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beaglebuddy
Joined: 10 Feb 2012 Posts: 1120
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Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 4:32 pm Post subject: |
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isobars wrote: | UrbanFisher wrote: | 1.My biggest concern with the board is that I won't be able to uphaul on it easily. I know this board may be a bit small at first for me, but
2. I would rather gain experience and grow into the board and not out of it.
"When not planing, the size of the board is determined by its volume. This is the weight which can be floated on a board. A 120 litre board will support roughly 120 kilos of weight (including the weight of the board itself and the rig it is carrying). So if you weigh 80kg and the weight of your board and rig is 20kg, you will need 100 litres to float. A 120 litre board will give you 20 litres of positive volume. If you plan spending time off the plane, we would recomend a positive volume of at least 20-30 litres. "
So as I see it the board is 150 liters. At 200 lbs I'm about 90 kilos. So add say 20 kilos for the board and sail weight we are around 110 kilos. That leaves about 40 liters as positive flotation. According to the above, I should be ok then? |
My very tentative, totally uninformed, meaningless guess, based on 32 years of largely full-time WSing ON hundreds of boards AMONG thousands of boards, is ... [color-red]NO!!![/color].
The difference between "floating" (having dry feet when perfectly balanced) and having fun when not planing is something like 50-75 liters, maybe even 100L. I tried to learn on 180L (IIRC; why can't I find that on Google? It may have been 200L.) @190#, and did MUCH better after moving up to a full-sized longboard @ 240L. That 180L board was a dog at my weight when not planing, even though it was Hoyle Schweitzer's original WindsurferŽ. It could even be argued that a Comet is worse than nothing IF its marginal volume discouraged you.
Regarding #1: That is probably your very greatest concern, and although 150L is uphaulable @150, it sure as heck won't encourage you keep at the sport compared to a full sized board.
#2: No, you wouldn't; you just think you do. What you want now is a big, high flotation board that's actually FUN to sail when not planing and will plane sooner: going smaller is counterproductive in every regard for your scenario -- having to drive quite a ways to sail and not living in a very windy area. New boards when I was at your stage cost over $4,000 in today's dollars (my bud's 1980 Mistral Pan-AM board and rig cost him $7,400 in 2012 dollars and he couldn't even jibe), but we bought 'em like popcorn because that's what they cost; your options are far broader and darned near infinitely cheaper.
We expect kids and 20-something jocks with plenty of what they think is disposable income (their definition: $100 left after paying the minimum due on this month's credit card bills) to ignore our advice; their loss. You're older and wiser than that.
If you lived IN Corpus Christi and were retired, I'd say go for the Comet. Endless breezes in the teens and miles of waist-deep water would have you up and running on that thing in a season. But you're ... what? ... two hours away from Bird Island? How often do you want to drive that far only to find insufficient wind to plane on it when you could be planing on 200+ liters? |
I agree with all that but, if he can get it for $20? |
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isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935
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Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 4:55 pm Post subject: |
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beaglebuddy wrote: | f he can get it for $20? |
Then I'd buy it and save it for later, or at least paint across the window in big magic marker block letters:
THIS IS JUST UNTIL I FIND A BIGGER BOARD.
My college roommate once paid 99 cents for a bottle of wine. He tasted it, almost spat it across the room, then chugged it. When I asked him why he drank it if it was so bad, he said "I didn't want to waste the 99 cents".
What if that experience had soured him permanently on wine?
I may be being too harsh on a 150L old-school board for a 200# beginner but, MAN, did my first 240-liter adult-sized longboard really light up my life, and my local lake was only 35 miles away. (I'm trying not to let my advice be swayed by our MANY spring and fall trips to Bird Island on which we couldn't even get a much bigger board planing with a 7.5.) More important may be that very few of us dropped to 150 liters until maybe our 4th or 6th board, if then, despite living in much windier New Mexico. |
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cgoudie1
Joined: 10 Apr 2006 Posts: 2599 Location: Killer Sturgeon Cove
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Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 5:32 pm Post subject: |
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Think of it this way. That comet at your weight, is going to require near
perfect conditions (like a 10-12MPH very steady wind, with no waves)
just so that you can stand on it. Any other conditions will not aid in your
learning and will probably cause a longer learning period. A 200 ltr
long board, on the other hand, would be usable to learn with in 4 to 20
(though 20 would be pretty challenging). Sure 150 ltrs will float you,
but you'll be trying much too hard just to stay on top of the thing to
learn much of anything in the way of windsurfing.
