this is my first post and i want to say "thank you" to all in this excellent forum that appears to be one of the best informational resources on the net.

84 Kg 10 to 18 knots flat water inland lake sailor here. i have a Bic Techno 283 and 4 Neil Pryde '95 V8s the largest of which is 7.5. while i have sailed for 10+ years l have not taken it as seriously as i am today. my objective is simply to get out on the water, plane, jibe and plane-jibe some more. TOW. i also would prefer being out cruising/schlogging than sitting on my dock so i want some float in my board and am happy to give up a bit of top end.

my Techno is 152 and i have no problem with something in that area or ten L smaller. it has been a few years since the Techno and boards have moved on. certainly shorter...

i think i want something around 250 rather than 240 for the additional longitudinal dynamic help and also for a bit more rail length.

wider than my Techno (69) also works but i am not sure it has't gone to extreme.
thinner rails probably help a bit jibing...

attempting to put this all together i come up with:

Carve 141 251 X 83.5 near the top of my list but not sure about the width
Magic Ride 142 249 X 81
X-cite Ride+ 145 252 X 77 probably my pick as i like the slightly slimmer width, slightly more displacement and length compared to the Magic Ride
Gecko 146 250 X 83
Tabou Rocket 145 250 X 76 similar to the X-Cite but very few if any in the U S.
Patrik 145 253 X 75 probably even less presence than the Tabou but nice dimensions

any and all comments greatly appreciated. if i do the X-Cite i have a specific question. Big Winds has only the 2016 X-Cite available (FWS). they think the 2017 is exactly similar. i have emailed JP/Aus to confirm this but do not yet have an answer. is the 2017 X-Cite 145 unchanged from 2016?

i would also be very interested in any comments. Big Winds prefers the X-Cite to the Magic Ride and does all their teaching on the X-Cite, indicating the narrower, more "conventional" outline provides a more linear transition between planing and non-planing among other things.

i welcome and am open to any suggestions.

oh one other detail as to usage... i have recently relocated and will now be sailing on a much larger Lake. Lake Winnebago is 28 miles/45 km long and 10 miles/16 km wide. lots of water compared to the smaller Wisconsin lakes i have previously sailed so i am excited.

thanks

Are you still riding the techno 283?

lot of love for the techno

I am 105kg and have had 2 xcite ride 165 and found them to be fantastic. 7.5 V8 etc was the ideal sail for most windy days. I found their conventional outline very stable and able to skip over chop in very windy conditions. I assume the smaller versions would be the same, but have not updated for a few years now. I have a range of Jp boards, slalom and super sport but the xcite is still the most versatile on those flukey days being larger of course but sails through the lulls and I regularly use with a 9.5 m sail. If it gets real windy and I am using it I just keep sailing, as the ride is still stable and exciting as well as planing and reaching 30kn speeds. Not sure about the others but xcite has a great track record

Hey.
I'm a bit lighter than you at 95 kgs .
but have ridden the carve .great board .i only borrowed .
but I wouldn't worry about the width .if you are sailing lakes .its the rails you need to worry about
and it seemed user friendly .and very good quality .
i use a 130 litre Naish Titan @83-5 wide ,it's quite ok in chop .and very easy to use .
my next step down is the 125 tabou rocket .what a machine
Im sure the bigger ones would be as nice to ride .
jp excite and magic ,both nice shapes ,only ridden the 106 xcite..I was very impressed .

hope I helped probably not .

good luck with choosing .

"I'm a bit lighter than you at 95 kgs"

just so there's no confusion, i am 84 KG...

in starting this thread i am asking two questions, one is central to many windsurfers which is... do the wider (80+) freemove boards come with significant offsets compared to the more traditional (70 range) shapes. i can see they offer more lateral leverage, a larger planing surface but they also have offsets such as drag and perhaps too much surface when they are moving fast across chop. i frequently hear the wider boards tend to be bouncy.

the second question is, given my app, (post one), which board do you like and why.

finally just something simple: is the 2017 E-Cite Ride unchanged from 2016.

i am intrigued by Tardy's comment about rails rather than width being key and while i understand a bit about thinner rails i wonder how this comment relates to the boards mentioned in post one. i do note that the 2017 Carve has revised rails V 2016.

thanks!

Can you go to big winds and demo the e-cite board? Try a few different sizes too. Use your rig if you can.
Ive had magic ride, super sport and now JP slalom. I like then all.

