Hello from across the pond.

I don't have a review to post rather, I'd like some else to post a review (or any info at all for that matter) on this board I'm thinking about buying during our (east coast USA) Winter.

Edit: I removed a link to a vendor in Florida, USA and replaced it with the manufacturers web page. I'm not affiliated with either. www.tillo-international.com/?page_id=802

I haven't been on a sailboard in decades but I paddle a 10'8" SUP around Lake George in the Adirondack mountains and I'm pretty sure I will remember how to jibe and water start even though a formula board looks very different from the equipment I used in Hood River, OR back in the 1980s. I'll be using this new board with a 9.6m Loft Sails 02 Freeride initially. If everything goes well, I may buy a smaller sail, a Tuttle mount 1m mast and foil, and eventually a wing thingy. I'm 173cm tall and weight 80kg.

My paddle board is 206L and I figure the big floaty 190L formula board will make me feel stable and comfortable. I might even be able to paddle it around a little when the wind is dead calm. One alternative I'm looking at is a used Starboard Go 170 with a 7.5m sail. This second option is cheap and I don't have to wait until next Spring to try it out.

Anybody care to share an opinion on a $2000, 190L Tillo Olympia vs a $250, 170L Starboard Go that is ten or more years old but in great condition? I hope I posted this in the right forum.

It's a no brainer. Get the go with 7.5m sail.

Get the Go.
Skip the bigger sail and Formula board entirely.

The Go has gone.

Wouldn't the formula board give me chance at planing in light winds with the 9.6m sail?

I certainly wouldn't start learning again on a 9m sail. Crazy thoughts! IMO.

Formula board can be foiled but straps could be in the totally wrong position. Again learn with small sail.

Get a windsurfer Lt.

Small sail. Goes in light wind and high wind. Great for learners and experts and can be paddled around.

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Gestalt said..
Get a windsurfer Lt.

Small sail. Goes in light wind and high wind. Great for learners and experts and can be paddled around.

The great Ian Boyd just got a Windsurfer LT. He used his on Lake Lopez the other day. Good enough for him good enough for many.



This is Ian Boyd:

If you're thinking about foil as well as fin and aren't committed to buying 11.0+ size sails, then look at Tillo's Foil-Slalom convertible. It'll be MUCH faster than a GO, and offers the option of using a pedestal mount. He makes them as a custom (I've been waiting for mine for MONTHS!) but the production version is available now from Liquid Surf and Sail and I think right now there's free shipping. True formula boards are much more limited in appeal - they're great with 70cm fins and huge sails, or with 9.0 foil sails and race foils, but the 240 by 91 convertible should be better for most sailors.

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Awalkspoiled said..
It'll be MUCH faster than a GO, and offers the option of using a pedestal mount.

I only see a tuttle mount not a plate mount. Is "plate mount" the same as "pedestal mount?" Also, why will the Tillo convertible be faster than the GO?

The goal here is to have something that works with a fin or a foil. That's what caught my eye about the 190L Olympia but folks seem to be warning me away from that idea.

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tehodler said..

Awalkspoiled said..
It'll be MUCH faster than a GO, and offers the option of using a pedestal mount.

I only see a tuttle mount not a plate mount. Is "plate mount" the same as "pedestal mount?" Also, why will the Tillo convertible be faster than the GO?

The goal here is to have something that works with a fin or a foil. That's what caught my eye about the 190L Olympia but folks seem to be warning me away from that idea.

My mistake - it's the Freefoil (liquidsurfandsail.com/tillo-freefoil/) which has the pedestal/tuttle option. The Convertible is DTB.

It'll be faster than the GO in most conditions because it'll be lighter and stiffer, it's shorter so less swingweight on foil, and the scoop/rocker line is fifteen years more sophisticated. It'll probably be slower than the GO when slogging because of less waterline, and of course the GO is a lot less scary for learning because if you ding it it's not a huge event. I don't know what reinforcement Alex put into the production Convertible. For my custom I asked for Innegra on the rails and nose to reduce the chance of a calamity when I get slammed. I think he put in an extra set of inboard footstrap positions for foiling on smaller sails but I haven't seen the deck layout yet. The ones on the production board look pretty versatile though.

tehodler, I'm with Awalkspoiled. Take a look at the freefoil It'll give you lots more options of foiling, winging, playing around. The Formula (for those that didn't bother to read the description) is foil-ready and I'm sure Alex has it sorted as far as straps, etc.

However, for ease of use and flexibility, the freefoil will be much more fun and less technical. With a foil, you'll be up and going in less wind and with a smaller sail. If you get something like the Moses 1100 or Slingshot Infinity 99, you'll be using a 7.5 or 6.5 in the same winds you'd be needing with the 9.6. All these boards are wide and that contributes more to stability than simply volume.

The Go is a decent board but heavier and if you end up foiling it, you'll soon be wishing for something lighter and shorter. It's definitely the path of least resistance. There is usually good resale on them so if you get one to tide you over, you won't lose much if anything. However, the Tillo boards are available for delivery now, afaik.

PM if you want to know more about Tillo. I've been sailing his boards for a few years.

Looks really smooth - that's the Freefoil. I don't know whether Alex recommends that board for fin sailing, though, which the OP said he was interested in starting with. Probably too narrow for a 9.6 in any case.

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Awalkspoiled said..
Looks really smooth - that's the Freefoil. I don't know whether Alex recommends that board for fin sailing, though, which the OP said he was interested in starting with. Probably too narrow for a 9.6 in any case.

Yes, which I think is the better Go analog. There's a bit of curve in the tail (a bit like the Go) so probably turns easy enough. An 80 should hold a 9.6. Besides raceboards, I've seen 9.5s and bigger on F2 Phoenix 320s and they were only 70cm wide. But, a foil and 7.5 would cover as much or more wind range and save OP from the expense of the long mast, boom and joy of getting the 9.6 out of the water. The Avanti shown has a 196 boom for a 7.5. IMHO, both the Convertible and Formula may be a bit much for OP as they both* go on a fin like scalded dogs with outboard, committed strap positions.

www.instagram.com/p/CBik_7sD6aO/

* I know the Convert does and I'm assuming the Formula does because of his previous portfolio of Formula boards.

Oh, don't get me wrong - it looks really sweet in all kinds of ways. The John Parton heritage is visible in the modified diamond tail, and I love the Tuttle/Pedestal option. I tried to talk Alex into putting that into my custom but he felt it was unnecessary weight for little benefit, and if you don't trust your builder whom do you trust? He is putting in inboard footstrap plugs for small sails/low aspect foils, in addition to the scalded-dog outboard ones. I'm also getting cutouts which I think Alex is moving away from for foilboards, but still uses for finning.

Now I just need to get the thing! If you're in Miami go by there and give him a hand, would you? My 19 year old Protech is about to fall apart completely...

I understood OP to be saying he already had that big Loftsails setup on hand, and for the north country (where I live too when not in Sarasota) a 9+ sail is pretty important, and width/volume help too because we're often just limping out to the windline. There are times when the inshore weeds in our lakes make a foil impossible to use and a huge sail and a weed fin are the only ways to fly. I use a 10.0 HSM and a monster 50cm weeder when the weeds get really bad here in Western MA, and the Adirondacks aren't much different.