There was a discussion on some boards and this popped up as a response:

A friend just bought a Nano 130 l and it is about 2 kg heavier than
a S/Cross of the same volume. Also he does not go any faster on it than his old board. Weight is very important

How important is really a difference between a let's say 10.5kg board and 9kg board?
Is 1.5kg worth $1000 difference in price?

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Obelix said...
Is 1.5kg worth $1000 difference in price?

15% here, 10% there 10% there too, can all add up to quite a bit.

In competition - Yes
In day-to-day fun - No.

High board weight is very important in 40knots when all the featherweights are getting blown off the water.

Ask Rider5

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Leech said...

High board weight is very important in 40knots when all the featherweights are getting blown off the water.

Ask Rider5

Hmmm, I think there is a story hidden somewhere, and we would like to hear it.
Maybe Rider5 could fill us in?

Boards magazine July 08 did an article on identical boards of different contructions to try and analyse the difference, in summary there was no noticable difference unless you like the psychological advantage of being on a full carbon instead of base model epoxy board (and don't mind spending the extra $$), the biggest difference found was with two mistral screamer 116s with 1.34kg of weight difference. Worth a read. Funnily tho the 2 JP RWW 74s tested only had 0.23 kg difference. Hardly worth making two different models with that weight difference.

That Boards article was really interesting, I like the point they made where they said that for a lot of people the tougher construction of the cheaper models was a major bonus.

There must be a point where weight starts to make a difference to a boards performance though.

Cheers Chris

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sailpilot said...

Boards magazine July 08 did an article on identical boards of different contructions to try and analyse the difference, in summary there was no noticable difference...

Thanks for this article. Just finished reading. Quite an eye opener, and has definitely answered my question.

The lighter the board the easier it is to carry it to the beach.....seriously though I've got a JP pro edition, super light but damages so easily. If your not past the catapult stage I would not bother with a light construction board until your confident you won't put the mast through the nose on a regular basis. This said i would not trade mine for the world........its awesome.

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jh2703 said...

The lighter the board the easier it is to carry it to the beach.....seriously though I've got a JP pro edition, super light but damages so easily. If your not past the catapult stage I would not bother with a light construction board until your confident you won't put the mast through the nose on a regular basis. This said i would not trade mine for the world........its awesome.

jh i believe the pro edition supa light isn't glassed on the bottom , if it's true look after it cos a very light board from the shop can be a very heavy board with water

i know a guy that had his wave board custom sprayed and added 1/2kg and killed it

Hey keith...er Keef, how has the sailing been down at Sanctuary point. I've been down a few times to catch the odd southerly and no one has been out...has the rain scared you all away. Anyway about the board, the Excite-ride has a glassed bottom, their wave boards have a carbon biax bottom(according to the JP website) at this stage it has not taken on any water. Even though i said it damages easily the only damage i have caused is the odd ding in the rail, which i have not done on any of my other normal construction boards. The layer of carbon kevlar under the deck seems to absorb most of the impact and you just end up with a dent and some cracked paint..when this happens i go straight to the beach and seal the crack or ding. I can only assume if this board was in the hand of a sailor that had regular trips over the handle bars they would snap the nose off. The moral of the story is if you damage your board get it fixed soon and by a professional and the damage will be limited.

Can't wait to get back down your way....cheers to you and the other guys and gals.

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jh2703 said...

Hey keith...er Keef, how has the sailing been down at Sanctuary point. I've been down a few times to catch the odd southerly and no one has been out...has the rain scared you all away.

..

hi jason you ACT guys will sail anything ill send you a pm with my n/o , ive been busy making a board for green island speed week but pulled the pin at the last minute
i was in WSS when Sam's new pro edition 54 slalom arrived and he weighed it at 4.9kgs and told me they keep the weight down by not glassing the bottom well me being the gullible dude i am believed him because i know you don't have to glass divinicell if you don't want too, and after makeing this last board with mainly 98gram carbon i'm thinking to my self, why in the f..k wouldnt you glass the bottom it would be lighter glassed, you got me on that one SAM next time ill read the spec's before i open my mouth,

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Obelix said...


There was a discussion on some boards and this popped up as a response:

[i]A friend just bought a Nano 130 l and it is about 2 kg heavier than
a S/Cross of the same volume.

i haven't noticed any of the serious speed sailor's responding to this topic ,.my latest project is foot straps that don't hold water, like the old gorilla made from evo foam
just finnished a board weighing in at 4.8kg's ill do a post when ive done the foot strapp's and done a test run

The weight of the board, rig and rider combined (how is the water going to know the difference between them?) has to be important...volume is all about water displacement (Archimedes' bathtub), and if there is less weight, the board won't sink as low and displace as much water...and will need less wind power to get up and out and stop displacing water altogether.

