I picked up my new Phantom on Friday but a busy weekend meant I only got to put it on the water this afternoon.

The new 377L measures 297 litres, making it about 35 litres more than standard 377. The extra volume is clearly seen on the board with the thicker "rails" from the back footstraps to about the front of the mast track. The extra thickness makes the deck shape even more contoured, but this is not uncomfortable - in fact it gives the board more positions to place the feet when racing in very light winds (not in the footstraps). The extra volume also adds a bit more weight - I roughly measured an extra kg compared to my last year's 377.

A couple of other new things on the board:
- the centreboard head has a slightly different shape due to the fact that the centreboard is more "enclosed" when retracted due to the extra board thickness. When fully down there is not much centreboard head to push against to retract the centreboard - this may be a problem, particularly in windy conditions.
- there is a "pad" which is used to push the centreboard down - seems like a good idea.
- the foam footstraps have a velcro'd cover for the footstrap screws
- the paint job! I really like the colours & design - probably more in balance compared to the iSonic scheme.
- there seems to be more nose rocker(haven't measured this), which should be good.

The supplied fin is the same 52cm Drake. I think the centreboard is the same foil & shape as the old one.


First time on the water : the wind was quite light (up to 12 knots) and variable. The typical lake chop was quite small (< 40 cm). Sail : Severne RB 9.5m. I'm about 82kg, supposedly at the lighter end of the recommended weight scale for this board.

The board feels very comfortable underfoot (a normal Phantom attribute), maybe even more so with the more curved rails.
Sailing upwind the board is beautifully balanced and feels fast. With the mast track fully forward the beating straps feel in exactly the right position - I always felt on the standard 377 that the front beating straps were too far forward, so the board balance seems to be an improvement. The extra board thickness is immediately evident going upwind with the body position seemingly higher off the water. I really like this change and I suppose it reflects that the sailor generally rides higher off the water on all points of sailing.
Off the wind the board starts planing early, but a comparison with the standard 377 will have to be done (soon!) to see if it is earlier. It also seems to me that the extra volume helps to stop the tail sinking as much as the standard 377, meaning that there is potentially less scampering forward on the board when near dropping off the plane and /or potential to keep planing at slower speeds.
The nose of the board does seem to ride higher when planing - a good thing to avoid nosediving into the back of chop.

Gybing, tacking and mast track movement seem to be the same as the 377. The centreboard moves easily and the foot pad seems to work ok. I'm still concerned about the small centreboard head, but I had no problems on my first ride.

My general first impressions are very positive for this new board. I'm itching to do a comparison with the standard 377 but that will have to wait until next week.

Thanks for doing this mate info on these modern longboards is kind of rare. I have an old Caveman longboard that I dust off occasionally and I'm interested in how much better the new ones are. What kind of speeds are you getting upwind and down? Do you find the narrow tail makes bigger sails (i.e. formula sizes) awkward to sheet in properly downwind? The phantom has the fins on the tail obviously but the back footstrap positions look very similar in width to my caveman

I did a gps comparison between my formula board and my old caveman longboard in a 10 to 15 knot northeasterly with a Reflex 4 9.6 metre and the longboard was quicker downwind by .2 of a knot. Both of them where putting along at about 21 knots but the longboard felt like it wasn't powered up. The bigger sails like the 9.6 don't seem to fit well on my old caveman. I think in 20 knots of wind with my 8.6 on the longboard and my 9.6 on the formula the gps results would be very interesting indeed.

Hi bushfire,
I picked up one of these exact boards yesterday! Now I'm just waiting for a mast base! Lol

I have sent you a PM with a few questions, regarding some specifics.

Cheers.

Tootall.

Are longboards taking off again around Australia?

I like the idea because I do not like big rigs but love lightwind sailing on the SUP board.

Hi Bushfire,

Any chance you could post a couple more pics of the pad for the centreboard action. I have an exocet elite 380 and struggling with the centreboard and looking for a solution. Also on the reaches in low winds the centreboard trailing edge is quite sharp and a bit of pest as I want to put my back foot on the centreline of the board.

