A short review of RRD X-fire lightwind because I did not find much on the web. The board is 91 cm wide and 150 liters, in the category of the superlight wind. These boards should offer a more freeride alternative to the formulas, still planing in the lightest wind.
I wanted a board that could take at least a 10m sail comfortably (I am 74 kgs) so a big slalom was not the option for me. RRD does not sell or recommend a fin with the board, so the other question was which fin would work best.





So far my outings have been:
1 - 9.5 rsx sail and 60cm rsx fin in 11-13 knts wind. sail is 2 cams - light and easy, the big fin gives a great hovering effect, but once powered up generating drag and limiting speed. The board is fun, it leans on one rail and hovers smoothly. Max speed 20knts, best alpha 13.5 knts.

2 - 11.0 xo sail , 60 rsx and 54 custom fin (formula fin reboxed) in 8-13 knts wind. The board can take the 11 well, which is a much heavier sail, both fins work. Back leg had to work very hard once powered up, could not sheet in properly unless going upwind/downwind. Needed longer harness lines. Max speed 19.4 knts, best alpha 10 knts.

3 - 8.7 KARace sail, 52 Drake fin in 12-17 knts. Conditions were choppy, in Botany chop is always disproportionate to the wind if Southerly. This was the best fun, the fin worked very well, but started whistling once reaching about 20 knts. I was almost overpowered at times, but the board was easy to keep under control, easy to fly the fin in the gusts. It shows that it is a big slalom board more than a freeride. Mast foot set at 130, could be more adventurous in the future. Max speed 23.4 knts, best alpha 14.6 (still not planing).

In summary it is a sporty super light wind board, but not as hard as a formula. Lots of fun to ride because it hovers and flies the fin easily. Also it works with smaller fins than I expected. The fun of these boards is that they can make what would be an ordinary day on a smaller board a lot more interesting and phisical. Even if the numbers look slow the enjoyment is high.








All my sessions with the RRD here, will keep updating them:

martignoni.id.au/summary.php?board=RRD%20XFire%20Lightwind&sort=date
click on the date link to see details of each session, that has hyperlinks to stats and pictures of the kit.


Comparison with JP SLW
Years ago I tried the jp SLW a few times, it was the earliest 164 model, longer and with much wider tail. My feeling was that the board was too similar to a formula, not very lively, in comparison the rrd is more fun.
All my sessions with the JP here:
martignoni.id.au/summary.php?board=JP%20SLW%20154&sort=date

Comparison with starboard formula
I had great light wind days with the starboard fw162, but I found it demanding and sometimes scary as soon as the wind picks up a few knots, max speed ever with formula 25.5 knots
all my sessions on the formula here:
martignoni.id.au/summary.php?board=Starboard%20FW162&sort=date

If anyone else has the same board I would love to hear from them

Hi George, great to see that you have had it on the water.
I have the Ultrasonic 2017, 147litres 95 wide Drake Race58 fin
I use NP hornet 7.6,8.2.
My last few outing have been up to 28knts. It flies off the fin. Alphas are down but that's me!
I like it!!

Hi George, great to see that you have had it on the water.
I have the Ultrasonic 2017, 147litres 95 wide Drake Race58 fin
I use NP hornet 7.6,8.2.
My last few outing have been up to 28knts. It flies off the fin. Alphas are down but that's me!
I like it!!

Thanks for bringing it all the way from wa Dave ! Hope you can enjoy at LG now

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powersloshin said..
Thanks for bringing it all the way from wa Dave ! Hope you can enjoy at LG now

Heading there tomorrow. Yay!

A quick update. Went out today with 9.5 and after killing my leg with the Monster 54 fin I tried the Drake 52. Wind was about 12 with some gusts around 15 and to my surprise the fin was ok with the big sail in lightish wind. Much easier across the wind and max speed 20 knts.
So this board is OK with a single fin and sails up to 10 metres.

nice comparisons of the WIDE freerides

We now have 4 Starboard UltaSonics here in Busselton. Using drake race 58,52&50 fins. I broke my 58 and had a custom Tribal Slalom 52 made which is great. Also uses a Tribal Slalom 46 to 29knots. Great pedigree 2012-2017 models

Is that the '16 foil board?
Waiting for better weather to try it.

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BSN101 said..
We now have 4 Starboard UltaSonics here in Busselton. Using drake race 58,52&50 fins. I broke my 58 and had a custom Tribal Slalom 52 made which is great. Also uses a Tribal Slalom 46 to 29knots. Great pedigree 2012-2017 models

None of these boards are foil boxed, they are deep tuttle so you could foil on them. SB changed to Foil Ready boxes in 2018. I will try foiling mine at some stage but for the moment we all have similar boards just different sail brands.

We have the '16 foil version, medium Tuttle box.
But we mainly foil in wind gusts under 18 and haven't tried it with 8.3, 7.7, 7.5, and smaller race sails.

I will be using a power plate and a custom top plate for foiling on this board, don't want to risk damaging it. Not tried yet.

Nice board.

You may want to reconsider the back screw - if you are uphauling - and it's likely on a foilboard, you run the risk of bringing the sail across the tail and damaging it. Was helping a friend adjust a board for foiling a few months ago and we ran into this as his back screw poke up a bit.

Some of have used wide washers, sheets of plastic (like kitchen cutting board) or layers of carbon similar to the AFS reinforcing strip they provide with their foils.

www.afs-foils.com/boutique/full-carbon-reinforcement-plate/?lang=en

Try to center the coe of the front foil between your footstraps, That's the advantage of PP.