Yeehaa, my 'new' board arrived today . 2007 Isonic 94L. And it looks like some wind might be arriving in time for a weekend test run at Marion Bay.

I'm very curious to see if I'll be able to go any faster or whether it's going to belt me into submission with a learning curve as steep as the transition from my 1980s board to my current board (120L 2003 Fanatic Cross). At least I've got the hang of outboard straps in time for its arrival.

Thanks for the advice on which bit of gear to go next for Kaleb, it only took my 3 months to act on it!

you cant rush these things

good luck - they are very fast, but dont tell russ or he'll tell you about a fanatic or something

Naish Fos,

Have Jez and I told you about them??

tsk, tsk, don't make me want more gear when I haven't even tried this new toy yet!

With my eclectic mix of secondhand gear I must belong on the rainbow team! KA,NS,Aerotech,Maui,Fanatic,*board,NP,mystic,Chinook and a few more I've forgotten.

I didn't know how big a difference to expect with the new board, I thought it might be a minimal effect -- after all my new 07 Isonic 94L and 03 Fanatic Cross 120L have vaguely similar shapes -- although I was very worried about how much more difficult it might be to ride and concerned I might smash the nose first thing!

On Saturday I had about twenty minutes before the wind died in underpowered conditions. The transition to the new board was seamless, way easier to ride, just as easy to water start, and a 5x10s PB despite the lack of wind & ultra short session. The only thing that's (a little bit) harder with this board is dogging, as it's easy to turn it into a submarine with too much weight in front of the mast foot.

On Sunday it was very windy (steady 30knots) and once I got the sail size right I only had twenty minutes sailing time left (before having to head home to look after the kids). It handled very nicely, but I took it a bit easy as it was an intimidating day (vis <50m due to rain).

No catapults yet and I can't wait for a good day to really test it out! I'm starting to understand people's addiction to good gear and their reverent attitudes towards it!