at bit a layer of glass was epoxied over the bow.  Its easy to trim the excess when the epoxy is half set."


"Here a 'fill in the weave' coat of epoxy with a mix of graphite and white pigment has been painted on."

 
  "with a second fill coat.  I was not aiming for perfection here - just a usable board."


 "After taking off the foot straps it was apparent the the attachment points need some love."


 "Some of the attachments were easy to pry out..."


"The old attachment area was filled with epoxy, then with thickened epoxy and the hardware. The old battery is keeping thing flat.  There was quite a soft spot here so the hope is that the epoxy will fill some of the gaps and harden things up."


 "Here is what it looks like after the weight is removed"





 "This one was in really bad shape.  Not much was holding this on in."


 "Here I filled coated the inside of the hole and the insert with epoxy, then added lots of thicked epoxy into the hole, and applied weight."


 "After the repair before sanding."


 "Here I've added a fiberglass patch to make the area stronger and to help keep the attachment points in the board"


 "And a layer of fiberglass over the rear.  You can see the piece of patch over the rear repair through the second layer of glass."


 "I was using scraps from my boat building - here you can see where two pieces overlap."




 "With two fill coat applied things look okay and the board is in better shape."


All I can say is it looks AMAZING and water ready. It was a rotten old board before - that only survived because of its flotation - due to over 200 liter volume.

BIG THANKS to Mr. Ed and someone who wishes to remain nameless - who both helped IMMENSELY getting this project "afloat" !!!!

Got my baby CAT back home today. Mr. Ed suggested I wait another day or so before putting it back in the water. 

put the foot protector {from the carbon centre board} back on

then wrapped it like a baby in swaddling cloth {sound like an idiot trying to be cool :-) }





















For sure this means dew forms on the bag - we have foggy mornings ...




















When attaching the footstraps some went better than others - was obliged to MarineTex one set :-(


Here is the FIRST test run on the local river with a NorthSails Duke 6.9.
Ideally should have been 8.x, but i donut trust the flimsy mast base...





As I indicated earlier, the deck was slippery where the graphite was applied. Ed, the boat builder, says this is "normal". I was contemplating the application of Chinook ReDek, but was unsure how this would take. Since I also wanted to get a more uniform look... I decided to apply strips of anti-skid tape, which i use in the winter on the snow sleds as well. Here is the final look - just need to test with bare feet on the water now ...


The problem with this "traction paper" is - it is great for winter where there is ice n snow, but in the summer it stays like rough sandpaper for quite some time = danger ... Likes to eat skin - like here: {this photo was taken one week after the "incident"}


Board was sold in spring of 2016

2014 Quiver for various winds in Light Wind Location

Analysis of last year's sessions has shown that I used the long board quite often and the Free Formula not often enough.

I try not to go out unless 20 kph wind is announced and confirmed on at least two(2) sites. Like most obsessive windsurfers, I have too much equipment and yet always seem to be looking for more. When winds get over 20 knots I tend to stay close to shore for safety reasons ...

1) My longboard is a Mistral Equipe I LCS-XR which is NOT a full out race board like the Equipe II, Phantom 377, etc. More like a hybrid that glides VERY well. I call it it MEQ for short.This board will be the most difficult to replace and it is also hard to match modern sails with longboards now.


2) My Free Formula is a BIC Techno Formula/BTF which is 94 cm wide and as such is NOT a Formula board. If I ever need to replace this one, it will be a JP SLW 92 of 165 liters. This was done end of 2014 - sold the BTF in two(2) days and purchased the JP...


3) My large free-ride is an AHD FastForward 160 liter/79 cm. Many good boards in this category. As a replacement I would probably go for a Fanatic Shark 150. Since writing this ... Two people I know very well and work with have both purchased the SHARK 150 LTDs that I recommended to them !! from 2-rad


4) My mid-size free-ride is an older Fanatic BEE LTD of 124 liters, but only 63 cm wide. This range has plenty of great boards, but i look at the Rocket 125 as a potential replacement...


