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Mistral Superlight I – the original IMCO board
By Scott | August 1, 2008
I‘ve bought and sold several Mistral Superlights I over the years but this particular one is in extra nice shape so I’ve decided to sail it myself. I picked it up on EBAY with a couple old sails and booms for $111. The Superlight as the name suggests was lightweight for a board of it’s day. Without centerboard it weighs around 30 pounds but much of that weight is in the back half of the board. The nose end of this board is light and that really helps it glide along in light air conditions. I’m not sure of the year but around 1994 Mistral came out with the Superlight II which was an Equipe II hull with none of the accessories on it. The Superlight II still remains popular today for racing with but they are somewhat hard to find these days as no one want’s to give them up.
I believe the Superlight is the board that started the International Mistral Class Organization or IMCO http://www.imco.org/ . As late as 1988 there was a large Mistral Superlight following with some great Superlight IMCO competitions held in the Ohio and Michigan area. I can remember over two dozen Superlights competing at the Alum Creek regatta back in 1988. The one design sail used with it was the 6.3 RAF Mistral Progress Line sail. The sail came in three sizes 4.3, 5.3 and 6.3 and the orange color scheme was unforgettable.
There are two mast foot holes in the deck with the front one giving you better upwind power. The fin pivots against a spring which is way cool allowing you to beach start in like 6 inches of water. The centerboard is huge but the cassette has no gasket but that dosen’t matter unless you really get going fast which isn’t a great idea. Notice there are no foot straps on this guy. The bottom is wide and flat back by the fin then rounds as it goes towards the nose with a lot of vee in front of the centerboard. The Superlight can easily better modern race boards in light wind conditions. I’m looking forward to doing some Open Class racing in the future on this board when conditions are right. Many people still keep an old Superlight in their garage for light air sailing on hot summer dog days.
Around 1989 the Mistral IMCO One Design longboard with it’s 7.4 and 6.6 cambered sails became popular very quickly. The new funboards of the late eighties had quickly laid the Superlight to rest. The IMCO longboard was announced in 1992 as the new Olmypic board for the 1996 games. During the early 90′s IMCO longboard racing grew steadily but for several reasons it’s popularity died near as quick as it started in the late nineties. Now the wide style Mistral Prodigy is the IMCO board of choice in this region however I still always see one or more IMCO One Design longboards competing in any midwest regatta I attend.
Topics: BAF | 13 Comments »
August 2nd, 2008 at 9:06 AM
You scored! I’ve had my Superlight for ten years, and I bought mine for a few hundred bucks used as well.
The best board in the world IMHO for nonplaning cruising. Also a decent lightwind race board…I actually came in third in a windsurfing festival (first place to a guy who knew what he was doing on a Fanatic Ultra Cat, second place to a Formula sailor.)
On a seperate note, I’m glad to see you’ve enabled comments. I’ve wanted to leave notes before but couldn’t. Nice blog!
December 21st, 2008 at 9:39 AM
I finally located and purchased an early pre-owned Mistral Superlight here in Kansas City. I paid US$50 for board, mast, boom, three sails, dagger , spare parts and three sails. This board has been stored in a garage and is very clean. What a deal!
Unfortunately, the temperature is now 4 degrees (F) outside and the lake is frozen solid. Maybe April or May?
December 21st, 2008 at 11:42 AM
Sounds like you had a great find in Kansas. History has a way of repeating itself. Anyone thinking about spending thousands on a new light air board like the Starboard Serenity should think again and first try an old Superlight I out! I had a blast crusing around in 10mph winds and less on that board last summer.
March 19th, 2009 at 8:00 PM
Hey I just got a mistral super light yesturday took it out today and I love it!!! I have a problem though, The fin sprung all the way back and I have no clue how to get it to pop back up. what do I do?
June 12th, 2009 at 8:29 AM
Nice score! Have you ever come across a vintage Mistral Maui? How would it compare to the Superlight?
June 18th, 2009 at 7:28 AM
Hi I’m looking for a superlight Mistral there is anybody can help me?
Thank you Massimo
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:39 PM
Hi,
I also have superlight here in Finland, Europe. I have “new” rig from 90′s
6.9 racesail and carbon mast 490 cm. I have sitting stapets. I got my board to “semiplane” today, it went fast, but it did not raise completely from water, so I did not reach top speed. Has anyone managed to really plane this board?
I bought my superlight 2 years ago at 60 $ and it was almost in perfeft condition. Last summer I started learning to use strapets, and I broke my board with boom. I felt like I was cutting “Mona Lisa” with knife. I repaired the board and covered the nose area with 4 mm teflon sheet that I attached with silicon. Now boom does not breake the board anymore.
Take care of your superlights, they are diamods of windsurfing history.
Teuvo
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:54 AM
Does anyone know where I can get a fin box to use the retractable feature? Any other solutions?
March 16th, 2010 at 6:20 PM
Looking for a Mistral Super Light. let me know. woogie815@hotmail.com
May 26th, 2010 at 9:29 PM
The first board i owned was a 1988 Mistral Superlight,still have it and sail it. It is the best light wind board ever made
10mph and below nothing can touch it. I can be on a plane in 12 mph with a gaastra 8.5 racefoil. I sail it from 3-25 mph wind. in 25 mph I used a 5.3 progress line,the progress line sails believe it or not were similar to the Sailworks retro. if you find one in good condition,BUY IT.learn to sail it,you will find that it is an amazing board!!
Although a great light wind board,this board is fast1!
July 14th, 2010 at 3:25 PM
Has anybody tried a superlight for SUP (standup paddling) ?
July 27th, 2010 at 11:30 AM
Does anybody know a source for the spring loaded buttons which hold the superlite dagger boards in place? We have tried to find old dagger boards with intact buttons but with no results.
Bill
August 4th, 2010 at 10:56 AM
I started racing a Superlight on the lakes of Minneapolis in ’86. It was stolen but I replaced it with the ’89 model which just had minor changes. That ’89 is still a great and fun board. I replaced the mast foot in ’03 and got a never before used 6.3 Progress Line replacement sail off eBay in ’09. I had it on a full plane on Hoover Res. in Columbus, OH last week. It outran some much newer equipment with bigger rigs. The old girl really screems! I sail it at least once a week and still love it.