Windance | Assistant | Introduction

Dictionary S | T

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Sailboard: The board that windsurfers sail on. Also sometimes referred to as a windsurfer. The term windsurfer was originally a brand of sailboard, but isn't around anymore.

Safety webbing: Safety webbing is a webbing loop that goes around a boge joint so that if it breaks, the webbing will hold things together until the sailor returns to shore. A must for every mastbase. To buy one at Windance, click here.

Sandwich Construction: This technique is the use of a structural foam (or honeycomb) sandwiched between layers of fibers (fiberglass, carbon, or Kevlar..). This method of board construction is superior for light weight, strength and stiffness. Sandwich construction incorporates the ideas of trusses, I-beams, and many bridges into board construction. The sandwich creates a bit of an I-beam structure for boards. The sandwich becomes the skin of the board. This type of construction is more difficult to do than just a solid layer, but because of the superiority of sandwich construction, it is used in some degree in many high performance boards today. Most boards use PVC foam as the structural foam in sandwich construction.

Scoop: Scoop refers to how much the nose of the board is bent up. Ie: If a board has a lot of scoop, then the nose will be way above the water when sailing along. wave boards usually have more scoop so that when going down the face of a wave, they don't pearl. For more info on nose scoop, check out our board design seminar.

Scoop/rocker line: This is the whole side profile of the bottom of a board from the nose to the tail.

Shape (as it relates to sails): Shape is the curve that a sail has when filled with wind. More shape = more curve. A sail with more shape has more power, but a lower top speed (more like a tractor). A flatter sail (one with less shape), will have a higher top speed, but less power (imagine starting your car in 3rd gear). Sail designers do their best to try to reach a balance between power and speed, and also figuring in control and handling. It is better to have more shape down low (where you have more leverage over it), and a flatter head. When rigged properly, with the correct mast, outhaul tension, and downhaul tension, the sailor should be able to duplicate what the sailmaker had in mind when designing the sail. You can also adjust the rigging to suit the day's wind conditions too. If you are a bit overpowered, you can increase the downhaul, and outhaul to make the sail flatter, and less powerful, and easier to handle. Starting with the manufacturer's suggestions is a good idea, especially using the correct mast.

Shaping seams: Sails are made out of flat fabric. Curves are made out of flat fabric in much the same way as a beach ball is made. Imagine each panel of a beach ball being flat, but when each panel is cut in a curve, and then attached back together, it forms a ball. Or you can imagine cutting an orange in quarters. After eating the orange, you are left with the fairly flat peels, that when put together forms the sphere that was the orange. Sails are made with these same type of shaping seams, although they are much more subtle. The sail shape with the help of tapered battens helps the sail retain its shape while being subjected to the wind, and the forces of the downhaul, and outhaul ropes attempting to distort it. The more distorted the sail becomes, the more difficult it becomes to sail.

Shortboard: A short board is generally a board without a dagger board. Although with this definition, there are some pretty big short boards on the market now, even over 200 liters!

Shorty: A wetsuit with short legs and short sleeves.

Sinker: A sinker is an term that was used to describe a board that would sink when standing still. This would generally mean a board that had less than about 85 liters of volume. The term isn't used that often anymore, but it is a great word.

"Skinny" mast: Also called just a "skinny", this mast is smaller in diameter than standard masts, especially at the base. The outside base diameter is 1 1/2" instead of the standard which is just over 2". Skinny masts are stronger than standard masts, as the wall thickness is much thicker. Because of the smaller diameter, they are made with at least 90% carbon fiber. A thick shim is required for use with most booms. Also, the skinny fits inside a standard mast extension, rather than on the outside. Minor modifications need to be made to the mast extension in order for it to work with a skinny mast. Skinny masts work fine in virtually all sails, and are the choice of most wave sailors today.

Slider plate: A slider plate is a metal plate that slides in a mast track or a finbox.

Slot (on a fin): Slotted fins are designed to prevent spin-out. The slot is usually about an inch back from the leading edge. In use, water is forced through the slot from the high pressure side of the fin to the low pressure side to help flush out any air bubbles that may have attached themselves to the windward side of the fin. Slotted fins do help to prevent spin-out, but they also add drag, which noticeably slows the sailor down. Slotted fins are also not as strong as non-slotted fins, and are more prone to breakage at the base.

Smoothskin: 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 regular neoprene that has nylon on both sides. 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.