I numbered the boards to show that yes, i have and use four(4) different boards.

My sails (that I use) are also too numerous to count ... I run from fully cambered sails like MauiSails TR-4 10-oh, TR-6 8.4 and an old Gaastra Flow 3x 7-oh down to a non-cambered HotSailsMaui Fire 6.3 that goes on an RDM mast. Since 7.x and 8.x sails are my most used, I have a junker MS-2 8-oh where i removed the cambers + added layers of monofilm tape and a newly acquired North Sails Duke 6.9 that I also mount on the PX RDM 460. For bigger winds and choppy conditions I prefer lighter sails and am tending towards non-cambered now ...
...Time will tell....
(Since I stay under 25 knots, the 6.3 is the smallest sail I use - even in the winter on the ice)

Unfortunately, as a working family man, I don't get to go on windsurf vacations and must go locally when i can... Sometimes that means getting a quick session after work on the local river using the MEQ. And so, I built myself this table to ensure I will NOT get skunked. This year I will bring the MEQ longboard at all times...

announce if less right on if more sails masts fins
20 kph MEQ BTF MEQ 8.4 and 10-oh 490 & 520 trimm
20-40 kph MEQ AHD MEQ 8.4 & 7-oh 490 48 cm
30-50 kph MEQ MEQ BEE 8.4, 7-oh & 6.9 490 & 460 40 cm
40-60 kph MEQ BEE BEE 6.9 & 6.3 RDM 460 40 & 32 cm

btw..
The reason there are such LARGE boards AND sails is - i am NOT average weight,
but rather a heavyweight of over 105 kilos !!
So, it is NOT just due to the light winds !!!

Update: It is now June 2014 and there are some quiver adjustments ... The Fanatic Ultra CAT has been repaired and have new addition -- HSM SPF 8.5 aka HotSailsMaui SpeedFreak 8.5. The FUC board is left at the chalet as my go-to board there. The HSM SPF 8.5 is for the same winds as the TR-6 8.4 except for more choppy conditions since the sail is MUCH lighter... So, 20-40 kph and 30-50 kph will mean bringing BOTH 8.x sails... justin case ...

Wind Weapon = Original KiteWing way back in 1989 ??

Ok, I wrote about the Wing Sails or Power Foils which had/have a double sided sail AND there seemed to be little or NO interest ... I guess if the current sails are working, why go to more trouble ? Weight and cost are obvious issues.

Another concept that may be coming of interest is the hydrofoil. We'll see where that goes and IF.

There is a sail called a kitewing that I wrote about in the winter section more than once. It is more rare that we hear about them on the water. However, it is NOT unheard of - as seen here...

from kitewingUSA


And so, I thought this was a fairly new concept - especially on water. And then I found this on youtube and it suggests the original ideas for the kitewing have been around for a long, long time. Tom Magruder was an avid windsurfer and his buddy, Robert Groule was a hang glider.


The main difference is that the wing machine was attached to the board. Now they are using smaller boards and NO attachment. This looks a great deal like the current "kitewing". Is there a link? Nowadays we do NOT see anyone with a kitewing and windsurf board... We also do not all have Gorge like conditions ...

Perhaps it is just history re-inventing or repeating itself ?

In the film "The Windsurfing Movie II" Kai Lenny tried the wind weapon of the 80's...
https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=450359371376
No idea how long that link will be good.

Here's another youtube with Tom Magruder:



Found a youtube video where they assemble and sail a kitewing with a board.
Even as a windsurfer, I am asking myself - would i even try that ??


Personally feel these kite wings are best suited to land and ice/snow...
There are plenty of videos on that - just search google, youtube, vimeo, etc ....

Jump forward to 2023 and now windwings are VERY popular - especially with foils !!




It also looks like a German tried to redo the "wind weapon" in 2017 !!



Wing sails aka Power Foil Sails = Powerful Sails ??

