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Sails for kids and Old gear
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CFLPaul



Joined: 01 Nov 2012
Posts: 11

PostPosted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 9:18 am    Post subject: Sails for kids and Old gear Reply with quote

Greetings.......first post on a windsurfing forum. Hope to get some good information. Typed this up yesterday but screwed up when I went to create my account......guess all is good now.

In a previous life (single, no kids, spare time….the early 90’s) I spent a LOT of time sailing either windsurfing or Hobie 16. Now my son has gotten bitten by the sail bug and I need some assistance with the new gear. Let me say right off the bat that our family is in a financial crisis until my wife gets another job so I am very budget conscious / restrained.

Anyway, my son picked up an old O’Brien Sensation rig at a charity auction last week. This past weekend I got him set up with my old small sail and boom, but it proved to be too much for him. Not to mention the gear really is ancient…..probably made in the late 80’s. He did windsurf at a camp so he does know the basics, but I don’t think he has the strength to pick up my old sail (4.5?m2 and 20+ years old). Here are some specifics:

Picked up and old O’Brien Sensation beginners board
He is 13 years old, and while he is strong for his size at 75 lbs he is one of the smaller kids in his grade
Regularly have winds up to 15 mph and more.

I have been scouring everywhere I can think of to pick him up a suitable smaller sail, unfortunately I am unsure of an appropriate size (2.0, 3.0 ?). I assume I would need to pick up the mast and boom with it also.

Any direction would be appreciated.
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Sailboarder



Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Posts: 656

PostPosted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 1:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have 3 kids and one of the girls is 12 and 80 pounds. She used this year a 3.2 and a 2.5 depending on the wind. At 75 pounds, the recommended sail would be a 2.5. However, if your son is a bit strong, you might go with the 3.2 right away.

Bear in mind that for them to go from 2.0 to 3.0 is like the change from 4.0 to 6.0 for us, it's a big step.

As they spend a lot of time uphauling the sail, the key is to have a very light rig. We have an Ezzy kit (2.0 and 2.5) and a Gun Sails kit (3.2). Both have mast made of an aluminium pole, about RDM mast diameter. The booms are kids booms too. Very light and not solid enough to be used by adults. Chinook sells new one for 100$. The sails are made of monofilm. All this makes for very llight rigs, but the kids can still struggle with their weight.

If you cannot find such kit at a low enough price, you might be able to build it yourself. I'v read here somewhere here that you can modify a sail for that purpose. You can start with an old free sail, without battens and made of dacron. It will be light enough. You then need a decent pole as a mast and there your go! You might also be able to shorten an old boom. Some of them were quite light as they were not stiff enough for modern use.

I could give you more details if you want to follow that road.
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CFLPaul



Joined: 01 Nov 2012
Posts: 11

PostPosted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 2:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks, I may take you up on the more details offer. As I was watching him trying to uphaul and remembering how frustrating it was. I thought to myself that I need to get him something else......I want someone to windsurf with.

I have not been to any shops yet as they seem the be few and far between and this pesky job keeps getting in the way of my fun time (kidding of course). I just did a search and it looks like there may be a used Aerotech Future 3.5 within and hour of my house. I also found a used 2.1, but thought it might be too small. Something like this might wind up in the same room as the Chtistmas tree.

I do understand what you mean about the jump in sail size though. I have really just started looking, this wasn't even on my radar a week ago, but I am VERY excited about the possibility of having a windsurf buddy again and I really don't want to mess it up by getting him something that is just frustrating.
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Sailboarder



Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Posts: 656

PostPosted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 4:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Aerotech Future is probably a better sail than ours, but it is also probably heavier and may require a "real" mast. (The mask is required to bend in position.) You can ask Aerotech. The aluminium mast is not required to bend in the Ezzy and Gun sails. However these sails are meant to be used in light winds.

I bought from Aerotech a 4.0 for my wife, the WindSUP. It is also available in 3.2 for 170$. I think they also require a real mast. For my wife, I ended
up cutting a old one-piece 460 to 350 and use the top part. It works allright but having the real 370 mast would be better. The sail is great for learning however since you can feel the wind much better than with any wavesail. This kit is cleary heavier than the Gun too.