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windwardhc said..
"I'm a bit lighter than you at 95 kgs"

just so there's no confusion, i am 84 KG...

in starting this thread i am asking two questions, one is central to many windsurfers which is... do the wider (80+) freemove boards come with significant offsets compared to the more traditional (70 range) shapes. i can see they offer more lateral leverage, a larger planing surface but they also have offsets such as drag and perhaps too much surface when they are moving fast across chop. i frequently hear the wider boards tend to be bouncy.

the second question is, given my app, (post one), which board do you like and why.

finally just something simple: is the 2017 E-Cite Ride unchanged from 2016.

i am intrigued by Tardy's comment about rails rather than width being key and while i understand a bit about thinner rails i wonder how this comment relates to the boards mentioned in post one. i do note that the 2017 Carve has revised rails V 2016.

thanks!

Sorry bloke ..having a blonde moment ...

shaper rail tend to be a bit more bitey .and will be less friendly in chop .
rounded rail on the other hand are nice to use but don't run up wind as good .

have you thought of going smaller at 85 kgs ..
as with the wider boards...you can drop the volume ..
which enables you to sail it in stronger winds .

the 84 /130 litre /240 is my biggest board now .
its fantastic in light air .and has the stability of a door .
..wide boards really do have a advantage in lighter air .

in saying that ,I really enjoyed riding the carve ..

havent ridden any of the other board s so can't comment sorry .

if it says freeride .your on the money .the rails will be fine ..

I tried Patrik freeride and Rocket - can't go wrong with either of them. Nice and friendly boards.
Patrik was fantastic, but couldn't get hold of one for many months so I purchased a 145 Rocket which is almost as nice.
No criticism of other boards - people seem to like them as much.

At 85kgs I would go 125L, but the buoyancy is less on fresh water so 135-145 would be good I think.

thanks all for the feedback.
i would still like to learn if the 2017 X-Cite was unchanged from 2016.

i compared

jp-australia.com/2016/products/boards/xcite-ride-plus/ versus
http://jp-australia.com/2017/products/boards/xcite-ride-plus/

in terms of numbers , the only difference was 0.1 on the FWS/full wood sandwich models and no 160 in 2017

maybe better pads in 2017 cuz they chat em up ??

yes, before asking on the forum i did compare metrics and w the exception of weight (19.2 2016 V 19.4 2017) they do appear to be identical including the pads. i did the question to JP directly and haven't as yet received a reply.

i am pretty sure that any of the boards listed in my initial post post would deliver a great ride but just thought i would ask.

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windwardhc said..
thanks all for the feedback.
i would still like to learn if the 2017 X-Cite was unchanged from 2016.

I have a 2013 X-Cite 145. They were a genuine intermediate board back then. When they introduced the Magic Ride certain alterations were made to the design, making it more sporty. I would think that these would be much the same with the most recent models.

Yes, you can demo boards at Bigwinds. They have the whole Jp Board line their, along with an abundance of other brands as well. Just call them up and ask for Mark or Eddy. They will hook you up.

thanks but the only problem w the demo idea is that i am about 1500 miles to the East.

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windwardhc said..
thanks but the only problem w the demo idea is that i am about 1500 miles to the East.

What I'm hearing is that there aren't any windsurfing shops near you and Bigwinds is the closest but still obviously far away. Perhaps drive to Hood River and stay for a few days, then demo the board you're interested in. Hood River is a cool, layed back community. When I went for the first time last summer, I instantly started meeting other windsurfers and chatting up conversations with them. Very fun, friendly area.

@WWHC, it's really hard to get quality comparison comments on a forum because:
- the information is quite often very subjective, ie the person responding may be justifying their $2k outlay
- there's very few people who have actually tried a bunch of boards back to back with the same rig on the same day in the same conditions

"Windsurf" magazine have some shootout type tests of 140L freeride boards on their website. But again these tests seem to not be very critical of anything in order to protect their advertising revenue, however they do bring up some of the "characteristics" of each board that seem to hold true amongst the guys I sail with.

You've really only got two choices:
- guts it and buy something based on a back to back test review and your gut feeling
- have a holiday and go to a location where you can try a few boards and bring one home with you

BTW, I took option 1 and bought a 154 Magic Ride based on:
- "Windsurf" magazine's tests describing it's characteristic (which worked out pretty close to the mark)
- it met all of my criteria (that I wrote down on a piece of paper - do this) / wide so is stable to allow easy tacking / plenty of volume to allow my 100kg to uphaul easy / early planing / loose in the rear end to help me with learning to gybe as well as be fun to just flick around / sacrifice top end speed for stability and fun factor
- the 142 Magic Ride actually met all the criteria but I went with the 154 as it's basically the same outline but a little thicker and there's no substitute for cubes when your a 100kg learner and this is your first performance type board

If you haven't found a style of board that you like yet, I would definitely make the trip and try different boards. Narrow, wide, shorter longer. They will all most likely have different foot strap settings, some with more options for settings than others. Some boards have more volume in the middle, some more spread out. Some boards are thin and flat, some are thicker. some boards have a more appealing shape than others that may attract your interest as well.

But if you have a style you prefer, than stick to that. Look for that style of board. It's a lot to take in at once, but gets easier after a while.

