HURGHADA ONLINE YOR GUIDE TO HURGHADA

welyonlin · Site Admin Joined: 10 Mar 2008 Posts: 34

The Gear Section

We assume if you are doing this on your own you know how to assemble your gear. But let's go over things enough so you can see the difference and similarities of the gear. We'll also start using terminology that is unique to windsurfing that you will find helpful as you get going.

The board, mast, sail and boom are "parts of the rig." When the parts of the rig are assembled, it is called a "complete rig." Other, small but important parts of the rig are the daggerboard, fin, mast, base, and uphaul. After sailing, it's a good idea to check around and make sure you've picked up the small parts so you won't have to replace them. The following is a brief description of each of these parts, just to get you familiar with what you are looking at when you see a complete rig.

Board. "Long boards" will be "high volume" boards and all long boards have daggerboards. The higher the volume the more they float. Volume ranges from 80 liters to 330 liters. Beginning boards will be long boards with enough volume so that you can float when you stand on them. A "short board," also called a sinker board, does not have a daggerboard and usually sinks slightly underwater when you stand on it. This kind of board is not for beginners. When you buy a board the sales person will probably advise you to buy a board with lower volume, usually in the "transition board" category - that is, a board with a daggerboard with lower volume and length than the board you learned on because you will probably want the lower volume board so that you can go manuever quickly. High volume is best for learning during those first four hours. After that reducing the volume until you find vour favorite board size is a good idea. (But having an extremely low volume board doesn't mean it is a better board - that depends on sailing conditions at the site).

Boards range in length from less than 8 feet to longer than 12 feet. A board about 11'6" is a good beginner board. A transition board will range from 10' to 11,' with considerable options in volume. All of the boards made in the 90's have retractable daggerboards so you can sail without a daggerboard. Sometimes you will see a sinker board sittiing next to a long board, both about the same length. The difference is that the sinker board doesn't have a daggerboard.

Some boards have footstraps, padded "handles" on the top back end of the board that you tuck your toes under to get a good connection to your board. For beginners, you can ignore them for now and just use them as convenient carrying handles. You can even remove them from the board altogether to prevent accidental tripping over them. But keep them in a safe place, because you will want to put them on the board someday.

Mast. Masts are all around 15' to 15'6" and are either two piece or one piece. Two piece masts are preferred by some people because they can be stowed inside a vehicle. Other people prefer one piece, which means they ride on a rack on top of your vehicle. This is just personal preference. Masts are made of a variety of materials from aluminum, to fiberglass and carbon composites and are made to bend at a particular "stiffness" to correspond to a sail type. A lightweight mast is the best to learn on. If you have access to a carbon mast try to use it. A fiberglass mast would be our next choice. Remember,you will bang this equipment around when you are learning so we don't recommend using a friend's brand new carbon mast. With older gear, check to make sure the mast fits in the mast sleeve on the sail. Older gear was not always interchangable among different brands.

Booms. Booms are the U-shaped handles that attach to the mast and go around both sides of the sail. When you set up your equipment, set the boom height to no higher than your collarbone but no lower than your chest area. Boom height is also a matter of personal preference once you get going, but start with the height at this setting.

Booms are made from either aluminum or carbon composites. Aluminum booms are most popular because they are lightweight and durable. They are covered in a foarn grip material for your comfort. The booms should attach to the mast using a clamp system. If it's the old style that ties on, to reduce your frustrations, you should find a clamp on boom instead of trying to figure out how to attach a tie on boom tightly at the right height. Otherwise you will have to find someone who knows how the boom was designed to be attached to the mast and it is difficult to fasten them securely or move them if you want to raise or lower the booms.

Boom length matters when you use different sails with the same mast and boom. The boom needs to adjust inward or outward in length to correspond with smaller or larger sails. Most booms have some manner of adjusting within a certain range of sail sizes. So its important to have a boom that adjusts to the size of your sail.

Sails. Sails in windsuifing are more like wings to a plane than a sail to a sailboat. They have very important built-in features that you will enjoy when you know how to windsurf. As a beginner, you should start out with a "soft sail." A soft sail is basically just that: you can roll it and fold it and it will offer very basic performance on the water. Again, it will help you learn the skills in windsurfing that apply to all levels of windsurfing. Some sails have "battens," fiberglass sticks that stiffen the shape of the sail to help the sail use the wind more efficiently. Some sails also have "cambers" or "camber inducers" to help the sail keeps its shape stable and perform better. Cambered sails are great sails but only use them on your first day out if you have no choice because it can be harder for beginners to rotate the sail when you turn around (don't worry if you don't know what this means, even if you have to use one of these sails the first day out). Sail rotation is automatic with soft sails. But when you buy a sail, you want the kind with battens and you might want one or more cambers. You also need to match the sail to the mast for best performance and ease of assembling.

Sails come in many different sizes and have some variation in shape. The size corresponds generally to the wind speed and the shape corresponds generally to the type of sailing you do. Sails are measured in square meters and typically range from 3.0 (three oh -- the parentheses show how the windsurfers say this) to 9.0 (nine oh). Having three sails, a 4.5 (four five), 5.0 (five oh), and a 6.0 (a six oh) offers a wide sailing range, particularly with newer sails that can be used in wider wind ranges than older designs. Bigger sailors might want bigger sails and correspondingly, smaller sailors might want smaller sails. You get to know this as you learn your sailing style. We know some small people who sail on big sails and know large people who sail on small sails. lt just depends on what you like.

The three basic sail shapes are wave, convertible and slalom. The shapes correspond to the type of sailing conditions you typically sail in. Wave sails are for sailing in waves, slalom sails are generally speed, flat water conditions, and convertible sails cover both types of sailing. You'll learn the type of sail you prefer after you've been sailing a while.

Daggerboard, fins, mast base and uphaul. The daggerboard comes with the board and they do not interchange between board manufacturers. Fins come in many styles, lengths, a couple of materials and a variety of costs. As you learn how to windsurf you will develop a preference on which fin to use in a certain type of condition. Your local shop can advise you on the best board/fin combination for the specific type of sailing you do. The mast base usually comes with the board and some newer bases can be used in different boards. Don't lose this part if you are buying older gear because the part may not longer be available. The last small part is the uphaul. This is a length of thick rope or elasticized fabric that is attached at one end to the boom near the mast and, at the other end, to the mast base. The uphaul is used to lift the sail out of the water.

After you've sailed a few weeks you should try different gear so you will learn your preference on boards, masts and sails. Most shops have demonstration gear or will rent different equipment to you.

An answer to the measurement question: Do windsurfers use metric or English units? Windsurfing is an international sport and uses primarily metric units. In the US, most windsurfers refer to their board length in English units, use metric units for their sail sizes and board volumes and don't answer you if you asked about the lengths of their boom and mast because they're not really sure how long they are.

http://www.windcraft.com/windsurflesson.html