I will send you pictures of the masts and explanations to help you build one if required.
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dllee



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 5328
Location: East Bay

PostPosted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 4:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Half the sail size for sure.
15+ is not for novices, go out earlier in the day when the breeze is 3.
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SeaDawg



Joined: 12 Sep 2002
Posts: 384

PostPosted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 8:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Keep a look out on E-bay and CL there is tons of WS gear around. My son took an early interest in WS. I bought a 2.2 Goofy sail via Mistral and cobled together a Mast 1" Alum stock from Home Depot and a cheep boom. He was 7 or 8 at the time. The board was a 100lt Priester from the late 80's. He jumped to a 3.0 Hot Spider Wave very quickly and then to my Ezzy 4.5 Wave.

We had lots of trips to the OBX and he made progress very quickly by 9 or 10 he could handle 15-20 on 4.5 and 5.0, I know by 13 he lived on a 6.0 Hot Stealth from around 2000.

He's 20 now and can sail rings around the old man, best part of WS'ing for me has been sharing my passion for the sport with my boy.

I moved along my kid gear to another "Dad" last year.
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U2U2U2



Joined: 06 Jul 2001
Posts: 5467
Location: Shipsterns Bluff, Tasmania. Colorado

PostPosted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 9:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have just fitted a 8YO , the entire rig.
I think that a 13YO would NOT fall into the same category, 75lbs seems light to me.

I would recommend a Hot Sails youth sail, or even the regular Superfreak in small size

this the youth version: a Micro Freak :

http://www.hotsailsmauishop.com/microfreak-2-6-c123-2.aspx

used sails here, lots of small ones, would say 3.0 or under on size.

http://www.hotsailsmauishop.com/usedsails.aspx

contact Chris at Hot Sails and tell him what you are looking for:
chrisHSM freeman(chris@hotsailsmaui.com)

this is the rig components without sail :

http://www.hotsailsmauishop.com/rigs-1.aspx

***********************************
Ezzys kids rig is a possibility, http://www.ezzy.com/sails/kids-rigs/

but I think this is too small for your 13YO.

Of course you will have to deal with a smaller mast and boom, the small regular (adult ) booms go down in size to around 135cm , which is about what you need.

you can PM, private message me if you would like any more info.

the EBay suggestion is good, the kids rigs DO come up from time to time on there, as well check the buy sell classifieds here on IWindsurf.

_________________
K4 fins
4Boards....May the fours be with you

http://www.k4fins.com/fins.html
http://4boards.co.uk/
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CFLPaul



Joined: 01 Nov 2012
Posts: 11

PostPosted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 8:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yea he is one of the smaller ones ….. and he has only been 13 for a couple of weeks so its also a young 13. He just told me it was 80lbs so I guessed a little light too.

You are right that the winds were too strong. He was just so excited to try it out I let him go ahead….even though I knew it would be too much. Sandy was doing the damage 800 miles north of us and we still had a good blow from her. The winds had let down to 15knots and my small sail was actually 4.8……probably a good thing he couldn’t pick it up.

So I was able get him to a rental shop and had him pull up a rigged 3.5. Seemed like it would be a good fit (in more reasonable winds for his skill level) and now I am going to keep an eye out for something like that. This had the RDM mast and everything. They may even have some at a place close by too, but there is still the one that's and hour away.

The wind was really light today and I rigged up the sail again. I was able to spend more time to set it up right and got the boom as low as I could, but it was still a little over the top of his head. Sounds like I am going to have to get something more specific for him, or start looking at making some mods.

I really appreciate the tips. I would write more, but am getting pulled away……I’ll be back.
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CFLPaul



Joined: 01 Nov 2012
Posts: 11

PostPosted: Wed Nov 07, 2012 5:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So now I've got a good idea on what to look for and some places to look....Thank you.

We had time on Sunday (the day after the post above) and I put on a different sail I found digging through my stuff. I don't remember where I got it from, but it is a bit smaller than my 4.8. Does anybody know anything about it.......it is a North Sails Sinker line? The winds were more appropriate too at < 5knts

This was as low as I could mount the boom.......right for me, but way too high for him.



I also can't get the boom tight on the mast and it actually is better for him because it rotates down.



Thanks for the help.....hope to hang around here more often now.
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SeaDawg



Joined: 12 Sep 2002
Posts: 384

PostPosted: Wed Nov 07, 2012 5:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That looks really awkward. Very high clew and sloppy boom fitting. It will make it hard for your son to control the rig.

A newer 2000 era 3.0-4.0 wave would be better. I extended the cut out another 3-4 in. on the 3.0 my son used so the boom was lower.
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