Old school on the Astro Rock

I've been curious for many years about trying out my old gear again. I have fond memories of my BIC Astro Rock from the late 1980s. I remember it making a list of 10 all time classic windsurf boards in (the now departed) Windsport Magazine and I'm glad I kept mine under the cottage for the last 2 decades. I'd tried it once during a fun session with Vanessa and Len 3 years ago but didn't get it going.

So today the wind was 16 gusting to 22 knots and so I figured I'd get the old 6.5m NP V6 sail I've been using for foiling and pair it with the old, long, but surprisingly light Astro Rock.

The west wind was pretty much perfect. Air was 11c, water 15c. and I was fine in my 4/3 full suit. Even though I didn't have enough downhaul on the sail for the first half hour it was still a super fun session. And surprisingly I went almost as fast (41.5 km/h) as the day before (42 km/h) on my modern gear. The Astro Rock accelerates very slowly but doesn't tempt catapults the way modern boards do. It rides very smoothly through the waves and jibes amazingly well. My lovely wife came out and took a few photos:

The Astro Rock at 125l of volume was also easier to tack than I remember. I guess my skills have improved a bit over the years. I can still remember the exact place (Humber Bay on Lake Ontario) where I was so excited that I had tacked a short board for the first time - that same Astro Rock in around 1992?

I'm sure I will send intermediate windsurfer friends out on the Astro Rock in the future - it is still that user friendly and can be uphauled in a pinch. And I will put some nicer footstraps on it and redo the non skid for the next time I take it for a ride.

Time for some new footstraps on the old board!
(Mast foot is a bit too far forward)

There will be more windmills here soon. 

But this view will remain the same

 

My GPS trail looking west - a very west wind!

More details with speeds and weather

First Vulcan attempts since March

It was the last Friday in September at 4:30pm. The wind was west and blowing 18-23. I took out the 5.6 Idol and Skate 108.

Water was 16c and the air cool at 13c and I was wearing just a thin 3/2mm wetsuit; likely for the last time this year! My wife came out and took some photos half way through my session, luckily that was the sunniest part of the session and the photos got even brighter in Picasa's "I'm feeling lucky" photo editor.

I tried and completed some duck jibes and many heli tacks and regular jibes. I tried ducking the sail to windward for a duck tack with no success. I found it very hard to commit but finally tried two Vulcans; the first I've tried since March. I'm still wearing a seat harness to take it easy on my ribs! I'm not sure the sail is rigged perfectly, it seems like there are too many diagonal creases?

After an hour the wind had dropped to 13-18 knots and I was having a harder time getting planing so I called it a day with a big grin on my face. That Skate 108 is still my favourite board - even better with the very light Idol sail.

Nice 1 hour session. View facing west. 18 km distance.

Speed chart - top speed 42 km/h downwind right on my way back in.

September Gale - 54 km/h on a 24 year old board

The wind was predicted to be 20-30 knots all day but with a thunderstorm in the middle so I figured I would get two sessions in, one before and one after lunch.

My morning session started on my Fanatic Freestyle Wave 116 and the new Idol 5.6. I was sailing ok but the board was definitely too big for the wind which was now generally over 20 knots. My wife nicely took some photos with her cell phone. I hit 45 km/h though on one run back into the smooth water near shore.

First part of the session on the 5.6 Idol and Free Style Wave 116

Blasting at 45 km/h

All good and thanks for the cell phone photos dear!

So then I tried something I’ve been wanting to do for some time and got out my old Axxis 272 from 1998. It is so different, narrow and fast feeling. A smoother ride and way easier to point upwind. But it definitely took some getting used to. I can’t believe I used to have my footstraps so tight though! Once I got the hang of it, it was fun heading up into the big waves out by Dokis island. I did wind up hitting 51 km/h.

Since the wind was still building and now touching 25 knots I pulled out my oldest board, the poly plastic Tiga 257 and my new 4.8 Idol on an old standard diameter mast. The footstraps were all degraded and also too tight, but I quickly got a feel for it again. What a comfortable board to ride. Smooth and buttery since it weighs so much and because it flexes too! It felt slow and comfortable and I was having fun slashing down some wave faces. When I headed back into shore I was amazed at the speed I was getting. My wife had brought out the camera with 400mm lens and got some shots.

Involuntary jump!

Getting comfortable

View from the launch point before it got really windy
The old learner board is still there!

Ok, what is my speed? 