The reason for all these different boards is because everyone likes different stuff and there is a board for most every kind of sailing condition as well as type of sailing you choose to do. And then you have board manufacturers that compete with each other with board design.

thanks for some really good comments! while i do believe that most of the aforementioned boards would be wonderful and given my modest needs i am sure i would be in hog heaven (whatever that is) on any of them i did do screen saves on each and then spent some time looking at the outlines. (this would be from above).

one caveat before i share some observations is that a few of them were not quite a match as to displacement.

that said, wow, there really are differences!

Magic Ride is really eliptical.

Patrik is relatively rectangular

X-Cite seems closest to my Techno 283

Carve is sort of in between w a pronounced drawn i tail area

my layman's conclusion is the straighter/longer rails go upwind better and the elliptical likes turning.

i am starting to like the Patrik FreeRide 145. it appears build quality, weight and pedigree offset graphics:)

while i realize that rocker, bottom and rail config are also major factors it does seem that there probably are major differences between these boards.

Also have a look at the amount of tail rocker as well as the tail thickness/volume, they're all different. The JP website lets you spin a 3D model around to check that stuff out for their shapes.

I would suggest you also have a look at the Goya Volar.



It was tested in Windsurf UK recently in 105 litre guise. www.windsurf.co.uk/test/goya-volar-105l-2017-test-review/
I quote: "The Goya Volar and Tabou Rocket Wide are the two stand out designs, pushing the wide-thin concept to new highs. Super stable at rest, they plane effortlessly, accelerate at will and feel electrifying to sail, whilst actually remaining perfectly in control at all times, and always possess the manners to relax into an upright stance if desired. The choice between the two is a tough call, but boils down to the style of the ride and the type of feedback you yearn for. "

It is nice to have a different board to everyone else on their JPs, Tabous etc.

This board is apparently no slouch either with a great aesthetic and also a wide range of volumes to choose from and premium carbon construction.




Also look at the Naish Titan or Naish Starship.

Do your own research and enjoy.

the Volar looks interesting, thanks for that. 145L 252 X 86...

since i am looking in the 140-150 range neither of the Naish suggestions work. i did contact the US dist/dealer for Patrik as to availability and have yet to hear back. of course as was mentioned in an earlier post this exercise is really just shooting darts when it gets down to a decision but why not.

i did hear back from the U S Patrik Dist, Jason Voss. i was surprised to hear he had both the 145 and 155 F-Ride in stock. i appreciate all the helpful comments/posts on the thread and do promise to re-visit with my feedback as well as some pictures once i get on the water. Summer is headed our way in the N Hemisphere:)

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windwardhc said..
in starting this thread i am asking two questions, one is central to many windsurfers which is... do the wider (80+) freemove boards come with significant offsets compared to the more traditional (70 range) shapes. i can see they offer more lateral leverage, a larger planing surface but they also have offsets such as drag and perhaps too much surface when they are moving fast across chop. i frequently hear the wider boards tend to be bouncy.

Welcome to the area! I also sail on lake Winnebago so I'm sure we'll probably meet in person. To share my experience of this lake, depending where you launch, it has a tendency to generate short and deep chop/waves starting at 15-16 knots in onshore conditions. I sail an SB AtomIQ 124 L and I can handled it in +25 knots but the 80cm width of that board becomes a liability past 20 knots. Like you mentioned it bounces and the width catches the wind too easily. I know it's not your goal but I recently bought a 100 L Naish Starship to sail in more choppy/windy conditions on that lake and I am very happy with that choice. I also weigh the same as you and I can uphaul my 2-camber 8.5 on the 124 L without problem in case the wind dies or to cork around on the water if need be. So I'm not sure why you want to go this big.
Like many have said:
- wider will plane a bit earlier
- straighter rails will be easier to handle above 18 knots onshore waves/chop on this lake

I think the Patrik seems a good compromise that probably will make you happy in a variety of conditions. I wouldn't go any bigger than the 145 though since you already have the large bic techno. If at all, I would go a notch smaller that would feel a bit less bulky under the foot in higher wind. Also I don't know if the added Kevlar in the construction makes the board more resilient to impact damage. If it does, that's a plus.

The difference that could be significant between the JP Magic and the X-Ride is their width. I would assume that the Magic would feel closer in performance and behavior to my AtomIQ. If you intend to own one more board, I would go a bit narrower and 135-145 L. If you plan for 2 boards, I would go wide 145-155 L for light to moderate wind conditions (cruising, early planing) and a 110-115 L for moderate to higher wind conditions (fun in chop and grow transition skills).

My 2 cents.
see you on the water!
Greg.

Here's the 124L SB AtomIQ /8.5 Ezzy Lion sailing on lake Winnebago 14-16 knots, gust 18.