Advice Wanted: 88l board too small?

Hi all,

Wanted some advice for my small board.

I am 179cm tall and weigh 80kg, probably 85-88 with all my gear on.

I wanted to get small board and looking at a 88l wave board. This will be substancially smaller than my current small board (135l) so i was wondering if I am getting too small. Any guidance here?

I am not expecting to do any uphauling on it, although I have been told that its just within uphauling capability for my weight and height.

I must admit I am a bit nerveous about going out into the deep water with such a small board, hoping that I dont end up paddling my way home.

I tip the scales at 95kg 180cm and sail a 86l Starboard Kombat all the time (anything over 20 knots). Depending on what wind condition you have I would go even smaller but that is coming from someone living in Perth and lives with good consistant wind.

With a 88l board you will be able to drip home reasonably easily. On light days I use a 110l board so with body weight and rig I would be right up on 110 kg and have sailed/drifted home. Water starting can be "interesting" but you could up haul if you got desperate and have cat like reflexes.

Go the 88l and have blast. It will take a bit to get use to so stick with it.

I think the 88L will be fine especially since you have so many options when the wind is lower. I just bought a 94L, down from a 99 and I'm 90kg . Honestly it would be technically possible to uphaul your board but I wouldn't really rely on that, because in any wind around 10knots you will be able to swim it faster than you'll move anyway as you'll probably be up to your knees. When the wind drops, sometimes I could just uphaul my 99L only to fall back in because there is almost no wind in my sail. That said, I probably do about 10 swim ins a year. Mainly because I am not fussy enough about my wind.

As long as you go out in winds where you're well powered up I think you will find the transition to a smaller board a lot of fun. Good luck with your purchase.