Hi Guys,

Some answers to your questions (mostly just my opinion).
The Caveman raceboards were (are) very good and will be competitive against the modern boards on most points of sailing. A Caveman board won the Australian titles about 5 years ago... Where the Phantom tends to have an advantage is off the wind where its early planning ability enables it to get ahead. The class maximum sail size is 9.5m and all raceboards should be able to handle this size(there or there abouts). Note that raceboard sails are different than slalom/formula type sails, in that they are quite tight leached. They certainly perform better on a raceboard than the latter sail in 15 knots or below.

I reckon on a racecourse the top speed of a raceboard is not that much different than a formula board, but the formula board is much faster upwind, and in planing conditions the formula board will easily beat a raceboard. In marginal conditions (on & off the plane) the raceboard will do the formula board in as it is good at "gliding". I think the top speed (2sec) I've got on the Phantom is about 28 knots which is probably similar to my top speed on a formula board.

Raceboards are still as much fun as they always were and offer a different windsurfing experience than any other windsurfer (particularly railing upwind). I would hope there is a "raceboard revival" in Oz. Certainly there has been good growth in QLD in recent years. Raceboards have never stopped being raced in NSW with 2 or 3 clubs being strong supporters of the class. Numbers are still small however I'm hoping that the upcoming Oceanic/Australian Champs on Botany Bay may attract 30 or so sailors (about the same number as in the Formula champs).

I've heard (and seen) that the Exocet Elite centreboard system can be a bit of a pain to operate. Some guys at my club (IYC) constructed a wooden pedal arrangement to push the centreboard through the slot flusher to enable subsequent easy rotation. The starboard pad on the new Phantom is a similar idea but in reality is a nicety rather than a necessity - the curved recess in the starboard deck enable the centreboard to be pushed through the slot flusher with the foot fairly easily anyway. The sharp trailing edge on the centreboard is a bit of a pain when scrambling about the deck, but not getting tangled up with it is one of the skills that you learn. The trailing edge of standard centreboards are not sharp enough from a hydrodynamic point of view....!
I'll try post another photo of the Starboard pad in the coming days.

Cheers,
Glen

Thanks Glen. I think there is a lot to be said about race boards and some of the traditional sailing clubs seem to be more open to storing the boards, to up their membership. Sailing on Sydney harbour can be a bit of a pain with all the lulls and shifts, but on a raceboard it is magic especially if one can store it a club have shower and beer (feed is optional) after sailing.

Looks astonishing! ...but word is that they're just a tad slower than the Phantom 380s.

Dream on Brendan!!

You're probably right. Just 'words' that I was uttering in my sleep.

I got the Phantom out this arvo in a gusty 20 knots with moderate lake chop - great conditions to test the more upper limits of the board. I used a Severne Reflex 5 9.5m and a MxR 44cm Katana Race fin (this fin was a bit small but was good at feeling how the board trims off the wind).

The board performed very well in the conditions. Probably the most pleasing thing was the ride over the back of the chop - no hint of nose diving or alarming pitching. I feel sure now that the nose rides higher than the "standard" 377. The balance upwind is interesting - there was much less tendency to want to get the feet further back than the beating straps - if you get the feet into the beating straps with the centreboard all the way down the board feels nicely balanced. The amount of railing to get the best speed in the windy conditions needs more work, (from me) - I suspect that the board can be railed quite a lot with the extra rail volume and slice through the chop very effectively.

The speed off the wind is excellent - I think I recorded over 27 knots without really trying. Maybe there is > 30 knots in flat water? The extra volume between the back mast foot position and the rear of the board enables a comfortable position standing just forward of the reaching straps even if the board is not planing. There is no need to slide the mast foot forward if you drop off the plane - catching a gust and get planing again is much improved because of this.


The tacking speed of the board in the choppy, windy conditions seemed good - certainly no worse the the 377.
I might get a chance to compare the board to a 377 with the same rig tomorrow - will report on the comparison.

