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swchandler
Joined: 08 Nov 1993 Posts: 10588
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Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 6:36 pm Post subject: |
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John,
George designed and manufactured that harness himself. He's not hooked-in in the photo, so you can see the projecting hook at the end. On his booms, he bonded a knobby bike tire piece on the inside of the boom arms so when he hooked in the hook would stay positioned where he wanted it.
There is one sailor here, Charlie Coffee, that still uses George's harness design. Charlie is also one of the few people that has a fairly substantial collection of surfboards and kneeboards that George made. I don't know how Charlie acquired what he has because I have no recollection of George selling his equipment, and everything that he made was made for himself. However, George and Charlie were pretty tight friends. |
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dllee
Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 5330 Location: East Bay
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Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 7:13 pm Post subject: |
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I always thought his chest harness was a mixed up version of a trapeze harness designed for some kind of dinghy racing. Looked really uncomfortable to me compared to a foam chest harness of the time. |
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swchandler
Joined: 08 Nov 1993 Posts: 10588
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Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 2:04 am Post subject: |
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"We all had wave sailing gear, and most of us pinched upwind to sail with the legend. He didn't seem any faster, or jibed any better, than most other windsurfers there....amongst windsurfers who could jibe."
LeeD, I don't know if you're aware of George's stature in the surf culture. While sailing with George, he wasn't one of the back and forth type of sailors. He was more of one those guys that moved around, particularly upwind. I think it's fair to say that he wasn't worried about what folks thought about him. He just did what he wanted to do. Believe me, it was tough to hang with him.
When it comes down to his wave performance at Rincon over the years where I saw him, he stood apart. I can't tell you how deep and fast he could be. He's a legend like no one else. I feel privileged to have known him. |
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nodak
Joined: 13 Nov 2012 Posts: 130
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 6:42 pm Post subject: |
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I sent Gary Stone's GT 75% carbon RDM mast back to Gary Stone at Isthmus Sailboards but had to swallow shipping charges. Not only was it incompatible with a Neil Pryde sail, but it was as heavy as an aluminum tube. A fellow there named John Mussman assured me the sail would work with the Neil Pryde Atlas. Goes to show you the lengths people will go to sell you things. I suppose next time I'll stay away from items being advertised as "great but so underrated".
Got rid of the Neil Pryde Atlas too on account of having no flex-top mast. Boy, did I get a "great deal" on the Atlas though.
Lesson 1 learned: stop buying random shit without prior research.
Lesson 2 learned: stay away from great deals. |
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U2U2U2
Joined: 06 Jul 2001 Posts: 5467 Location: Shipsterns Bluff, Tasmania. Colorado
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 7:40 pm Post subject: |
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I learned a similar lesson with a very bad combo sail/mast, compared to how brilliant it could have been, which was that because the mast is the correct length is not reason enough to believe that the bend curve will work anything like the potential the sail has
The internet/phone sales dept told a like wise tale .. ironic how things repeat themselves
they have lost a shit load sales over the past 5 years _________________ K4 fins
4Boards....May the fours be with you
http://www.k4fins.com/fins.html
http://4boards.co.uk/ |
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nodak
Joined: 13 Nov 2012 Posts: 130
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 8:29 pm Post subject: |
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Most of the items on Isthmus Sailboards are drop-shipped to customers from their vendors. Such was the case with my True Ames fin I had bought through them. Majority of their windsurf boards and SUPs are drop-shipped as well. They claim drop-shipping items prevents potential damage by eliminating the extra shipping. What a bunch of nonsense.
I'm getting neigher a better price nor a more expedient service by buying through them. I'm paying full retail, so I might as well buy direct from the manufacturer rather than a shady retailer with a flashy website. O yea, I'm eliminating a bunch of lies in the process too!
