The wife said she saw on morning telly that were due for El Niño this spring/summer and it'll mean wet / tropical conditions.

She was not happy at the idea of more rain after this winter.

Are we going to get one and what effect will it have here, (especially on the wind !!) ?

This is what Wiki says, but its all different phases and different areas so I'm not sure what to make of it.
Seems to talk manly about failure of trade wind due to evening temperatures.

Maybe I should put off new board purchase and go buy an umbrella.

ALSO
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At 85Kg for the bay should I get the Tabou 2006 94L or Starboard Kombat 2008 96L (these being whats locally available in the price and volume bracket).
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El Niño/La Niña-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, is a quasi-periodic climate pattern that occurs across the tropical Pacific Ocean on average every five years, but over a period which varies from three to seven years. It is characterised by variations in the temperature of the surface of the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean - warming or cooling known as El Niño and La Niña respectively - and air surface pressure in the tropical western Pacific - the Southern Oscillation. The two variations are coupled: the warm oceanic phase, El Niño, accompanies high air surface pressure in the west Pacific, while the cold phase , La Niña, accompanies low air surface pressure in the west Pacific.[2][3] Mechanisms that cause the oscillation remain under study.

Hey mate depends on your riding and what you wanna do.

The Rocket - freeride board good for blasting, going fast, cranking through some jibes and compared to other freerides is really easy and fun to use, further gets a really good review in the latest boardseeker test if you have a look through the site.

The Kombat - is more freestyle wave not going to plane as early but a bit more turny. Mate had one thought it was OK but never fell in love with it.

Hope it helps

Think you may be a... about. El Nino gives us stable /dry/ hot conditions and good seabreezes. La Nina gives us the unstable, wet tropical conditions and kills the seabreezes.

I think I am correct?????

Thanks Stuey,
I wanted Rocket 105, rode my mates, was good, but worried 94 might be too small
I think the Starboard Kombat was wavier from whenever (2004?) to 2007 when in starboard description is was then "remastered" in 2008 to be more freeride,(i.e bears no relation to previous models) and its wider at 62.5 over Rockets 59 i think, and tail was like 3 cm wider too, so I'm not sure if that applies to the 2008.
This made me think the Kombat would actually be more freeridey/early planing over the Rocket, which is what I'm after.....

But then another factor was Kombat takes U.S. box so max of 30cm fin (if im lucky, more likely 28) and implies a waviness to the board, whereas I presume Rocket is powerbox so I can get bigger to improve boards range......


Mr Love, yes i think your right, I think i was using the term El nino for both phases of the "Southern Oscillation"

as in the description above :
while the cold phase , La Niña, accompanies low air surface pressure in the west Pacific" and if thats a 5 year cycle that means we've just had the good bit and the party's over for 2.5 years !! ?
..... making my board choice academic ! I might as well pick the nicer looking one so i can go stare at it in the shed

stevebayside we will be getting trade winds soon as summer hits of 25+ knots every day. A guy who works for the BOM told me.. He said it will be the most windy season on record So buy the new board. Vic is the new Wa and there will be millions of windsurfers out in little tiny Vic this summer I am going to round em all up And run a red bull jump ramp comp If you build it they will come Me and windaddict are going to bring the ramp out if they come

Yeh I think the Kombat was pretty wide it tried to go with the wide wave board thing though. I have a feeling that it was real short, with quite a bit of rocker through the tail which kills the plaining of the board.

Its the old trade off really the rocket will be a good early planer and the kombat (even though its wide) I have a feeling its still pretty wavy.

Good luck anyway. Just gotta make a choice get a board and rock it.

Stevebayside,
I have been using a 2005 Kombat 95ltr for the past year, Its a great bump and jump board, planes early carves very well. The biggest sail I use on it is a 6.4 with a 30cm weed fin.You can also put an extra foot strap on the back and really get it going.
That's my two bobs worth hope it helps with your choice of board.
Cheers

I knew a girl called Nina once, bit of a party girl. If La Nina is anything like her it aught to be blowwing all summer:)

Thanks Newjibe. I think anything about the 2005 will not apply to 2008, but then if you say it planes early and the new one is supposed to be less wavey then were onto a winner !

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steveBayside said...
I wanted Rocket 105, rode my mates, was good, but worried 94 might be too small
I think the Starboard Kombat was wavier from whenever

The 2008 Kombat is definitely a freestyle wave board, I sailed the 2008 105 at a club for a while. It ain't an early planner compared to an early planning freeride board! When I rode the 2008 kombat I compared it against the similar sized futura and there is certainly a difference, at the light end of the scale

I used to own a 2010 Kode 103 which I have now sold to replace with a similar sized Freestyle that gets going and stays going at the lighter end of the scale much better. (I tried them back to back)

The Kombat is wide, but it has more nose rocker, and tiny bit of tail rocker. You can't have everything :-)

If your concerned about early planning, I would go the rocket, which I understand is similar to the JP excite and Starboard Carve, especially if you were thinking Rocket 105. However I lived in melbourne years ago,(did not windurf then) and it seemed pretty windy to me!

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mr love said...

Think you may be a... about. El Nino gives us stable /dry/ hot conditions and good seabreezes. La Nina gives us the unstable, wet tropical conditions and kills the seabreezes.

I think I am correct?????

Definately La Nina...
www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/