The Expedition Windsurfer
December 5, 2008 · Print This Article
The morning broke very cold for west central Florida. The mid 40s is unseasonably cold for this time of year and I was feeling every degree. I was stoking the fire, trying to beat back the cold and waiting for my coffee to heat up, when two commercial fishermen motored past my campsite. I wondered how they felt about the cold weather.
I had spent the night on a small mangrove island near the mouth of Bishop Harbor in Tampa Bay. Last night in the orange glow of the setting sun I found a small spit of sand adequate enough to set up camp. I now had a panoramic view of Tampa Bay including the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and lower St Pete.
Normally I would have chosen a different island to camp on but I was running late and wanted to set up camp and collect firewood before I lost all of my daylight. I had spent all of yesterday testing my nearly finished Expedition Windsurfer and had not made a decision to camp until late in the day. So what is an Expedition Windsurfer you ask?
The Expedition Windsurfer is a board that is built with multi-day expeditions in mind. Having storage lockers built into the hull enabling the board to be packed out with supplies such as a tent, sleeping gear, food, water and safety gear. I had been looking for a way to combine two activities I love, windsurfing and kayaking, into one neat package. I looked for a production version to the Expedition Windsurfer but never found anything remotely close to what I had in mind, so I took a set of 16′ kayak plans and made a few modifications and here I am, camping on a beautiful little island that I windsurfed to.
The building project has been quit a challenge. I thought about using a navel architect program to design the board, but having a serious case of mental permafrost I soon realized that I would spend more time trying to learn how the program works than in building my project. At the urging of Matt Layden who said to “just build the thing” I proceeded full ahead. Well, maybe not full speed, it took me over two years to finish the project from the time I bought the lumber, to testing on the water. Family obligations, starting a new business, a car accident that broke both my arms and just trying to figure out how to make things work took time.
Some of the decisions I had to make concerned the size and shape of the board. How long and wide should it be? How much rocker should it have? Where should I put the daggerboard, sliding mast track and fin? Most of these I answered by looking at how other longboards were designed and making a best guess. I knew that I wanted the board to be paddle friendly so I settled on the kayak shape for the bow. I found building a retractable daggerboard box and installing the fin box to be the most challenging portions of the project requiring numerous attempts before settling on the final version. To ensure that the board would have proper safety flotation built in, I designed it with three separate compartments, one in the bow and one on either side of the daggerboard well. In the event that one of the compartments is punctured the other two would provide enough flotation, in theory at least, to get me home.
After this first test run under sail I’m very pleased with the board. As is always the case with any prototype, I see some changes I would make if I build another board. The most important improvement is to build it lighter. The finished weight is 74lbs, way too heavy. With better building practices, that is easily achievable. I would also add another half inch to the freeboard to make it just a little easier to get drybags in and out of the hatches.
One of the first things I notice when I sail this board is how quietly it goes through the water. The v-nose cuts through the water rather than slapping it. Another impressive aspect of the board is how fast it is in low winds. Using my GPS I clocked my speed at just under 12kts in 12-15kts of wind using a 9.5sq sail. It is very similar to the Serenity in that respect. I am also pleased with its stability. At 33″ wide and tapering to 26″ at the tail the board provides a stable platform to paddle from, both standing and sitting.
As I break camp and repack the board for the sail back to the landing I have a feeling of accomplishment. I think about the possibilities of an Expedition Windsurfer. I see me, with my family and friends, sailing these boards to island retreats or out to the shallow grass flats to fish, or perhaps paddling through the mangroves in search of ancient Indian mounds. And for those with the guts, adventure racing. The possibilities are endless. The sail back to the truck took me over shallow grass flats and sandbars. In the clear water I saw conchs, snook, trout, and even a couple of small sharks. The trip was all up wind sailing but I didn’t mind a bit. I enjoyed the sail and started thinking of my next great adventure.
You can follow my “Expedition Windsurfing” adventures by visiting my blog @ www.adventurewindsurfing.blogspot.com
Great adventures,
Trey
What an impressive looking board. I would love to organise overnight touring in my part of the world. Perhaps camping on Cockatoo Island is a good start?
Cheers
Pat
Nice article, Trey. I’ll talk to you about this more in detail, but I was wondering about the board’s construction. Is it lumber and fiberglass? Also, how much cargo does it hold?
-Ian
Ian,
The board is constructed using a process called “stitch and glue”. I cut the panels for the sides and deck from 4mm okoume plywood. Okoume plywood is high quality mahogany marine plywood used to build canoes and kayaks. I also used cedar wood planking for the sheer clamps and to build the centerboard and fin box. After the panels are glued in place I coated the inside with epoxy resin to seal the wood and then I applied 4oz fiberglass cloth to the hull. I glassed both the top and the inside of the deck to ensure it has enough strength to stand on. Finally after much sanding I painted the board with marine polyurethane.
