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UrbanFisher



Joined: 01 Nov 2012
Posts: 24

PostPosted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 11:00 am    Post subject: Old Board Help Reply with quote

Hey All,

Well my first post was about me wanting to re-start in the sport of windsurfing. I mentioned in my past that I had money problems affording a board in my younger years and much has changed since then. Except for my lack of funds! Now it doesn't matter how much I make because my ex-wife and her lawyer make sure they get their cut!

So anyway I am starting on the extreme cheap. I figured I could find an old board that was going to waste in someone's garage for next to nothing. I put a wanted ad in Craig's List and been watching what has being offered. Most of the old beginners boards are being sold as SUPs. I guess they are playing the popularity of SUP to get more for their old boards. Some of them are in pretty bad shape and they are wanting anywhere from $250-$500! I also found some full set up's but some seemed to be missing critical parts (like u-joints on a board that is 20 years old).

So I found one that really interest me and I wanted to get some feed back if I could. Now I know boards have improved tremendously since the 80' and 90's, but I figured if those old boards worked then, they should work now. I found a guy selling an old F2 Comet. I have pictures, but not sure how to post them. It's 11' long and is the full set up (sail, mast, boom, board, dagger board) as in a ready-to-sail board. I don't have the volume or the sail size, but in pictures it looks like a nice setup. And the best part is it looks like I can get it for around $75.00.

I'm sure the volume on this board is not as much as to true "big" beginners board so it may hinder to me at first. I also understand that the newer designs are much better for learning than say and old F2 Comet. But I see it as something to learn and toy around with while I decide if I do want to spend more serious money on newer gear. Also in my searching I saw a lot of individual boards and sails for sale, but not a complete set. I figured at least I have a full setup and then can expand to other sails and boards as I Learn.

So would this board be ok for me to start learning on? I mean for $75.00 I really don't have a lot to lose in it. And I know there may be better choices, but when your budget is around $100.00 (for a ready-to-sail board) and your looking for garage finds, it can make the search just a bit more challenging!

Any input anyone wants to offer would be greatly appreciated.

I think I figured the picture part out...







Last edited by UrbanFisher on Mon Nov 05, 2012 11:22 am; edited 1 time in total
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U2U2U2



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

PostPosted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 11:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote





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.

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boardsurfr



Joined: 23 Aug 2001
Posts: 1266

PostPosted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 11:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd say go for it. The F2 Comet was a nice board in its times, and will get you started again. Try to figure out the size. The Comets were made in different length, including 315 and 330. I think the 315 was 149 l, which is ok for light weights, but could be a bit challenging for a 200+ lb guy. The longer boards will have a bit more volume. If you can't find anything on the board, use a tape measure - 315 is the length in cm.

Newer, wider equipment might make your life easier, but will cost more, so you'd have to be very lucky to find something that fits your budget.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 12:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.

As for the Superlight at $849 in San Antonio ... THEY've got to be kidding. I recently saw one go for $75, looking virtually unused from sail cap to daggerboard. SURELY you can do better than that Comet (mighty small*), especially given your proximity to a coast.

*
At your 200#, 150 liters would really stifle a beginner. I suspect 200-240L would be much more useful, and there should be plenty of them around dirt cheap. Even if Superlights really are being reincarnated as SUPS, many owners don't know that, and that's just one example among many suitable boards.
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swchandler



Joined: 08 Nov 1993
Posts: 10588

PostPosted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 1:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

UrbanFisher,

For $75.00 the F2 Comet is a steal, particularly since it appears to be in such good shape. I definitely would go for it. Although it's a bit small to easily learn on for your weight, it would be a great board after you get a little experience under your belt. After picking up the Comet, I would recommend continuing to look for a bigger higher volume board that would help get you through the initial learning stages.
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UrbanFisher



Joined: 01 Nov 2012
Posts: 24

PostPosted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 1:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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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dllee



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

PostPosted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 2:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

While I Comet can float you just fine, your ability to actually sail it might be a different story.
Lots of 200 lbs beginners cannot sail a 160 liter board whatsoever.
Lots of advanced 200lbs'er think they float a 110 liter board easily.
Just what level are you?
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swchandler



Joined: 08 Nov 1993
Posts: 10588

PostPosted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 2:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

UrbanFisher, while the Comet would float you enough to slog if you had reasonably good skills, the problem learning the basics is its width. At 26", or 66cms wide, the board will be very very tippy, and that fact makes things extremely challenging at best. Even if you could locate an F2 Lightening like the one pictured above, it is quite narrow too, so even it would still make it tough. Modern boards tend to be quite a bit wider, and that makes them far more stable for those learning.

However, I'm not trying to discourage you. I think that you should pick up the Comet anyway as a longer range strategy. Frankly though, you're going to need a board somewhere in the range of 200-240 liters to get down the basics. I don't know if you've spent much time visiting any of the local sailing sites in your area, but you just might be able to run into a fellow sailor that has a beginning board that they could lend you for a short time. Most windsurfers are looking for more folks to share the stoke, so they are far more focused on helping newcomers. You would be surprised what a good 12 pack can do.
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beaglebuddy



Joined: 10 Feb 2012
Posts: 1120

PostPosted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 2:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would low ball them on the price, offer $20, most likely yours will be the only offer and they just want it gone.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 4:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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 ... NO!!!.

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?


Last edited by isobars on Mon Nov 05, 2012 4:38 pm; edited 1 time in total
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