F2 Comet Slalom 315?

Ira Gladnick

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Feb 15, 1994, 2:12:26 PM2/15/94

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I'm 5'9" and weigh 145#, and would like to buy a lightweight board with
a daggerboard that I could uphaul (my interests run more to the
recreational rather than speed/racing). I previously owned a BIC Calypso,
but found it to be pretty clunky.

Looking through the catalogs, it seems like the F2 Comet Slalom 315
(149 liter, 24#) might work.

If anyone has had experience with this board, or any other board that I
should know about, I would appreciate your feedback. Also, a recommendation
on a lightweight mast system would also be appreciated.

(A general question: give my weight, what would be the smallest volume
board that would be bouyant enough to uphaul?)

Thanks.

Kevin J Sperl

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Feb 15, 1994, 9:55:36 PM2/15/94

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In article <2jr6qq$9...@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu>,

I am also 5'9 1/2 and weigh 145 - 150 lbs. My largest board is a
HiPerTech 9'0 at 105? liters of volume. The boards weight is light
(15-17 lbs) that it acts as a board with much greater volume. I can
stand on this board all day in dead calm air. I mostly sail a Stinger
which has approx. 80 - 85 liters? of volume. I can uphaul this also.
A board of 150 liters would be way too big for me. Unless you only do
light air lake sailing, go smaller!!!

--
* Kevin J. Sperl Email: k...@kepler.unh.edu
* University Of New Hampshire
* Equipment: 9'0 HiPerTech,Stinger,Dill 7'10",Fiberspar,Sailworks,Rushwind.

trevor

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Feb 16, 1994, 3:31:12 AM2/16/94

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I sail a F2 WCR (Worls Cup Race) but I've had a go on a Comet Slalom as
I am thinking of using it as my non racing/wife/kids/high wind board.
(the race board is too fragile and volumus for the wife and kids
as they haven't got the brute strength or sail area to tack it quickly
enough, also if they drop it :( )

The CS was great (I am over 85Kg).

When the wind blew you could drive it like a short board from the straps and
just about carve it on the plane (it is a bit big for this but remember I
normally sail a BIG race board). With the dagger down it could be railed
up wind like a race board and was out pointing all the other non race
boards. At the end of the day the wind suddenly died I sailed in while the
sinker sailers swam :)

IMHO.

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trevor

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Feb 16, 1994, 3:45:12 AM2/16/94

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>>(A general question: give my weight, what would be the smallest volume
>>board that would be bouyant enough to uphaul?)
>>

This is easy.

Take the volume of the board in litres and your weight + rig in Kg.

If the volume > weight then the board will float,
if the volume < weight then it will sink :)

The "reserve volume" is normally the extra volume the board has over
your weight.

The greater the reserve volume the more stable (easy to up haul) the board
will be.

There are guides on how much reserve volume a begineer, intermediate etc..
should aim for but they are very general and would only attract flames!!!

If you can't water start then getting a sinker will slow your progress.

However Remember:

Not all windsurfing is about reaching on a short board that needs 25 Knots
to keep it going. Sailing on a nice summers day with fiends around
the coast with lunch in a back pack in a nice 3 - 10 knots can
be just as enjoyable and is more fun than sitting on the beach "waiting
for the wind" :). IMHO.

Regards Trevor

Ivan Moore

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Feb 16, 1994, 9:17:43 AM2/16/94

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The Comet Slalom has certainly had some good reviews in magazines, I'm
sure if you can afford it, then it will be one of the best of that size
(generally F2 are pretty good).
I haven't sailed one of the new ones myself, but the old Comet 330 was a
great board.

For your weight, you could probably still uphaul a board with only about 120 L.
To give some indication of the bouyancy you need,

Your weight in kilos = 65 kg
weight of board = 15 kg
weight of rig etc = 5 kg (Just a guess)
---------
85 kg = 85 Litres volume displaced for neutral bouyancy
But in order to uphaul easily add an extra 40 L or so = 125 L.
However, if there's much swell it makes it harder so go for slightly more volume.
With practice, epecially on flat water you could uphaul something with much less
volume - but I wouldn't recommend it. It also depends on the volume distribution
and width of the board - for example an Electric Rock with 102 L is still OK for
for me (154#) to uphaul on flatish water.

