Windance | Assistant | Introduction

Dictionary L | M | N

- L -

Lateral resistance: Lateral resistance is the force that keeps the board from sliding sideways. Without lateral resistance, the sailboard would only be able to go straight downwind. Lateral resistance is provided by the fin, the daggerboard, and also by the underwater portion of the rail of the board.

Lee(ward): The lee side of something is the downwind side (leeward side). The side opposite the windward side. For example: The leeward side of an island, or a board.

Leech: Trailing (back) edge of the sail, between the head, and the clew.

Length (of boards): Size of the board tip to tail. Some shapers measure along the bottom, some measure on the top. The measurement along the bottom is at least 1" longer than when measured along the top.

Liters: Liters are the units of measurements used to determine the volume of the board, which determines how much floatation it will have. See Volume for a detailed description

Loose: Loose is a term used to describe how a board turns. The looser it is, the more quickly it turns. The opposite of loose is "stiff". A board is looser if it has more curve in the tail (side profile), or more rocker. A board with more rocker won't plane as quickly as a board with a flatter rocker line.

Longboard: A longboard is usually over 10' long and has a daggerboard (centerboard). A daggerboard will provide a pivot point for a sailboard. Turning a sailboard with a daggerboard relies more on the movement of the sail, than on the actions of your feet. A shortboard (without a daggerboard) turns more like a water-ski: as you tip the board with your feet, you turn. A shortboard carves, whereas a longboard pivots around the daggerboard. Longboards are great for light wind use. The daggerboard helps you go upwind, and also makes the board much more stable, and easier to uphaul. To see Windance's selection of longboards, click here.

Low End: Low end often refers to the performance of an item in lighter wind conditions. For example, a sail may have good low end, but a slow top end speed. This would mean that it performs similar to a tractor, with good power at slow speeds, but doesn't go very fast.

Luff (the verb): When holding the sail by the mast with the clew out of the water, the sail will luff (like a flag). Luffing the sail cuts off the power of the sail. Cambered sails don't luff as easily as non-cambered sails because of the extra shape forced into the sails.

Luff (the noun): The luff is the leading edge of the sail (the front).

Luff length: The exact length of mast that would be used in a particular sail. This length can be made up of both mast and mast base extension. Also most sails have an adjustment that would allow a longer mast to be used (the mast would stick out of the top).

Luff Panel: The luff panel is the vertical sail panel just behind the luff sleeve on many sails..

Luff Sleeve (sock): The luff sleeve is the sleeve in which the mast goes, it is usually made of a durable fabric to help with abrasion.

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- M -

Mast: The mast is the pole that slides into the luff sleeve on the sail. Choosing the correct mast is important for your sail. It used to be more difficult to choose a mast, as there were both flex top masts, and Constant curve masts. Nowadays, fortunately, things have become much simpler. All windsurfing masts are considered constant curve, and some may not even say it anymore. There is still a choice of stiffness in masts (MCS and IMCS), but even this is getting more standardized.

Mast foot: A mast foot (also sometimes called a mast base) is the fitting which attaches the mast base extension to the board. It comes in a variety of styles, but all doing basically the same thing : attach the rig to the board, allow it to rotate 360 degrees, and also to allow the rig to lay flat on the water in all directions. To see Windance's selection of mast feet, click here. To view problems with mast feet, and how to fix them, click here.

Mast Base Cup: Usually made from plastic, this cup is bolted to the boge, and has spring pins which allow the cup to easily attach to the mast base extension. To see Windance's selection of base cups, click here. To view problems with mast bases, click here.

Mast Base Extension: A mast base extension is the fitting that goes onto the bottom of the mast, and attaches to the mast base. It is usually adjustable in length. A standard mast fits on the outside of a mast base extension, a "skinny" mast will usually fit inside a standard extension. To see Windance's selection of mast base extensions, click here.

Mast base plate: Also sometimes referred to as a mast step. The mast base plate is the part of the mast base extension that screws to the mast track.

Mast track: Also sometimes referred to as a mast box, the mast track is the fitting that is glued into the board during construction to which the mast base attaches. Most mast tracks have a stainless steel slider plate [with a hole threaded to 8mm(usually)] to which the mast base is attached.

Matrix: Matrix is the stuff that holds it all together. For example: glue (epoxy or polyester) is the matrix that sticks the fiberglass or carbon together to form a board, mast or whatever. Without the matrix, all that fiberglass or carbon would be just cloth, with no structure, and could be rolled into a ball..

MCS: Stiffness rating for mast stiffness. To see a more detailed description of MCS, click here. Also see indexed MCS (IMCS). Indexed MCS is the stiffness of a mast of other lengths as it relates to the standard length of 460cm (15'1"). The standard MCS stiffness for a 460 is 25. The higher the number, the stiffer the mast. In general, you should choose your mast stiffness by checking to see what mast your sail recommends. A heavier sailor may want to use a stiffer mast than a lighter sailor because under the same wind conditions, a heavier sailor is going to cause the mast to bend more than a lighter sailor. This will cause the sail to distort more than it should, usually moving the draft back; which makes the sail harder to handle.

Mechanical U-joint: The mechanical u-joint is a durable choice for those who want an alternative to the rubber joint. One advantage of the mechanical joint is that you don't have to turn your board on edge in the water to attach it to the rig. Also, some people claim that because of the flexibility of rubber joints, the mast base can jiggle around excessively resulting in a loss of power. To see Chinook's mechanical u-joint, click here.

Meritex finbox: The Meritex box is only used by a few board builders. Mike's Lab and Real Wind boards have used them. It is similar to the Tuttle box, except it's shorter and uses only one screw through the top of the board (not two).

Monofilm: "Monofilm" is a type of plastic called polyester. It is a very stable material until it gets punctured, and then it is very easy to tear. It is made of only one material, hence the "mono" part of the word. Monofilm is light and commonly used in sail-making. For experienced windsurfers who don't crash onto their gear frequently, monofilm is acceptable for race and slalom sails. Wave sails require more durablility, so often fiber threads are laminated between two layers of monofilm to give the material more durability.
While monofilm is fairly strong it is more susceptible to scratching, ripping and puncturing than either vinyl or Spectra-X. Monofilm also tends to fog up over time due to sun exposure and sand abrasion. Monofilm is relatively easy to puncture or tear with your harness hook, knees or head. ( source: Ezzy web site)

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- N -

Neoprene: Neoprene is the rubbery foam material used to make wetsuits. It is laminated to a thin layer of nylon which makes it usable. Wetsuit material that has nylon on only one side is sometimes referred to as nylon one, or smoothskin. The smooth side of the neoprene goes on the outside of the suit and provides better warmth than "nylon two". Nylon two has nylon on both sides of the neoprene. Nylon two is more durable because of the nylon skin on the outside, but doesn't provide as much warmth as "nylon one (smoothskin)" because water stays on the outside of the suit and has a cooling effect. Neoprene is available in thicknesses of 1 to 5 mm., the thicker being warmer. Recently super stretchy neoprene has come on the market which have made wetsuits much more flexible, comfortable, and lighter.

Nose Scoop: See Scoop.

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Windance 108 Hwy. 35, Hood River, OR 97031
800: 1-800-574-4020
Direct: 541-386-2131

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