Umm, I've destroyed my beloved Mistral Classic/Flow 276. The bottom has almost fully delammed from nose to tail. It's a real pity cos I loved that board. In fact I had one of the best sails of my life on it just yesterday...
Anyway a new board is needed. Any suggestions on an ideal 100 litre board for open water/coastal bump and jump in the gnarly Moreton bay chop? Ideally a board that feels a bit like the Flow to sail.
I'm 74 Kg. I already have an Exocet Scross 115 for light winds and a Fanatic Freewave 86 for stronger days. The Mistral was a 103 litre and I used to use it most often with a 6.5 two-cam freeride sail.
So far I'm thinking of a Fanatic Eagle 100 or a Mistral Syncro 102.
Any ideas?
You could buy another flow, hehe, i saw one on buy and sell the other day. From threads on this forum sounds like the board has a bit of a cult following.
Otherwise, I got a 92L JP FSW for sale :), I'm same weight as you and its my lightwind board, anything from 13kts. Unfortunately its not very flow like.
I think any of the current freeride boards would be a good choice, and possible opt for the cheaper and less stiff construction for a smoother ride.
*edit* if memory serves correct last time i read a freeride board review, the tabou rocket and f2 stoke were found to have a smoother ride. the f2 is damn cheap too i think
The misty's are sweet (I still have mine)
but
The Tabou rocket Rocks!!! unbelievable boards
you could always come over to Cocos ...
We've half a dozen of them there. Still my wife's fave!
Get another Flow Bondy's 103 flow is for sale in the buy and sell. Failing that, get another Flow
I recently got a Fanatic Hawk 93 to hopefully replace my trusty 2001 85L Custom Flow which was my one-and-only board for blasting and bump n' jump with 4.5, 5.3 & 6.0 sails (Hawk range is narrower than Eagle range supposedly with slalom like performance and freestlye manoeuvrabililty). The Hawk 93 is more exciting to sail than my 85L Flow with much better acceleration in gusts and whilst appearing to be quite a speedy board, it's still very controllable when conditions get windy and bumpy (definately smoother and more stable than the Flow at full speed) but still very easy to get nice controllable jumps on. Other plus - turns as easy and as smoothly as Flow. Smallest Hawk in 2010 range is now 100L, though if the Eagle range handles as well as the Hawks then I don't think you could go wrong with either board!
Used Eagle 100 listed on Seabreeze for some time, may still be for sale (though in Sydney):
www.seabreeze.com.au/Classifieds/Windsurfing/Boards/~raij2/2007-Fanatic-Eagle-100-245-cm-100-litres.aspx?search=MsVd7Fn%2f%2fIpn%2fm57yjQ3oXyIHMfrQQ3M
May be worthwhile checking out the Boardseeker mag 120L freeride board test at the link below to see how the Fanatic Eagle 126L performs against others boards with similar volume/width such as the Futura, X-Cite Ride and Rocket (I realise you're not after a 120L board but I think the Eagle 100L would have similar qualities to the 126L).http://www.boardseekermag.com/windsurfing-equipment-tests/test-introduction.html
Thanks for all these suggestions and information!
I'll be having a look at the Fanatic Eagle and Hawks this week, and The 2010 Cross looks like it might be good too.
One thing I'm not sure of is how width affects top end control on modern boards. It seems to get roughly the same volume I'll have to accept about a 5cm increase in width. I don't know how that will affect things.
That said, a 63cm wide board will fit neatly between my 68cm Scross and 58cm Freewave so maybe that's a good thing?
i have a 275flow (since new about eight years ago). it is an amazing board, so slippery and quick and is soooo responsive to foot pressure you'd think you're on a wave board. great board.
the flow is perhaps the pinnacle of skinny-boards-with-long-nose era. but the shape these days has changed pretty radically.
i still break out the flow (two days ago in fact) but now mostly ride my one-season-old hawk; pretty much for the extra "litre-age"- i'm no longer a snake-hipped twenty-something like I was when i bought the flow. the hawk rides quite differently (not as slippery) and its width grants you grace if you don't exactly pin the centreline in transitions - something the flow would punish me for. the hawk is a relatively fast board and a good early planer, but can be brutal on your ankles and knees in the larger chop. it doesn't turn as readily as the flow but is still a strong gyber. if you're aggressive it still can turn a tight arc.
hope that helps.
Hi all. I have also a 276 103l white Flow and happend the same to it - whole bottom is delaminated this season. I have had good luck and bought a 105 l blue Flow. Unfortunatelly, it is not as good as the white one. Is shorter, a little bit more wide but I think the most important - the mast foot is closer to the end of the board cca. 10 cms. The result is that I cannot close the sail the same way as with the 103 one.
I have tried several current 100l boards but all of these are cca. 5 cm wider. I can literraly feel how they drag on water, specially in gybes, they stop in the middle of the gybe.
I will try to get the same 103 l Flow, cause I think there is no such board in production.
