| |
You are here: Experts > Recreation/Outdoors > Surfing/Bodyboarding > Surfing & Windsurfing > Intermediate board
Expert: Windlover - 10/22/2009
Question
QUESTION: Hello!
I am in a process of gathering information in view of buying a more intermediate board for next season.
For the moment, I have progressed to the beginnings of planing on a 180 lt Starboard Rio. I would like to to make sure I understand what are the trade-offs and the "advantage/ disadvantage " ratio involved in moving to an intermediate board, aside from the lesser stability, when the intermediate board is substantially narrower .
My two guiding criteria are :1)Fairly high volume, not below 160 Lts and 2) ,definitely, a removable daggerboard.I'd also like to keep a width still allowing for a certain stability.
By the way, There must be a reason why all the more advanced boards are built w/out a retractable daggerboard, but it escapes me.True, a daggerboard is no longer necessary for planing, but wouldn'it be an added bonus when we have to go upwind or when we are forced to go off-planing due to the wind conditions?
In this connection, I'd like to ask the following questions:
1. On the plus side, what more does an intermediate or advanced board ( w/out dagger board, to boot) offer to the rider compared to a " beginners board? Is it more speed, more responsiveness, a superior planing ability ? If I stepped tomorrow on one of these intermediate-advanced boards, would I notice a substantial difference in handling it, would I plane sooner and faster, given my current skills?
2.Is the design of a beginners'oriented shortboard in itself one of those " impossible" marketing compromises, which in theory should allow the best of the two worlds, namely sub-planing/upwind and planing, when in reality neither is achieved in an optimal manner and perhaps planing is even severely hampered?
3. If the design of a short-board can successfully combine the stability of a beginners' board, a reasonable sub-planing ability and a good planing ability, is there such an " intermediate" board on the market today, which you can recommend? Or,do I really have, in the end, to forego the retractable daggerboard if I want to have a dramatically improved planing performance? In this case what do you think of the AHD FastForward model? Or the Fanatic Viper 75, with a daggerboard, officially listed as " entry" level, but, from what I read, with a very decent intermediate performance when it comes to planing?
Thank you for your suggestions
Franco
ANSWER: Hey Franco,
You say that you are in the early stages of planning on your Rio 180ltr. You also say that you are looking to buy an intermediate board but only looking for something 20ltrs less volume and insisting on a daggerboard.
My question would be WHY change to something almost the same as what you already have?
20ltrs is a very small change in that size of board. If you include a daggerboard, almost no change has happened, you just have a different board. Pull up the web sites for Starboard, AHD, & Fanatic. Find your Rio and the two you mention. Compare the stats of all three boards and you will find that the width of all three is within 5-10cm, the lengths are within 10-15cm, the sail range is the same, only the volume is different.
Your 180 is designed to be a fun board for intermediate and advanced sailors. My suggestion would be to become VERY proficient at planning, getting into the footstraps and harness, and sailing with the daggerboard fully retracted on all points of sail. THEN consider going to a more advanced board in the 130-145ltr range. You would still have the Rio for light wind days and then a more advanced board for days 15kts +.
In response to your three points;
1) If you are not proficiently planning on your current board, then stepping onto a more advanced, lower liter board would probably be a challenge for you. You HAVE to learn certain skills before advancing to more difficult boards.
2) The new designs of 'beginner' shortboards is simply that with a wider body and shorter length, it is easier for a beginner to learn the basics and advance to intermediate levels much quicker than when using the older boards that are long and narrow.
3) Most new boards, even beginner style boards with daggerboards, are designed to plane. Being able to plane any board depends on wind speed, sailor ability, and size of sail. Daggerboards are for beginner sailors to keep the board from going downwind until the sailor learns how to keep the board even or upwind of their starting mark by using more advanced techniques.
Go to www.windsurfingmag.com under the instruction area. Check the various articles regarding harness, footstraps, and especially the tips on planing in the intermediate section. These articles can give you lots of insight on techniques from professional instructors.
Hope this helps.
Keep on sailing,
Windlover
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION:
Hello!
I have to agree with you that a 160 lts, with a centerboard,to boot, would be, so to speak, like... exchanging 25 cents for a quarter and that I would have to perfect my skills a bit more before moving up ( or down, in volume !) to an intermediate, more performing board.
Although it may be a bit premature to make the move now, probably by the next season I'll have reached the skill level required for the jump. So I might as well plan ahead .
In this context, I'd like to close our current exchange with the following questions:
1. You say that, once I attain a higher skill level, a board 1n the 130-140 range would be the next recommended step. Would a board in this range , particularly a 130 lt, still provide enough stability and floatability to allow me to uphaul comfortably, given my 80 kg weight?
2 What about the Fanatic Shark and the Starboard Futura in the 130-145 lts range? Anything outstanding about them, that you may have heard?
3.You have already rated AHD as a good quality board, but I hear that the lower volumes in the Fast Forward line ( 145-130 lt ), which I particularly like, are also particularly fragile. In a couple of Forums, I have read about at least two people breaking an AHD board, even though no particularly rough handling or dropping was allegedly involved.
Actually, I hear that ALL the lighter, lower volume boards are intrinsically more fragile than the others. What is your opinion on this? Is AHD in this volume range more vulnerable than others?
4. I have been unable to find on the Internet what model does JP Australia offer in the Freeride 130-145 lts intermediate range. Is there one? What are your thoughts?
Can you comment on all this, please?
Thank you so much
Franco V.
Answer
Hey Franco,
1) With the wider widths of newer boards, stability during uphauling is greatly improved. It may not be comfortable at first and it will be a challenge. But, challenging ourselves is what makes us better. The key to uphauling a lower volume board is body position and balance. It just takes some time and practice to find the proper position and balance points to uphaul. With your weight on a 130ltr board, you should be able to uphaul confidently within a few days on the board.
2) The Shark comes in a 135 and 150 liter models. The 135 would be the logical step for you. It seems to perform about as well as other boards in this range and type. The Futura comes in a 131 and 141 liter model. There are also construction choices for stiffness and weight to consider. The Futura is a little wider and a bit lighter than the Shark. The extra width is only 3cm which may or may not help stability during uphauling. The lighter weight does help it plane earlier than other boards but reviewers have said that it doesn't plane as easy as some boards. Early means, that compared to similar gear in the same conditions, it will plane sooner. Easily means, that it takes more or less work to get it on a plane.
3) To create lighter boards, the shells have gotten thinner and I'm sure that some boards are more fragile than others. When people say than no rough handling was involved, it isn't always the handling that affects a board. It is good to be careful when transporting gear from storage to vehicle to rigging area to water. But the most cyclic abuse to a board comes from the water. Pounding chop for a few hours along with bump and jump, then add in a few crashes with booms, masts, harnesses, and body parts coming in contact with a board, all take their toll on boards. All is takes is minor fracture to eventually develop into a major problem. So, I can't tell you for sure if AHD boards are any more fragile than other boards. I can say that the Fanatic Shark line has what they are calling 'High Resistance Skin' which equates to a tougher shell. The Starboard Futura comes in a Toughskin model that adds a little weight but is considered their strongest shell.
4) JP Austrailia offers the X-Cite Ride and the Fun Ride both in 130 and 145 liters. The X-Cite is a little lighter and a bit narrower than the Fun Ride. The Fun Ride is considered to be a bit more forgiving than the X-Cite which would appeal more to an early intermediate where the X-Cite would probably appeal more to an advanced intermediate to advanced sailor.
Hope this helps.
Keep on sailing,
Windlover
Add to this Answer Ask a Question
|
|
