mistral bermuda windsurfer

Question
I have mistral bermuda windsurfer but i dont know how to put it together is there a manual I think is an 1985 model

Answer
Hey Maricio,

I don't think you will be able to find a manual anywhere. I will try to walk you through getting your rig set up.

First thing to check is the type of boom head you have. This will be the end that connects to the mast. Is it a clamp type system or does it look like it will tie on? Clamp types are easy to attach. Tie ons are a bit more complicated. I'll cover this in a moment.

Start by laying the sail out on the ground (preferably grass) with the mast side to the right and the clew side to your left when standing at the bottom of the sail. Slide the mast into the luff sleeve making sure the boom opening is showing. Slide the mast foot into the bottom of the mast and using the downhaul rope, loop it through the bottom sail grommet and the pulleys on the mast foot. You should thread through the grommet from the bottom up both times. Slip the rope into the cleat on the mast foot and pull the rope fairly tight to tighten the luff of the sail. This is called 'downhauling' the sail.

Now the boom. If it is a clamp type, slip the boom over the mast/sail from the bottom up. If there are adjustment pins in the clew end of the boom, these should be pointing down to allow water to drain out of the boom while out on the water. Slide the clamp part of the boom onto the mast. With the lever all the way open, slip the rope around the mast and hook it onto the wide hook of the boom clamp. Slip the rope through the cleat and tighten the lever. It should be fairly snug. To adjust the height of the boom, just open the lever and move the boom up or down.

If your boom is a tie on type, this is how to proceed. You should have a small gage rope about 18" long. It should be tied to the boom already. Remove the rope put the two ends together. Loop the loop around the mast and slip the two ends through the loop and around the mast and back through the loop again. Snug the rope ensuring the loops around the mast are laying flat and not crossed. Snug the rope against the loop and have it at the front of the mast. Now take the boom and slide the clew end over the top of the sail and slide the mast end down to the rope. The boom should be laying parallel to the mast with the mast under the mast end of the boom and over the clew end. There should be two holes in the mast end of the boom. Slip one of the ropes through each hole and tie a square knot in the ropes. Now grasp the mast above the boom head with your right hand and the boom with the left hand. Raise the mast with your right hand so that you can pivot the boom down so that the clew will be near the clew of the sail. If it is difficult or you feel the boom is snugging to tightly to the mast (small creaking sounds), then back up and loosen the ropes just a bit. It may take a couple of tries to get the right tension on the rope. You want the boom to mast connection fairly snug but not crushing the mast.

Now go to the clew end of the boom. There should be a rope there to attach the clew end of the sail to the boom. Examine the end for the pulleys and cleat. You should be slipping the rope through the grommet from the bottom of the sail, through a pulley, through the sail grommet again and then into the cleat. Pull on the rope to flatten out the sail some. At this point, tight all the batten straps that are adjustable.

Now go back to the bottom of the sail and tight the down haul about as much as you can. Now tighten the outhaul until the sail shape looks fairly good. You may need to release the outhaul and adjust the boom end. Your starting point should be about 8" from the sail clew and then adjust the boom end so that when the sail is rigged, the clew of the sail should be close or against the boom end.

The boom height should end up about shoulder height when the sail is straight up and attached to the board. You may need to loosen the clew end before loosening the boom/mast connection to adjust height. For a clamp system, just loosen the lever. For the tie type, release the clew, swing the boom up, release the square knot, loosen the loop and slide the rope up or down, repeat rigging.

You should be able to copy and print these instructions so that you don't have to keep running back to the computer. Also check out www.windsurfingmag.com under instruction for some great help on beginner sailing.

Hope this helps.
Keep on sailing,
Windlover