Windsurfer

I have been very lucky in finding a nice Hobie windsurfer. The only problem is that it is missing its fin. Does anyone know if it will take standard or will I need to go digging through the dark areas of eBay?

This is an "Alpha" board with a fin box? You can use standard fins.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

You have to be careful when you talk about standard fin boxes.

There is no such thing as a "standard" fin box. There are about a half dozen different different fin box configurations used by various manufacturers and most of them are not interchangeable.

The most common fin box configurations are Trim Box, Powerbox, Tuttle Box, A-Box, and E-Box. There are some other lesser used fin boxes, but they are quite rare.

If I recall correctly, an Alpha Sailboard would either use an A-Box or an E-Box fin. This fin box system has a recessed track where you drop the fin in and a pin at the front or back of the fin engages the track. Then you slide the fin into position, drop in a square nut, push the fin down, and a machine screw passes through the fin and into the nut to hold the other end of the fin in position.


The A and E style fin box systems are almost identical and an E-Box fin can be converted to A-Box by cutting off the extension tab on the base of the fin and an A-Box fin will fit in an E-Box fin box if needed, so these two are somewhat interchangeable. The other fin box configurations however would absolutely NOT work in this style of fin box. So be sure you get the correct style fin for your fin box.

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This! This is why I love this forum. I've never known a single group that was so knowledgable and helpful as the Hobie group.

Thanks, srm.

I probably have some, if you can't find one.

These fins will fit the Alph fin box. There are several sizes and shapes, but the part of the fin that goes into the board are mostly the same. Also in the picture is the screw and plate to hold the fin in place. Hope this helps.

FYI, those are both "A-Box" fins.

By the way, the sport of windsurfing has come a LOOOONNNGGG way since the days of the Alpha/Hobie boards (mid-80's).

Modern equipment (really anything manufactured from about Y2K onward) works substantially better than that early gear - no more tie-on booms, base extensions that don't adjust, super narrow tippy boards, overpowering/heavy rigs.....

If you find that you're really struggling with the Alpha board but are truly interested in learning to windsurf (and you should be because it really is an awesome sport), I would highly suggest getting some modern gear and possibly taking a beginner lesson. It will make learning the fundamentals much easier and you will spend a lot more time actually windsurfing and a lot less time falling in and uphauling.

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SRM speaks the truth, it is an awesome sport. I still have an old Alpha Speed Needle hanging up in my man cave, and I competed in the Alpha Worlds in the Canary Islands back in the '80's. At 67 years of age, I still windsurf and have not really slowed down. My neighbour took this pic of me this summer.

I came across an Alpha 5.0 sail and board. The lines are missing and I’ve been searching for instructions for set up of the mast, boom and sail and top rib that seems to be too long unless we can get a lot of bow in the mast. I’ve never wind surfed but it looks fun. I have a sail boat and want to try this. Any help will be appreciated. Also whatever attaches boom to mast is partly missing unless it’s all lines tied around it.

Thanks Jim

Really, really, old gear. It was “ok” in its era. More trouble than it’s worth today. There is so much better gear now. It is the equivalent of trying to learn to ski on wooden skis. You can get some inexpensive gear that is 20 years old and will still be infinity easier to learn windsurfing on.

The boom you have is a “tie on” boom. There is a reason they were obsoleted 40 years ago.

I would suggest avoiding this gear.

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I see what you mean, I’ve been watching videos of rigging newer gear. I’m 70 years old a checking if I want to get involved. I won’t be doing tricks but just cruising around on a lake.
Thanks for you advice, I’ll go look for some newer equipment.
Jim