We call this planing, for those who haven't picked up on it yet...

Which is why my light b@$tard friends can plane on 7m and 110 litres while I slog on 8.5 and 161 litres...f### 'em...


I could be wrong...



Hey Windwarning, what up son? How're those Viccy beaches? I heard you got some hot beaches down there son, word is born...

a 4.8kg board...amazing. Sounds like a kiteboard.
Now that's some tangible difference in weight.

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Wet Willy said...

... if there is less weight, the board won't sink as low and displace as much water...and will need less wind power to get up and out and stop displacing water altogether.

Couldn't agree more with the physics what confuses me is the lack of financial logic.
We are talking 1-1.5kg. Are we being ripped off?

Then again my 100kg, the board, the rig...
I eat 1-2kg each meal. I could skip lunch, get a cheap heavy board and pocket $1000


The feel will come with experience I guess.

I have always found the lighter the better in light and stronger winds. In the light I figure once the board planing most of the weight of the rig and sailor are being supported by the sail, not so for the board. Any extra weight will raise the point of the board planing though surface area plays a big part.

Once the wind gets up a bit a lighter board is just nicer to throw around, rolls and fowards are much harder on a heavy board as the board tends to get pulled off your feet. This holds true till you hit over the 30 knots, then a heavier board can be a bonus in chop, easier to hold in the water, and doesn't get blown away when your trying to waterstart.

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airsail said...

I have always found the lighter the better in light and stronger winds. In the light I figure once the board planing most of the weight of the rig and sailor are being supported by the sail, not so for the board. Any extra weight will raise the point of the board planing though surface area plays a big part.

Once the wind gets up a bit a lighter board is just nicer to throw around, rolls and fowards are much harder on a heavy board as the board tends to get pulled off your feet. This holds true till you hit over the 30 knots, then a heavier board can be a bonus in chop, easier to hold in the water, and doesn't get blown away when your trying to waterstart.

In other words, buy one of each, in every size!

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In other words, buy one of each, in every size!

OK, got it now...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsprung_weight

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nebbian said...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsprung_weight

I wonder if that's a good analogy or not. The lighter a board is the freer it is follow the bumps. If you watch the nose of your board while sailing you will notice it bobs around like crazy, so terrain following is obviously what it wants to do. The implication is that a heavier board, in resisting that kind of movement, may be slowing it down. On the other hand additional weight may be more of an inertial stabiliser and that may be a good thing. I think the only thing you can say for sure about weight is that more overall weight requires more lift to hold it up but then 2 kgs of board weight is not much in a 100 kg all up package.

There is a rule of thumb that says any difference of less than 10% can not be reliably detected by the seat of the pants. So when board testers say they can't tell the difference this doesn't mean a lot.

I'd say that if you want to throw your board around a lot (waves or freestyle) then less weight is certainly better, no doubt about it. But if you are just blasting about over chop or smooth water the advantage of light weight is moot. Actually you would expect to get a small but real advantage in speed sailing when every tenth of a knot counts.

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NotWal said...

nebbian said...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsprung_weight

I wonder if that's a good analogy or not. The lighter a board is the freer it is follow the bumps. If you watch the nose of your board while sailing you will notice it bobs around like crazy, so terrain following is obviously what it wants to do.

well that blows my theory ive just finnished a board with 5 mini stringers to take the flex out of the board to make it stiff and light

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nebbian said...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsprung_weight

Beat me to it.

What percentage of the rider and rig's weight is supported by the lift in the sail?
Any takers? I'm going to guess at times all of it, thus board weight will become important again - 10% less weight in the board = 10% less weight overall.

But what about the law of inertia + extra weight in lulls?

P.S. My first answer still holds, most of us can have much more fun with $1000 than by losing 1kg off of our board weight.

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keef said...

NotWal said...

nebbian said...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsprung_weight

I wonder if that's a good analogy or not. The lighter a board is the freer it is follow the bumps. If you watch the nose of your board while sailing you will notice it bobs around like crazy, so terrain following is obviously what it wants to do.

well that blows my theory ive just finnished a board with 5 mini stringers to take the flex out of the board to make it stiff and light

i was thinking about speed and that's what this topic is all about, i was also thinking if your sailing chop every time your board hits the trough it flexes , i wouldn't say its the nose that's flexing but it's flexing and bending like a banana between the mast and the front foot and the flex you can see on the nose is the repercussion, and i'm sure the same thing is happening to the tail, but after saying that if you don't have flex it will break

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evlPanda said...

nebbian said...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsprung_weight

P.S. My first answer still holds, most of us can have much more fun with $1000 than by losing 1kg off of our board weight.

sorry to disagree evlpanda , it's like any sport you reach your ability and then it's up to the equipment, would you do the tour de france on a$500 mountain bike