Or, if winds at your local lake average 18-25 continually, you are young, and agile. you might be able to skip the long board part of the learning,
if you had instructors to teach you short board sailing technique.
In my learning process, I stepped down from a 220 ltr board to a 145ltr board after about a year, and I weighed about 170 at the time (and was
young and quick).
Look for something at 180ltrs or better.
-Craig
UrbanFisher wrote: | Thanks for the reply guys. A am sorry for the lame beginners questions, but this has been a great help. My biggest concern with the board is that I won't be able to uphaul on it easily. I know this board may be a bit small at first for me, but I would rather gain experience and grow into the board and not out of it.
I saw this at another site...
"When not planing, the size of the board is determined by its volume. This is the weight which can be floated on a board. A 120 litre board will support roughly 120 kilos of weight (including the weight of the board itself and the rig it is carrying). So if you weigh 80kg and the weight of your board and rig is 20kg, you will need 100 litres to float. A 120 litre board will give you 20 litres of positive volume. If you plan spending time off the plane, we would recomend a positive volume of at least 20-30 litres. "
So as I see it the board is 150 liters. At 200 lbs I'm about 90 kilos. So add say 20 kilos for the board and sail weight we are around 110 kilos. That leaves about 40 liters as positive flotation. According to the above, I should be ok then? |
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roarmoss
Joined: 22 Jun 2010 Posts: 18
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Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 7:50 pm Post subject: |
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Pick it up good board if around 20lbs and every component is in good condition, not omitting mast foot (F2 metal pin) unversal, etc.
Rig looks like the right size.
Acquire proficiency in 12-18 kts with that sail, on bigger board.
Comet is good next step. |
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roarmoss
Joined: 22 Jun 2010 Posts: 18
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Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 8:00 pm Post subject: |
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That Comet possible >170 ltrs (?)
Newer model than pictured in brochure (?). |
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UrbanFisher
Joined: 01 Nov 2012 Posts: 24
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Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 9:11 pm Post subject: |
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Well thanks so much for your replies everyone!
It's kinda with a heavy heart but I am listening to everyone's advice and I'm going to pass on the deal. I guess I was just so excited I was going to jump on it. But I agree if its going to be nothing more than a lesson in frustration, then I am going to take my time and find a more proper setup for me. I guess it's all part of the learning process.
But a couple additional questions/comment...as stated above, are we sure it's 150 liters? As I have been researching it, seems to me the comets were made for quite a few years with different sizes. I asked the seller but he told me he could find no markings listing the liters and that he has no idea.
Also one thing that makes my challenge greater (as I stated earlier) that the bigger boards are being sold as SUP's. Seems many don't give a crap about the rigs, trash them and sell the board for way more than they are worth. That's why I think the smaller boards that are just a bit too small to turn into an SUP are easier to find and much cheaper. |
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isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935
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jingebritsen
Joined: 21 Aug 2002 Posts: 3371
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Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 7:44 am Post subject: |
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the comet was a very narrow choice in an age of very narrow options. only a few people in the beginner stages could make it or the M pandera or malibu work: females below 130 lbs. they seem like railroad ties with nose flip now. might be worthy of windSUP'ing with lots of experiences behind you already. _________________ www.aerotechsails.com
www.exocet-original.com
www.iwindsurf.com
http://www.epicgearusa.com/ |
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U2U2U2
Joined: 06 Jul 2001 Posts: 5467 Location: Shipsterns Bluff, Tasmania. Colorado
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Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 9:35 am Post subject: |
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isobars wrote: | U2U2U2 wrote: | Mistral 1999 Score 104L, converted to a tri fin, can be sailed as 3 or single fin. Comes with 4 fins, and straps. $250.00
Can ship to US. smaller boards as well as newer. |
He's kidding, Fisher. He HAS to be.
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the point IS: there are boards available that don't look like they were retrieved from a dumpster.
Their is also NO reference to the 200 pounds until after my post, considering it was presented in a previous thread, a possibility.
and just think how quickly he would advance to waterstarting _________________ K4 fins
4Boards....May the fours be with you
http://www.k4fins.com/fins.html
http://4boards.co.uk/ |
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isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935
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Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 11:16 am Post subject: |
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U2U2U2 wrote: | just think how quickly he would advance to waterstarting |
On that we agree ... if he hung in there long enough. I tried waterstarting for a couple of years until Kanaha chop forced me to waterstart or go home. OTOH, I sailed many, many sessions those first three years in which there wasn't enough wind to waterstart. Slogging was fun at that stage, at least on big longboards. |
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