That in a nutshell is how I built the board. I thought about putting the process in the article but did not think anyone would be interested. I was wrong.
I hope to have the board measured by Matt Layden who is a navel architect. I should be able to tweak the shape and give the measurements to anyone who might want to build an Expedition Windsurfer of their own.
Trey
Ian,
I forgot to address the last question about cargo. The truth is I do not know for sure. I can put enough in it for three days of camping. After I get the measurements, I will know the exact volume and have better numbers. Also as I use the board more, I will learn how to pack it out for trips.
Trey
OK, we want WAAAAYYYYY more detail and pics!
I’d be really interested seeing the lockers (?) being packed. Sorry for my ignorance, but how heavy are most sea kayaks? The 74 pounds is empty, right? With dagger installed? That seems enormously heavy for a sailboard, but how does that compare? I’m surprised you could get 12 knots, that should be near planing speed, and way faster than any kayak! Is the dagger fully retractible? From the pic it looked like it would still stick out a bit (making for aweful steering (from my memory of a One Design fitted with a ‘hawaiian dagger’).
The building of it reminded me of the stories from a group of Polish-Canadian windsurfers I often camp with. They laugh about building boxy plywood boards back in the Iron Curtain days of the late 70s and early 80s. They ended up with increadibly heavy boards that leaked and needed 4 people to pull them out to drain at each side of every tack (only sailable with populated beaches at appropriate spots! Yours must be very much lighter than their efforts!
Looks like a Garmin 76 Cx? I own a few of those for business, great GPS!
Great story, its really cool to see what individuals can build! I can simply marvel, not having the time or tools or skills needed!
Hey Worley,
Yes the Expedition Windsurfer is very heavy. Most sea kayaks are around 40lbs. This was my first build and I went overboard on the glassing to ensure strength. I should be able to reduce the weight at least 20lbs. The dagger board is fully retractable. And yes you are correct the GPS is a Garmin 76cx. It’s been doing a great job for me. I hope to use it a bit this weekend. I have installed footstraps on the board and should be able to max out the board and find out what the top end is.
I will post the info on my blog along with some photos.
Hi Trey, was good to read about your project. A couple of years ago i did a similar thing but used a std Mistral one design race board and added a kevlar capsule to the front. I sailed down part of the Aust east coast for a few days in mostly downwind conditions which was tough going but all the training i did was in the Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne (Vic). I found the board planed well and with the 15 – 20kg of weight in the front was quite stable even at 20+ knots. I used a NP 8.5m 4wd sail but have just got hold of a 9.0m Gaastra Nitro which i hope to test in a week or so.
send me an email so i can email you a pic of the board with the capsule. i would be interested to hear more of your thoughts on the ideal board design.
Matt
Hi Matt,
I just returned from a camping trip and spent some time on the board.
I would send you a email but I can not find your address.
I would love to see your board and share some ideas and experiences I have had.
Trey
you can email me at
matt@estelladesign.com.au
Your efforts paid off with excellent results.
In the late 80’s or early 90’s Yamaha made a windsurfing trimaran which had outrigger pontoons on each side of the main hull. The main hull had some storage sections.
I have an XS Speed windsurfing, hard deck catamaran from the late 80’s which could be altered to add storage space under the deck which is 9″ above the water. It is 40″ wide and about 9′3″ long and weighs about 40 pounds. It is much slower than your board in light wind. Waterline length counts.
I remember expedition articles, using different windsurfers, for trips covering the Texas coast, a large portion of the Caribbean, and on the Missouri River from Kansas City MO to St. Louis MO. I believe they all used regular longboards and depended on shore support for supplies.
Thanks Del,
I heard about the Yamaha trimaran from the guys here at LB but have never seen one. Sounds like you might be able to modify your XS for expeditions. The Expedition Windsurfer has turned out to be a real blast. I hope to do a trip down the Peace River all the way to the Guld in February. It would be fun to have a few others with expedition boards and plan some multi-day trips.
Trey
Wow! Amazing design and build. Have been thinking of touring Scottish Lochs on something like this, I love the combined kayakability I think that is a really useful safety feature. You should definately think about getting it into production commercially, with modern laminates or polythene you should be able to produce something light and cheap. The potential for clubs and universities is definately there in the UK. Good Luck !!!
Amazing ! you should definately get it into production , you’d sell thousands !
That is freakin awesome. I too would love to see more detail. You’re inspiring the minds of all of us crazy do-it-yourselfers you know..