The very first time i heard about these sails and became interested was around June 2004 when i read an article in the now defunct American Windsurfing Magazine on page 80 entitled "Windsurfing's Nostradamus?" The article was about an innovator named George Greenough. In 1984 apparently he was already using skinny masts, wide boards for early planing and carbon booms. It seems he always was and still is a "surfer at heart" - was in California  - still down in Australia - ??
http://www.georgegreenough.com/George_Greenough/Home.html

In that Windsurfing Magazine article there was also a mention of the "double surface sail with unique interlocking battens". Now this I had NEVER seen nor heard of before. I expected this innovation to eventually become a reality, but i had NOT anticipated that it would take over 15 years !!!
George was using this sail around 1990 - as per article... and enclosed photo:

 

Dan Kasler originally of Gaastra sails has already dabbled in the idea. This seems to have been around 2004. There were inflatable chambers that were aligned horizontally inside the sail. Never went into production.
http://www.olypen.com/dkaseler/inflatable.htm



In the race sailboats these are more solid structures:



I choose that video because they are using a SOFT sail and the narrative is a GOOD description...

Kites have been using tubes for some time and here is a video showing the power AND de-power


With all this activity in this innovation - why has this NOT gone into production ?? Here are some discussions... The obvious factors seem to be weight and cost. There is an element of transportability as well. How convenient or inconvenient is it to transport and rig ??

http://www.star-board.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5573

http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/sailboats/anyone-familiar-powerfoil-sails-603.html

Now it seems a Russian innovator in N.E. USA is getting ready to go in production !!! What one can see in the photo below is 1) he has a dog :-) and 2) the tubes are going the other way - vertical to the water. In this forum discussion he discusses some issues that were overcome and how confident he is that this is going to be the sail / foil to beat !!!


http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Review/Wing-sail-one-step-up/?page=1



As Geritt mentions in the comments, there is a lengthy discussion on the Dutch forum as well, If you clique the link, it will b translated:
http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&u=http://forum.windsurfing.nl/viewtopic.php%3Ff%3D62%26t%3D13886865&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://forum.windsurfing.nl/viewtopic.php%253Ff%253D62%2526t%253D13886865%26biw%3D1525%26bih%3D702

There are other interesting photos as well:
"Although this sail was easy to rig, properly rotated, easy to trim it became nothing" <-- translation


Windsurfing has many aeronautic influences - example: James Drake. Foils seem to be a prevalent thought - from aviation. Sometimes tiny innovations on previous accepted concepts goes a LONG way. Now that the loose leech has been around for many years, it is becoming difficult to find a longboard sail with a traditional tight leech in North America !! Foot straps revolutionized wave sailing, bump n jump, free style, etc. How did people ever sail without a harness ? Perhaps the air bladder is only needed in a wide luff sail ?? This would save me from breaking my back when i try to uphaul a race sail :-) Maybe I should shove a noodle up the wide luff ?? :-)
In any case , these ideas like wing sails/power foils have been around and previously attempted.
Let's wish this fellow lots of luck and hope one day we will all benefit !!!!

Well, now there is more action on this front in 2017. MW wing sails seem to be available from New Jersey and are being discussed on the windsurf forums:

https://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Review/Wingsail-reality?page=1#6

http://www.iwindsurf.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=33027&sid=a85d2c505d5a5fd79ce2d5509081ad34

Here is the rigging video:



People are happy about the innovation of MW sails, but are saying what is missing is the PR and marketing. Need more comparisons and buy-in from windsurf professionals. Videos on the water are not that great either. Will post one just the same ...



For me, the largest sail @ 5.8 m² seems a bit small. In the above video she is using a 4.5 m² MW windwing sail in about 17 knots of wind. I probably weigh twice as much as her and usually use an 8,5 sail in those wind ranges. What would I use in the windwing format ? surely MORE than 5.8 !!
MW sails are saying 225 pound customer can plane in 19 mph winds with the 5.8. That's ONLY 16.5 knots !! time will tell - waiting for more data ... but am not a skeptic ...