Spectra-X monofilm: Spectra-X is monofilm laminated with a Kevlar-reinforced polyester yarn into an "X"-mesh pattern to produce a material with an excellent strength to weight ratio. Spectra-X offers an excellent compromise between durability and lightness. Weighing just a few grams more than regular monofilm, punctures or rips in Spectra-X are minimized because the yarn stops the monofilm from tearing further. Other sails use regular polyester yarn or some other material that won’t stop a rip from continuing all the way through the panel. (Source: Ezzy web site)

Spin out: Fin slides uncontrollably sideways through the water. The feeling is that your fin has broken off. Spin-out can be aggravated by numerous factors like: technique, fin design, damage to a fin, fin placement, mast track placement, or a host of other factors.
The low pressure side of the fin (the windward side) develops a semi-vacuum. As you apply more pressure to the fin with your back foot, you increase the vacuum pressure on the upwind side of the fin. When the board goes over a bit of chop, or the sailor gets the board out of the water, a pathway of air can form from the tail of the board to the fin. This provides an opportunity for air from the atmosphere to get sucked towards and become attached to the low pressure side of the fin from the tail of the board, and thus causing you to spin out. Once the pathway is formed, it usually remains, and your fin becomes useless, until 1) you fall, 2) you slow down so that the water can re-adhere. To avoid spin-out when landing a jump, try to land with the nose of your board pointing a bit downwind, so that when the fin re-enters the water, it slices it, and doesn't pull any air down with it.

Spreader Bar: Spreader bars are standard on all harnesses today. They are harness hooks which are mounted onto bars (usually aluminum) to help spread out the load of the the sail on the sailors back. Before spreader bars, the harness would tend to squeeze the sailor from leaning back against the sail for extended periods. Some spreader bars have a pulley instead of a hook on them: see Reactor bar. To see Windance's selection of spreader bars, click here.

Spring Pins: Spring pins are buttons that are attached to a spring. Also called spring clips. By pinching the buttons, a person can easily take a fitting apart, or adjust it. Commonly used on mast base cups, and sometimes on booms (to adjust length). To see Windance's selection of Mast base spring pins, click here.

Starboard: The right side, not the left (port) side.

Starboard Tack: refers to the direction a sailor is going in relation to the wind. On a starboard tack, the sailor is on the right side (starboard) of the board. If your right hand is closest to the mast, you are on a starboard tack. Sailors on a starboard tack have the right away over sailors on a port tack. In racing, a sailor may yell "starboard" to let sailors on a port tack know that they should give room to the sailor on a Starboard tack. This rule is especially important in crowded areas, or in racing. In wavesailing, because of less maneuverability, the sailor going out through the surf has right away over the sailor riding the wave in, regardless to what tack he/she is on..

Steamer: A wetsuit that has seams that are taped and glued, so that water can't get in through them. In this type of construction, the seams are glued together and then taped over on the inside for extra water resistance.

Sticky-backed dacron: Sticky-back dacron is a sail making cloth which has an super aggressive adhesive on one side. On high quality sails, it is used where monofilm is stitched to prevent the stitches from becoming rips. It is also used as sail numbers, and logos on sails. It usually only comes in black, white, or red.

Stringers: Stringers are the wooden strips that are sandwiched within the foam on blanks. They lock in the scoop/rocker line for the shaper while the blank is being shaped. They also provide support for the mastbox, and finbox.

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Tack (the noun):The tack is the bottom corner of the sail, near the mast, where you tie your downhaul rope.

Tack (the verb): To turn upwind passing through the eye of the wind.

Tack strap: The strap at the bottom of the luff sleeve that will tighten the foot of the sail. When adjusted properly the tack strap brings the foot edge of the sail closer to the deck of the board, increasing aerodynamic efficiency.

Tail Rocker: The amount of curvature on the bottom surface of the board. More curve makes the board turnier, less curve helps it plane more quickly. For more on tail rocker, check out our board designing seminar.

Top end: Ability of a piece of equipment to sail very fast. For example: Once this board gets planing, it has a great top end.

Transition board: A transition board is sailboard that can float a person when standing still, but doesn't usually have a daggerboard. Transition boards are usually in the 95-180 liter range.

Trim Finbox: A Trim box is a "through the deck" finbox that is used on Bic boards. It is the only "through the deck" box that is adjustable fore and aft. It uses one screw from the deck which goes into one of the four or five holes in the fin. Click here to see all the boxes together.

Tuttle Finbox: The Tuttle finbox is most often used in race boards. This type of finbox goes completely through the board making it very strong and light. This type of box is used primarily in race boards, but has also found its way into other boards. It uses two screws from the deck of the board, into the fin to secure the fin to the board. The screws are usually 1/4" diameter (20 threads per inch). The length depends on the thickness of the board, but the lengths can range from 1" to 3". It is important when using any "through the deck" box to use a rubber washer (in addition to a metal one) on the screws so that no air leaks from the deck to around the fin. If air leaks, it can cause some spin-out. Click here to see all the boxes together.

Twist: Twist refers to the sail's "twisting" action around the mast to leeward. Modern windsurfing sails have much more twist than older sails. Sailmakers have found that making the sail looser in the head allowing more twist, makes the sail easier to control, and also reduces the amount of turbulence in the head, which reduces drag, and makes the sail go faster. Too much twist can make it difficult to get going in the first place. One solution is the Ezzy Power-on head, which constantly adjusts the twist.

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Windance 108 Hwy. 35, Hood River, OR 97031
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