Hello,
I am a beginner rider of 63-65kilos,Portugal based.
(In a previous post some people here suggested a freewave when compared to my freeride eagle,but do I really need a freewave or the pure wave board is good enough)?

I have a 73l 2005 newwave,a 81l 2008 newave and a 91l 2009 newwave because all of them cost me 300? .They are great but when blasting in the ocean over chop they are rather unstable and the feeling is not like on my freeride eagle 126 which I can't really take in the ocean and chop due to board size,shore brake size and chop size .
So I am aiming to keep one realwave board( the 73 or 81 )for real wave riding(that in reality I can't do,so this is still just wishful thinking) and in between this and pure freeride to have good for all board when I want to be in the ocean enjoy small waves,enjoy blasting,training carving jibes,fast tacks,I would also like to train vulcan and some stuff like helitack
I can choose between a fanatic freewave 98 from 2009 era more or less, a fanatic freewave 104 or even a fanatic freewave stb 95L 2019
Or should I go even smaller than 95 given what gear I have and what I want to do?

Or should I just keep the 91 newave as the freewave board will not really give me anything extra in terms of blasting comfort in ocean chop,nor in b&j,vulcan,helitacks and the 91 could serve good enough?

I am really wondering as I have never used a freewave, would they serve the purpose and fill in the gap between my huge freeride and my waveboard?

Once again 63kilos here in Portugal coastal area.

Thank you

A freewave will be way better for ocean blasting than your wave boards. They feel twitchy and moving around compared to the Eagle because they are small and want to turn.
a freewave will be much better for blasting. Volume . well that's up to you based on conditions.

I'm similar in weight (about 65kg) and I have a Fanatic new-wave, 81l, from 2005. To me this is a great all-round board, I have been using it with 5.3-4.7 sails and it used to be my "big" wave/bump and jump board. Enough volume to carry me home even if the wind drops and it works great for bump and jump too. The only thing I have changed is to use a slightly larger fin, I think I have a 24cm free-wave fin for it now, this works much better for blasting around compared to the stock fin, that was rather small (I think it was 21-22cm) for straight line speed but better for tight turns on a good wave. These boards a "long" compared todays standard, and they are therefore very good for bump and jump, even better than most modern designs (that are wider and shorter for the same volume).

Not sure what you mean when you say the boards are "unstable"(?) but perhaps try a slightly larger fin. That will give you more of a free-ride feeling, riding on the fin at full speed.

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SurferKris said..
I'm similar in weight (about 65kg) and I have a Fanatic new-wave, 81l, from 2005. To me this is a great all-round board, I have been using it with 5.3-4.7 sails and it used to be my "big" wave/bump and jump board. Enough volume to carry me home even if the wind drops and it works great for bump and jump too. The only thing I have changed is to use a slightly larger fin, I think I have a 24cm free-wave fin for it now, this works much better for blasting around compared to the stock fin, that was rather small (I think it was 21-22cm) for straight line speed but better for tight turns on a good wave. These boards a "long" compared todays standard, and they are therefore very good for bump and jump, even better than most modern designs (that are wider and shorter for the same volume).

Not sure what you mean when you say the boards are "unstable"(?) but perhaps try a slightly larger fin. That will give you more of a free-ride feeling, riding on the fin at full speed.

Interesting,thank you for the tips I also have the 81l newwave(the wood sandwich) .In fact as they were so cheap and I was kinda progressing I started with the 91l(carbon/light finish, even lighter than the wooden 81l one) then bougth a 73l newave also carbon/light finish that is also si light! But then I bumped into the 81 and said maybe could be a 1 board solution instead of two waveboards.all from 2005-2009 era

Anyway I could put the 25.5cm fin from 91 on the 81(that cam with 23.5) to see if it helps.
By unstable I mean I can't really settle on it as on the freeride one,the 91 specifically seems to always want to go left /right/left /right like I feel I am on wet log never finding the balance .
Could be also because I am pairing it with a two big sail for the day or maybe too high boom or too forward mast base .
So to answer you I would like a more freeride feeling board when I blast in the ocean, but also a board to enjoy a small 0.5-1.5 meter wave if the chance comes while blasting .the eagle 126 does not give me that chance ,supposing I make it woth it over the shore break that around here is for me even more difficult than the waves themselves :))

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Mark _australia said..
A freewave will be way better for ocean blasting than your wave boards. They feel twitchy and moving around compared to the Eagle because they are small and want to turn.
a freewave will be much better for blasting. Volume . well that's up to you based on conditions.

Thank you,exactly, so twitchy!
But the volume choice gives me a headache . In the end probably going bigger is safer so maybe a 98l freewave from 200x could be a not so bad choice.Let's see

Just to clarify, below is the board and the fins that I have (the board is 83l). Stock fin is a wave shape, 22cm long. With 5.3 sails I prefer a Freewave fin from MFC, 25cm long (shown to the right in the image). This works very well for bump and jump conditions, for me. So try a slightly large fin, you can also put the mastfoot just forward of the centre, this way it is easier to rake back the sail in a more free-ride stance.

If you are a beginner, the step from your larger board might simply feel a bit too large at the moment, so just keep it for later when you have improved you technique on smallish boards. The preferred size of a board is pretty personal, it is very much about how the board feels and what feeling you are after, so don't worry about the actual volume numbers too much. The preferred feeling also changes with time and sailing spots. We can never have too much stuff...

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SurferKris said..
Just to clarify, below is the board and the fins that I have (the board is 83l). Stock fin is a wave shape, 22cm long. With 5.3 sails I prefer a Freewave fin from MFC, 25cm long (shown to the right in the image). This works very well for bump and jump conditions, for me. So try a slightly large fin, you can also put the mastfoot just forward of the centre, this way it is easier to rake back the sail in a more free-ride stance.

If you are a beginner, the step from your larger board might simply feel a bit too large at the moment, so just keep it for later when you have improved you technique on smallish boards. The preferred size of a board is pretty personal, it is very much about how the board feels and what feeling you are after, so don't worry about the actual volume numbers too much. The preferred feeling also changes with time and sailing spots. We can never have too much stuff...

Exactly like my 73liters!
Actually when I used (not so often though) my 73 liters with 4.2 ezzy elite, it/I felt way more stable and going a bit like freeride feeling compared to the 91 liters newwave 2009
As I have not used it so often I can't say if it was the board or some specific tunning (done by chance) or a proper matching of board to sail to wind.
Maybe the 2005 construction was just better or maybe the 91 liters with 5.0 was just to big for that day.
Bottom end is maybe,just maybe for a freeride feeling I don't necessarily need a freewave but a perfect choice & setup of the gear,which can be tricky in itself.
will need more rides to say what it is,I also have the 81 liters so maybe I could use this two or only 81 and give up the 91 as being to big.will see.
Trying a freewave would also be interesting in itself,maybe I can find a 80L + a 2005-2010 model for a decent price
thanks for sharing your experience and photos!Beautiful board!