On my way to 52 km/h

I hit 52 km/h on a soft ancient board with an imperfectly rigged tiny sail. I guess being comfortable on the board let me really sheet in and scream downwind in the increasing wind. I was starting to get tired so I sailed back to the dock on the Tiga.

Taking the Tiga back in after sailing on it for the first time this millennium?

Then I luckily found a lull in the wind and sailed the 5.6 back in on the Axxis as the wind was still building.

A story of 3 boards and increasing winds

After three 30 minute sessions I was done and ready for lunch and some email catch up. Of course the hydro was now out due to the increasing wind across Ontario.

Later in the afternoon I put new footstraps on the Tiga and rigged the 4.8 on the proper mast. It was so windy now and had shifted to the west so I could launch right from the dock.

The oldest board and newest sail

Let's give this a try....

Launched right from the dock

I hit 54.4 km/h as the wind had increased again! But suddenly and just 10 minutes into my session the wind was shearing the tops off the waves and I was barely able to hang on. I sailed back to the dock as the winds started hitting 35 knots. I debated for a moment about rigging the kids 3.5m sail but decided against it.

Short session and last run of the day hit 54.4 km/h

Then the wind really started!

Smoke on the water

My new wind gauge and overacting wife!

Serious wind 15 minutes after I came in

Oops the old learner YPSI  windsurfer is gone!

Leaning into the wind

What a beautiful launch spot - but 35-40 knots is too much wind for those chairs

While derigging and putting things away we saw two rattlesnakes under the windsurf locker doors. The wind had them a bit confused apparently and seeing them both was a bit unsettling for me. It was now getting to the point where it was hard to walk, waves were exploding on the shoals and the water everywhere had a layer of mist above it from the intense wind. A neighbour recorded 47 knots (87 km/h) at his island. We headed back into the harbour in the boat and called it a very exciting day.

The next day I took this shot of the 3 boards I'd sailed and enjoyed each one in a different way.

Three very different boards - 2015, 1998 & 1994

This was a lot of wind for September. I'm hoping for one or two more sessions like this one later in the fall!

McGyvering the broken windsurf foil

I had a challenge to remove the two sheared off bolt ends from the foil mast. I had broken the Slingshot hover glide FWIND2 foil on a shoal during my last session. The first titanium bolt shaft was protruding out a thread length and was easy to unscrew by hand. The second one broke off a thread length inside the mast and couldn't be reached with any finger or tool. So I started drilling into the broken bolt shaft with a small drill bit. It cut fairly well into the bolt and I was making progress. I then tried pounding a nail into the hole and tried to unscrew the bolt but that wouldn't stick or make it rotate. I made a left hand rotation larger drill bit (that I created by grinding down a regular right hand drill bit) drilled out the hole in reverse. It cut surprisingly well but now I had a larger hole above a small hole with no way to jam something in to unscrew it. I tried drilling again with the small bit and the bolt started turning into the hole. I reversed the drill and it came back out a bit when I caught the side of the hole with the bit. But then the small drill bit broke off in the bolt. Grrr. I put in the larger bit back in and drilled in reverse and when it suddenly caught the drill bit in the bolt it unscrewed it easily. Yeah! My foil was ready to use again - this time with stainless bolts. I felt like a real McGyver!

The next day foil session was just 8-10 knots and so I barely got planing and only by pumping like crazy. Still fun to get it going again.

Short foil session - lots of pumping to get going those few times

Broken Foil!

There was great wind predicted for late in the day but naturally I got skunked - the thunderstorms started just as I arrived up north.

The next day there was no wind predicted, but late in the day a bit of SW thermal showed up.

Heading out for light wind foiling

I got out in very light winds and started going back and forth on the foil. I got up on it by pumping like crazy a few times.

My few foil runs until I hit a shoal!

Then I came in close to shore, gybed and then hit the shoal right in front where my wife was sitting. I fell gently on my sail, waded out a bit and then headed out again. On the way back, I caught a gust and got going on the foil again. I thought I could make it over that same shoal at speed, but the wind died, I came off the foil and it hit the shoal. I fell and saw that the two titanium bolts connecting the fuselage to the foil mast had sheared off. I went and got the fuselage with its wings off the bottom. I windsurfed back just using the 39 inch long skeg and called it a day.

The next day I stand up paddleboarded out to the island in a brisk west wind, but not enough wind to go out without my foil! The SUP trip back was much faster.