Azuli, im back windsurfing after a 25year break. Race board is the way. I dont course race. Just use my 26yo Speed F1 for blasting etc. 5-25kts so MUCH easy fun. Hopefully rebuilding another Speed SR250L shortly. Long live the raceboard
These ol boards can get up n go. In 15-18kts wind i Regularly reach 23-25kts on my gps. Awesome.

have had my share of longboards and raceboards ...
currently sail a Mistral Equipe 2 XR carbon
read the article and am surprised BIC did not jump on the raceboard wagon
feel they are as BIG an influence on the windsurf industry as Starborg
and they typically made affordable boards ie not expensive AND not fragile
hope the UK revival helps rekindle the flame worldwide
locally there is NOT much longboard NOR Kona representation
me on my MEQ, Sailboarder on his KONA, Ittiandro on his BIC WindSUP and perhaps one RRD LongRider
there was ONE local on a Phantom, but is was sold to someone who sails on a lake in cottage country ...

kites ARE taking over here BIG time
since i was with a newbie on Sunday, I was in closer to shore than usual
ran into a kite and got my toe wrapped with a kite line - luckily no strong wind to make kite take off with my toe
hopefully WindSUP, KONA, WindFoil, and raceboards will bring windsurfing BACK into the limelight !!!

Beautiful set up in the photo. The Speed 250 is an awesome board. I think I might still have a Pro-am somewhere. I wish the Speed 250 was a one design class actually. They won't beat a Phantom nowadays but they are so graceful to sail on the rail upwind.

olskool said..
Da vecta, im surprised the SPEEDS never got registered for official racing. Shame. Great locally made board. Im no board builder, but id love to make a new millenium series. Im sure thered be a reasonable market for them. Mistral Lightning Speed Cobra Eliminator etc choose yr fave hull n have it reproduced. Gotta be someone out there who can build em economically. Maybe thats my new business. Hmmm.

took mine for a run today, there were sail boards every where,(3). the speed is definitely not as fast as the eliminator in the light winds ,but a lot easier to gybe and overall easier to sail, still not sure if it is heavy with water, the new gaskets work good as well

.be

olskool said..
Da vecta, im surprised the SPEEDS never got registered for official racing. Shame. Great locally made board. Im no board builder, but id love to make a new millenium series. Im sure thered be a reasonable market for them. Mistral Lightning Speed Cobra Eliminator etc choose yr fave hull n have it reproduced. Gotta be someone out there who can build em economically. Maybe thats my new business. Hmmm.

I suggest you send an email to : [email protected] and request they include the relevant models of SPEEDS with the necessary specifications that they call up at the table shown below



Surely they should allow it since it was a production board series made in Australia albeit some time ago. I would suggest it would be appropriate they issue a waiver for it since it was a production board raced in Australia in the 1980s and 1990s. I am sure you can make some compelling submissions with a dossier of the required information and if necessary seek any waivers which I believe are justified in the Australian market. Ceri Williams (I think a relative of Ross Williams) was someone I corresponded with to get the Mistral Equipe LCS XR 1986-88 on the list and is fairly helpful in my experience.

Grich62, my SPEED F1 weighs 16.4kg with Dakine Primos, centreboard n 39cm fin. Pretty light but fragile. Great to sail.The IMCO is definately tougher, slightly comfier stance in the straps (good deck profile). Probably a bit smoother thru chop. ( lower volume in tail,softer rail).But doesnt get going as early or rail as sweetly as the F1.

grich62 said..

BSN101 said..

grich62 said..

olskool said..
Da vecta, im surprised the SPEEDS never got registered for official racing. Shame. Great locally made board. Im no board builder, but id love to make a new millenium series. Im sure thered be a reasonable market for them. Mistral Lightning Speed Cobra Eliminator etc choose yr fave hull n have it reproduced. Gotta be someone out there who can build em economically. Maybe thats my new business. Hmmm.

took mine for a run today, there were sail boards every where,(3). the speed is definitely not as fast as the eliminator in the light winds ,but a lot easier to gybe and overall easier to sail, still not sure if it is heavy with water, the new gaskets work good as well

