Having had a range of slalom boards over the last 10 years they are getting friendlier and easier to sail. Some are not too far of a free race board. As mentioned earlier it is more challenging getting into the rear strap (which is a lot more outboard) particularly in powered / rough conditions.
Once you get the board & sail dialled in (which can take more work on slalom gear) you can get them to be quite smooth in chop. However handling speed and jibing in rough conditions can be challenging and going slow doesn't necesarily help.
If you don't race what's the point of buying a full on slalom board my advice stick to a freerace or freeride! So much easier in the turns straights & general sailing.
I would recommend getting hold of some demo boards from windsurf& snow first. But if l was going to buy one it would be a starboard futura.110 they are fast jibe good & just a good allround board l am not bias to any other brand it's just my opinion cheers mate. Happy sailing.
confirm for the futura, great board and still fast !
don't go for the RRD firerace, they sell it as a freerace but it's exactly the same shape as the Xfire minus carbon(do it's bloooody fast but not very forgiving 
)
Thanks guys for the heads up. And Stanly, checked out ya Youtube clips on the Fanatic Hawk. Sweet looking board mate, and definitly has some get up and go. Will check out the Futura reviews and specs and compare the two.
Thanks again.
Hi Phil, I own a 2011 Fanatic 100 Hawk. It's got a nice big rocker, and the straps are out, but not excessively like on a slalom board, so the front ankle isn't catching on the chop all of the time. The rocker makes it a better jumping. Not sure what anyone else thinks, but I do find it hard to point up wind though ?... another than that, a very loose freeride board, and very fast too [}:)]
Can you get into slalom board straps with your back foot first?
My older Fanatic 130L almost required that , so I did learn it first.
Then on next smaller boards I did work hard to change this habit.
Now is rather matter of preference and in very rough condition I found easier to get back foot first.
When I was a beginner I went through a teething stage of back foot first, then front. That didn't last very long. The problem with then method is hitting the first ramp with no front foot in the strap. It's a guaranteed catapult. Probably okay on flat water, but best to fix this bad habit ASAP.
Sorry for pointing you in the wrong direction I take back my selection of a futura they are FREERACE. Stick to a hawk or tabou FREERIDE.
I had a fanatic hawke 2010 , Wasnt much slower than my slalom boards , More forgiving
in chop and a dream to jybe . Should have kept it
