Dictionary A | B | C |

- A -

A-box: A-box stands for American box. It was the original one used by the surfing industry when finboxes were invented. In fact, there was a patent on it for years. The windsurfing industry adopted it many years ago. Chinook sailing products in the Gorge modified it from the original two piece box to a one piece box, which made it much stronger. The concept uses a roll pin on one end of the fin, (in windsurfing it is on the back), and then a tab on the front through which a hole is drilled. A machine screw goes through the hole in the fin, into a slider plate in the finbox. This is how the fin is tightened. This finbox is still one of the most popular styles of fins in the Gorge, and the US. The standard screw size is a #8 machine screw, 7/8" long (panhead). Click here to see all the boxes together.

Adjustable Uphauls:

Aft: Aft means behind. For example the fin is aft of the nose of the board. Opposite of aft is fore.

Ameritex fin / finbox: This type of finbox is rare, only found in some brands of custom boards. The ends taper, but the sides do not. It uses one screw through the deck.

Apparent wind: Apparent wind is the wind in relation to the sailboard. As you increase your speed downwind, you will be going near the speed of the wind, and therefore your apparent wind will be less. That is why you can use a much bigger sail when bearing off the wind, than you can beating upwind.

ASA: ASA (Acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate) is a tough and rigid material with excellent resistance to weather, aging, and yellowing. It is often used as a thin exterior layer on production boards to replace paint. Underneath the ASA on sailboards, there is usually a composite of fiberglass/epoxy to give the board more structure and stiffness. ASA is used on many production Bics, Mistrals, F2s and the like. ASA is a random amorphous terpolymer, meaning that the molecules of acrylonitrile, styrene and acrylic tangle together in various ways so it does not have one set diagrammable structure. ASA is produced by either mass copolymerization or grafting styrene-acrylonitrile to the acrylic elastomer backbone.
Advantages:
Weather Resistance - Good
UV Resistance - resists yellowing, aging
Toughness - impact resistance, rigidity
Chemical Resistance - Good
Gloss - High
Antistatic - Good

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- B -

Batten: Battens are the sticks that add structure to a sail. Battens used in windsurfing sails are usually tapered (with the thinner part toward the front of the sail), so that as the battens bend, they help hold the proper shape of the sail (with the help of sail shaping or broadseaming). Battens are usually made out of fiberglass or carbon fiber, with epoxy as the matrix. Battens also allow sails to be bigger than a simple triangle outline by allowing roach to be added.

Beam reach: A beam reach is sailing perpendicular to the wind, not going upwind or downwind.
Bear off: Bearing off is when you turn down wind a bit. If you were to be sailing on a close reach, and you were to bear off, you would turn the nose of your board further downwind.

Beat (ing): Beating is sailing upwind. Often used as "beating upwind".

Blade Fin: A blade fin is the most extreme fin on the market. Because of its short chord length it has the fastest top end speed, and also points upwind well. The disadvantages of this type of fin is that it is extremely "high strung", meaning it reacts, or overreacts to the sailor's slight move. Also, a blade fin is difficult to get going in lulls.

Blank: A blank is a rough shape of a board. Custom boards start out as a blank. After a blank gets shaped, glassed, etc.. it becomes a board. Clark Foam is one of the only manufacturers of polyurethane blanks. They usually have wooden stringers sandwiched within the foam to add some structure. The stringers also help lock in the scoop/rocker line until it is locked in by the fiberglass/resin. Blanks come in many sizes and shapes. A shaper orders a blank, and then shapes it into the final product. Polyurethane blanks are rarely used for sailboards, as Styrofoam (or EPS) and Epoxy have proven to be much stronger and lighter.

Boge: A boge is a rubber universal joint. Its name comes from the fact that "boge" was printed on some of the first rubber universals that were adapted for windsurfing. Originally designed as some kind of European Motor mount for cars.

Boom(s): Booms are the component that the sailor holds onto when sailing. Most booms are made from high grade aluminum tubing, high performance booms are often made with carbon fiber, which makes them stiffer and lighter (and more expensive). Booms range in length from about 4' 3" to 9', depending on the size and style of the sail. Most sails have a boom length recommendation stamped onto the sail, or sail bag. Most booms adjust in length about 18" to 24". For example, they might go from 4'6" to 6'0". There is usually two diameters to choose from: 1 1/8" (small diameter) or 1 1/4" (large diameter). People with smaller hands often choose the small diameter. The larger diameter is stiffer and stronger, so some bigger people often prefer this size (especially in the longer lengths). Booms are often covered with boom grip.