.be

What size sail were you on? And board sails that the others were using.
Cheers

i was using a 9.5 loft race board sail ,the others were on a jp funstar with a 7.0 and alan had his north 6.3 and short board .alan gets going in light winds and he could only plain a little while ,winds were light

same day hit a mud bank

Rahal said..
Hi, you guys see to know your race boards.
Can anyone please tell me whether the late 90's shorter longboards like the Fanatic bee 317 or F2 Phoenix 320 have any advantages over the full length race boards like the Fanatic Cats or Mistral Equipe?
I have a Fanatic Cat but i'm tempted to buy one of these shorter boards but i'm not sure if they have any advantages.

only if you are very small ,we have a bic salsa ,200 l 3.3 long,it will not go up wind as fast as a race board or point as high due to its length but is faster of the wind and easy to gybe and tack with a small person riding it.i used this board to get back into sailing as i could up haul and it plains easy as my bulk had increased.they tend not to be as good as a short board to gybe as the the longer rails can catch.the center boards are also smaller than a race board.i think they shine with a 70 kg or less rider although i am 126kg and still can have fun on this board in 15 knt winds

Rahal said..
Thanks for that reply Grich. I am not a small person, around 100kg. I don't quite understand why they say these boards are not good for heavier ppl, surely 195 liter is enough for a person my weight. Basically i want to use such a board for planing diagonal to the wind like you do with short boards. Are these boards quicker or better for blasting with dagger board retracted for someone my weight compared to the full length boards?

they are better in higher wind at your weight,ok for blasting but will need a bigger fin or you will need to make your way back up wind with the center board this guy has some good footage of a snake

And that is because in racing you need a board that goes up wind and glides as good as possible. But what about blasting, is this kind of board quicker than a full length raceboard for a heavyweight and how quick are longboards in general compared to large freeride boards of say 160ltr in planing conditions? Sorry for all the questions but I still don't have answers

Thanks for the info. From the looks of it there are hardly any advantages in these kind of boards.
I sail in Malta, in bays that are around a mile wide so that's as far as you can go before you have to turn back. I sail when the wind is blowing out so the sea ranges between calm to small chop. I use 2 sails a 7.0 and an 8.5 with a Fanatic Ultracat. I have a Starboard carve 133 too and had a JP Funride 160 which i sold. When i sailed a raceboard for the first time i fell in love with it after the short boards which i never got used to. The Cat by comparison i find much easier and i feel like i can squeeze more performance out of it adding speed with every gust. The raceboards i feel are as i imagined windsurfing to be before i had ever tried it while the shortboards never felt natural. Too frantic and wobbly. I was split as to whether i should get one of those shorter longboards or a large freeride again but i think i'll go for the freeride now.

Rahal said..
Thanks for the info. From the looks of it there are hardly any advantages in these kind of boards.
I sail in Malta, in bays that are around a mile wide so that's as far as you can go before you have to turn back. I sail when the wind is blowing out so the sea ranges between calm to small chop. I use 2 sails a 7.0 and an 8.5 with a Fanatic Ultracat. I have a Starboard carve 133 too and had a JP Funride 160 which i sold. When i sailed a raceboard for the first time i fell in love with it after the short boards which i never got used to. The Cat by comparison i find much easier and i feel like i can squeeze more performance out of it adding speed with every gust. The raceboards i feel are as i imagined windsurfing to be before i had ever tried it while the shortboards never felt natural. Too frantic and wobbly. I was split as to whether i should get one of those shorter longboards or a large freeride again but i think i'll go for the freeride now.

The new Phantom free is everything you want.

Looks like an interesting board but wouldn't a board that short lose the nice gliding abilities of a longboard and transition from glide to plane? Isn't a board like that going back towards boards like the bic 160d? Maybe I need to read about it

azuli said..
Nice pic Oldskool, and great job restoring the old Speed.

I rediscovered raceboards about a year ago, and love the versatility they offer. I've probably had more days sailing in the last year on my raceboard than I had in the previous 10 years just using short boards

These great old boards deserve to be restored, and with modern sails and fins they can offer great performance, and take you places a shortboard can't.

why spin my head figuring out which wide high volume boards when these old school ones were great .. am sure a friend still has a dusty Equipe lying around his garage