The Peconic Puffin

A blog about a group of windsurfers and other water sports enthusiasts, and their friends. Established 1993.

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My First Shortboard

Sparklebakaguy
Talking about longboards reminded me of when I though shortboards were exotic.  I spotted this old thing in an online forum recently.  It’s a Seatrend 9’4″ squashtail, circa 1990…the exact make and model of my first shortboard.    It was a wonderous high-performance thing, that replaced my first ever board, a longboard (transitional, really, a hideous Bic Salsa that I named The Leaking Iron Sow.)   The Seatrend’s name was name was Sparkle Baka Guy (Baka Guy from the Shonen Knife song, and someone’s girlfriend added “Sparkle”.)   

It dissappoints me that more people don’t name their windsurfing boards>/a>.   The original Peconic Puffins did, Dasher’s crew in Aruba did, but these days the only practioners I’m aware of besides myself are the Clew First crew.   I’ll have to do an updated Names of the Fleet piece soon…

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2 responses to “My First Shortboard”

  1. Dennis Avatar
    Dennis

    I named my Exocet Pacer “Flux Linkage”. I will be putting the name on her “stern” soon. I have also named my 4 custom bicycles.
    The road bike is “Photon”, the hardtail mountain bike is “Momentum” (notice a theme?), the dual suspension mountain bike is “Blue Crush”, and the touring bike is “Valkyrie”. So, you are not so strange in naming your boards.

    Reply
  2. f messina Avatar
    f messina

    Dear Mike, of the Peconic Puffin,
    As always, you have instigated a flood of memories. After years of longboards my first “shortboard” was a Hi Tech 9’8″. I had been borrowing my friends Mistral “Tarifa”, but that was still over 10 feet long. I had seen real shortboards [sinkers, we called them] but the light winds of Manhasset Bay made them impractical. “How can they sail upwind with out a dagger board?”
    My eyes were opened my first trip to Napeague. While I sailed on a Mistral Equipe, and a borrowed 4.5; I saw custom shortboards with Captain America graphics plaining and carving full speed jybes! I had to have one.

    Reply

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