Boom grip: Boom grip comes in a few types, the most common is a foam grip, often referred to as "pro-grip" (the original foam boom grip from Brazil). Foam grip is often made out of a special EVA foam, which is contact cemented onto the boom. When boom grip gets scraped up really badly, it can be replaced with new grip. Some older styles of grip are vulcanized rubber, or bicycle innertubes turned inside out onto the boom.

Broad reach: Who knows where they got this term, but in sailing it means that you are sailing across the wind, but downwind too. Windsurfing on a broad reach is the fastest angle of sailing.

Broadseam: This is a technical term used in sailmaking when referring to a seam which adds shape into the fabric (the sail). This is done by sewing a straight edge of fabric to a curved edge of another piece of fabric, thereby adding curve. See shaping seams.

Bump n' Jump: A term used to describe high wind sailing in chop. For example: Gorge sailing conditions.

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- C -

Camber: Cambers (or camber inducers) are plastic fittings that go on the luff end of a batten to force shape (curve) into the front of a sail. On a non-cambered sail, the wind first has to blow shape into the sail before it is actually starts pulling. With a cambered sail, the shape is forced into the sail by the camber/batten combination regardless to the wind. Camber inducers are usually found in sails designed for racing. Most other sails are non-cambered or convertible (sail can be used with or without camber). Some people like one or two cambers in non-race sails because they make the sail retain its shape regardless if wind is in the sail. The disadvantage of a camber, is that it makes the sail less forgiving as it is always wanting to propel you. Cambered sails don't luff well (luffing a sail is the equivalent of a flag blowing in the wind). Being able to hold the sail by it's luff sleeve makes a sail much more forgiving. Wave sails rarely have a camber because wave sailors want a sail that is easy to use, and isn't always wanting to "on". It is sometimes nice to turn "off" the power in a sail.

Chine: Chine is the sharpness of the rails on a board. Harder chine=sharper rails, softer chine= rounder rails (where the bottom meets the rail) For more info on this, check out our board design seminar.

Chop Hop: A chop hop is a small jump off of a small wave.

Carbon Fiber: Carbon fiber is used in everything from booms, boards, battens, fins, masts, and even mast bases. This black fiber is sometimes referred to as graphite. One of the stiffest materials known to man; its use (instead of fiberglass) allows less of it to be used resulting in a lighter product. In masts, and possibly other uses, carbon also has the benefit in that it returns to its original shape more quickly than say fiberglass would. Some mast manufacturers use this as a selling point. The faster a mast returns to its original position after a gust hits or the sailor pumps the sail, the quicker the sail will return to its original shape.... Virtually all high performance masts have from 15% to 95% carbon fiber (the other percentage made up of fiberglass). Carbon fibers are usually used with Epoxy resin.

Chord Length: The chord length is the distance from the front of a foil to the back of a foil. For example, on an airplane it would be the distance that air would take when passing over a wing (foil). Just like on an airplane wing, the chord of a fin on a sailboard is the distance from the leading edge of the fin to the trailing edge. A longer chord length makes a fin more stable, a shorter one makes the fin more "turney". Similar characteristics on a sail. Also, a shorter chord length makes for a faster fin or sail, but can suffer at slower speeds.

Clew: The clew is the trailing corner of a sail. It is where you would be where you would tie on the back of the boom.

Close reach: A close reach is when you are sailing upwind. Your sail would be close to you.

Constant Curve: This Term refers to how a mast bends. Fortunately, we don't really need to know about this anymore, as virtually all windsurfing masts since about 1995 are constant curve (as opposed to Flex top). Constant curve masts have a more consistent bend than Flex top masts. Technically speaking, I think the system involved holding a mast by the tip, and base, attach a 66 lb (30 kilo) weight to the middle. From there, a measurement was taken at the 1/4 point, and the 3/4 point. Those numbers were compared. If there was more than 15% difference, then the mast was a flex top, if the difference was less then 15%, the mast was a constant curve.

Convertible: A wetsuit that has short sleeves and long legs. Many come with removable long sleeves for added versatility.

Cut-out (on a fin): A cutout on a fin is the section on the trailing edge (at the base) which often has a chunk cut out of it. The purpose of this cut-out is to increase the distance from the back of the fin to the tail of the board. By increasing this distance, spin-out occurrence is reduced. The cutout also makes the fin looser, or more "turny".

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