You could get a large short board with enough volume to uphaul, but if you want
a daggerboard then probably something like the Comet would be as small as is
worth going to make it any use in non-planing conditions.

Sorry I can't be any more helpful with specific board recommendations -
but IMHO, F2, Mistral and Fanatic are probably the best and Bic not far behind
but much cheaper (at least in UK); I don't know what the names of the models of
about the same size as the Comet are, but I'm sure they all make one.
I dare say there are US boards that others could recommend.
If possible - try before you buy.

AKeister

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Feb 16, 1994, 9:29:02 AM2/16/94

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>(A general question: give my weight, what would be the smallest volume
>board that would be bouyant enough to uphaul?)
>
>Thanks.

I am 5' 8" and 140 lbs. I used to sail a 160 l. board and recently bought the BIC Rock (130 liters). I have been very happy with the Rock. It doesn't have a dagger board but I can uphaul it in all but the choppiest days. It also goes upwind as well as a board with a daggerboard! It IS harder to balance than bigger boards, but with practice (my favorite pasttime), I am getting better.

I thought long and hard about buying a smaller board because I have gone past my limits several times and now have respect for Mother Nature! However, the advice I got was to buy the smaller board so I can improve faster.

Hope this helps.

- Alan
akei...@aol.com

Juri Munkki

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Feb 16, 1994, 1:03:57 PM2/16/94

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In article <1994Feb1...@cs.man.ac.uk> iv...@cs.man.ac.uk (Ivan Moore) writes:
>weight of rig etc = 5 kg (Just a guess)

Bad guess. The rig alone will usually weigh around 10kg, unless you are using
very light equipment. A 6.0 sail alone weighs between 3.0 and 4.0 kg. (Tiga
Power Slalom 3.1 kg, UP Speed Slalom 4.04 kg.)

Masts usually weigh between 2 and 3 kg, unless you are using a very short
flex top carbon mast (I think my 440 cm purple Fiberspar World Cup Carbon
is 1.7 kg, but that's from memory).

The boom probably weighs about 3 kg when wet and with harness lines. (This
is something I could have checked in last year's Windsurfing, but didn't bother
to do.)

Then you need a mast extension. I use mostly short unadjustable extensions
that probably only weigh about 500 g, but I figure that most people use
extensions that weigh about 1 kg or so (at least with the universal joint).

Add all these up and the weight is between 8.5 kg and 11 kg. That still
doesn't account for the "etc". Most people use a harness and wetsuit.
A wetsuit can be surprisinly heavy when it's wet. (Drysuits are much
lighter btw.) This can be anything between 1 and 10 kg and definitely
belongs in the etc category.

Most beginners and intermediates use older equipment that tends to be
heavier. I bet my 5.5 rig was well over 10 kg before I started paying
attention to the weight. I think I managed to reduce the weight by
about 3 kg by getting a new boom and mast for it and it really makes a
difference.

--
Juri Munkki Newton: It's 1984 all over again...
jmu...@hut.fi Windsurfing: Faster than the wind.

Craig Goudie

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Feb 16, 1994, 1:19:26 PM2/16/94

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tre...@advent.demon.co.uk (trevor) writes:

>This is easy.

>However Remember:

Actually the beach is just the largest of long boards, and you can
enjoy your lunch, have a few beers, listen to some good tunes,
talk to your buds, even play volley ball on the deck. Then if the
wind blows, you can rig down to your short board.

Craig

>Regards Trevor

8'10" Bailey jump, 9'9" Sailboards Maui
Wt 155#, Ht 6'3", Usually sail on high desert lakes near SLC in Ut
Go short or go home