Here is a composite photo of the centreboard pad that was requested above. This seems to work ok and doesn't get in the way.



Happy days!!!

Hi bushfire!
Have you tried the Phantom 295 or 295L, i am 65 Kg looking for a long board to compete at a local events there is no size limit on the board only sail size up to 7.5 i have an old Mistral equipe, do you think it is a good idea to buy the 295L or maybe the 320.
Thanks in advance.
Dan.

Hi Dan,

I've not tried the 295, 295L or the 320 so I can't comment on their suitability. My advice would be to have a go on each before buying. As a general comment, based on my own club racing, smaller "hybrid" type boards are not very competitive against raceboards, however when racing in a one-design environment they are a lot of fun. I guess it all depends upon what type of boards are being used in your local area.

Cheers,
Glen

Glen,

Thanks for the pics and info!!

Dean

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bushfire said..

Hi Dan,

I've not tried the 295, 295L or the 320 so I can't comment on their suitability. My advice would be to have a go on each before buying. As a general comment, based on my own club racing, smaller "hybrid" type boards are not very competitive against raceboards, however when racing in a one-design environment they are a lot of fun. I guess it all depends upon what type of boards are being used in your local area.

Cheers,
Glen

Thanks Glen!

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da vecta said..

Looks astonishing! ...but word is that they're just a tad slower than the Phantom 380s.

I suppose you'll find out at the Oceanics at the end of the month

Dan
I have owned the Phantom 320 and 295. They will certainly not offer you a speed advantage over the Equipe.
They are certainly easier to sail than the longer boards. They turn more easily because of the shorter length. They are a bit wider than the older long boards so they are more stable. They are also wider in the tail than the old longboards so they can be a little better in early planning and significantly easier to handle downwind. They definitely loose out in upwind performance in light winds. The 320 with the extra length and much larger centreboard gave me the better race performance than the 295. I haven't tried the new 295L but I have seen one where I sail. I expect it will be an improvement on the previous 295 with its fatter rail and longer centreboard and fin, but still in the same league. The 295s would be my choice for versatility and fun. They do give nice race performance but not maximum speed. The shorter length is also more convenient for handling and storage. T

Thanks Glen for the review of the 377. Looking forward to seeing it working next week.

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tonymatta said..

Dan
I have owned the Phantom 320 and 295. They will certainly not offer you a speed advantage over the Equipe.
They are certainly easier to sail than the longer boards. They turn more easily because of the shorter length. They are a bit wider than the older long boards so they are more stable. They are also wider in the tail than the old longboards so they can be a little better in early planning and significantly easier to handle downwind. They definitely loose out in upwind performance in light winds. The 320 with the extra length and much larger centreboard gave me the better race performance than the 295. I haven't tried the new 295L but I have seen one where I sail. I expect it will be an improvement on the previous 295 with its fatter rail and longer centreboard and fin, but still in the same league. The 295s would be my choice for versatility and fun. They do give nice race performance but not maximum speed. The shorter length is also more convenient for handling and storage. T

Thanks Glen for the review of the 377. Looking forward to seeing it working next week.

Thanks tony for your advise!

Hi Bushfire
a) What do you enjoy more, formula or raceboard?
b) Did the 377L prove to be faster at the Oceanics than the 377?
Regards

Hi Regal1,

It's hard to compare the two - just different types of windsurfing. I love both types of boards & competition. As far as my own performances I think I performed better in the Formula Oceanics - my Raceboard Oceanics was my worst ever!

Both were heaps of fun with a lot of racing in conditions from 5 knots to over 30 knots - the raceboard probably handles the extreme wind ranges better than the formula board, but that is most likely down to my skill levels on both boards. The formula board is faster around a given course than the raceboard but top speeds are about the same.

To be truthful, I struggled on the 377L - I found it quite different to sail than the 377 in a race environment. There are some reasons that I'm investigating, but I'm confident that the 377L is a winner (Leo, the winner, was on the same board!). I guess I should have adhered to the well know lesson - don't go into an important competition with (largely!) untried equipment!!

thanks very much, interesting comments