Hi

I am looking to buy a smaller board for higher wind days. I am currently riding a bic techno 133l. I usually sail on the river but occasionally go out on the ocean. I have been sailing for about 2 years. Planing, footstraps, waterstart and all that, would say I'm at an intermediate level. I weigh 83-85kgs. I am thinking that I will keep the techno for a light wind board and would only like to have 2 boards for now. I would eventually like to get into waves but feel like i have quite a way to go. What size board do you guys and gals recommend? I was thinking a 105l FSW or just a freeride? I found the 133l techno to be a bit hard to control at ≥22knts. I have 4.5, 5.4, 6.6 and 7.8m sails.

Any information opinions and feedback is appreciated. I have found this site to be a great source of information!

Cheers

Vince

105 fsw would work but I reackon you could probably go down to 95 litres at your weight. I started on a 148 bic techno and went down to a 105 litre fsw and I weigh 95 kg.

Cheers leftfield. I was thinking that I could go to a 95l but then thought they jump may be too large and I may not enjoy the sailing as much (while saying that I don't mind working at something to get it). Was the learning curve quite steep with changing to that size from the 148??

Thanks for the feedback.

Hey Vince,
while im slightly lighter than you, I just got myself a fsw 90l RRD, and that board is the easiest thing to sail! As long as you know how to water start consistently, you'll find that board amazingly comfortable. Sure it needs a good 20 knots but its all fun from there!
for info im 76kg and went from a JPXcite 110l, which I now find much more complicated to sail in comparison

Select to expand quote

Vinno said..
Cheers leftfield. I was thinking that I could go to a 95l but then thought they jump may be too large and I may not enjoy the sailing as much (while saying that I don't mind working at something to get it). Was the learning curve quite steep with changing to that size from the 148??

Thanks for the feedback.

First couple of sessions you take it out you will probably be thinking what have I done this is nearly impossible. But you just need to be a bit more aggressive with pushing the board into the right spot with your feet. Basically I found with the bigger board you could just sit down in the harness and almost let it all happen but with the smaller board I had to think about what I was doing again. Just take it out the first couple of times in the river to get used to it and you will be fine.

To be honest you probably won't notice much difference between 95 and 105 litres when non planing and the 95 litre size would be more suited for your weight at planning speeds.

Just be aware that you probably find uphauling the thing very difficult but if you can waterstart who cares

And I find the same as zemax, its harder to sail my larger board than my 105 FSW.

Ok, you guys have convinced my! I'll go for the 94-96l . Thanks for the information leftfield and zemax! Hopefully I'll be getting into those 25knt days a bit more comfortably..... eventually.

Just thought I would say that I would only use the 4.5 and the 5.4 with a 95 litre FSW. Biggest size sail you would probably want to use would be a 6. ( 6 is the biggest I use with my 105 fsw but might get away with bigger on a freeride)
I reackon that the gap between the 5.4 and 6.6 might also be a bit big. What do you find is your most used sail?

6.6 too big, ok. What happens/is it like if you take a sail out on a board that is out of its range (like the 6.6 or even 6.8 on a 96l that recommends <6.1m)? I would say the 6.6 is my most used sail in about 17/18 knots. Well a 6 could be an idea, i thought my daze between sail wasn't too bad as a cover all (15-25knots)

Vinno

I'm 75kg i have 3 boards to cover most conditions. 87L Starboard Kombat for when it's howling, 96L RRD FSW when it's 18-25kt and a 125L Angulo Somo for under 18Kt

My sail quiver is all approx 15% either side of my favourite. So my favourite is a 5.0m so 15% either side 4.2 and 5.8. I'm now looking to complete the top end with a 6.6m freeride so i'm pretty much guaranteed to be on the water.

So this outfit i have has me on flat blasting water, bump&jump and waves (not that i'm a good wave sailor but i'm out there)

When i returned to windsurfing i was hoping to have minimal gear and maximum fun, but it's a drug man, it's addictive

Hope this helps

....and just one final note, my RRD FSW 96L is my favourite board. As Zemax said, it is easy to sail, eats the chop, has a massive range , waves, bump&jump and freeride