Windsurfing equipment sales is such a fringe business to be in on account of the sport's declining popularity, its seasonal nature, and the slow rate at which folks are replacing their quiver. So why fuck with the customer? |
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w8n4wind
Joined: 12 Nov 2008 Posts: 278 Location: canada
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 10:41 pm Post subject: |
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^^^^^
ive only bought from isthmus once, and found they were great to deal with.
best price on the board i was looking for, aa kona 11 5, inexpensive shipping, and even told me how to act as my own broker to save the brokerage fees.. which also helped with the duty charges.
i was pretty happy with them. _________________ i like longboards. |
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wynsurfer
Joined: 24 Aug 2007 Posts: 940
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Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 8:37 am Post subject: |
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I remember testing masts to find their stiffness and bend curve. I do not remember the exact details, but was easy to do. It simply involved supporting the mast at two points one foot from the base and tip. then hanging a 20 kilo weight I believe from the mid point of the mast, and then measuring the deflection against a straight edge. One could determine the stiffness, and weather it was constant curve, flex top or whatever.
Any one else remember doing this? |
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boardsurfr
Joined: 23 Aug 2001 Posts: 1266
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Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 10:07 am Post subject: |
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nodak wrote: | I bought a 400cm GT Mast recently for my NP 5.4 Atlas. There's hardly no information available on these masts. It is a constant curve. |
When you talk to a sales person on the phone, keep in mind what that person's job is - to sell you stuff. If you have a local shop that you deal with on a regular base, you'll be able to know the person you're dealing with. Unfortunately, stores are few and far in between now, and some of the remaining stores had to shift their emphasis to other things to survive.
When buying through the internet, do your research before you buy. For most sails, a good match between sail and mast (bend curve) is important. "Constant curve" is often misused. NP sails are well known to be on the soft end of the spectrum. Look at the figure on Joe windsurfer's blog post and you'll see it's a mismatch.
Someone working at a windsurf store should know better than to recommend a mast that does not match. It's hard to understand why they stated the GT mast would work with an NP sail, except perhaps that their margins in selling GT masts are probably higher than their margins on other masts, since it's a house brand. The same would be true for the GT sails, and for things like RRD boards where Isthmus is both importer and retailer.
All that said, I have to say that I'm not a big fan of NP sails even on the right masts. Maybe 8-10 years backs, I liked their sails, but all NP sails I used when renting in the past 3-4 years were just ok, or worse. I have been much more impressed by sails from several other brands (North, Gaastra, KA). |
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gstone
Joined: 31 Jul 2006 Posts: 5
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Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 2:21 pm Post subject: GT masts plus thoughts on other posts in this thread |
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My name is Gary Stone and I am the owner of Isthmus Sailboards. We created the GT mast line to have a properly matched mast for our GT sails as well as a very competitively priced mast to offer other sailors. We purchase these masts directly from the manufacturer in Europe. Many other major brands produce their masts at this same factory. By removing one or two layers of distribution we can offer this mast at a lower price while not making any sacrifice to performance.
To get the most performance out of any sail you want to use the exact mast that sail was intended for. It is not always clear exactly what curve each and every mast is from every supplier and they also change over time. Our intent is to always deliver a suitable combination of mast and sail. IF YOU ARE NOT PLEASED WITH THE RESULTS WE WILL MAKE IT RIGHT.....PERIOD.
We are in the windsurfing business because we are passionate about windsurfing. Yes we are salesman....but our goal is to set you up with gear that you are going to love for a competitive price that fits within the budget you choose and provide convenient timely delivery. This formula has worked for us for 28 years. We believe in satisfied customers.
Regarding our warehouse and inventory, it is not true that we drop ship most of our orders though we do drop ship a few of them if we do not have the item in our warehouse. Right now we have hundreds of new windsurfing boards, sails, masts, booms, fins, wetsuits, mast bases, extensions etc in our warehouse. Our total inventory runs in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. We try very, very hard to have every single item in stock someone wants right when they want it....we do a very good though not perfect job of meeting this goal.
I welcome any and all feedback at any time. Please don't hesitate to email me directly at gstone@isthmussailboards.com
Kind regards,
Gary Stone |
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