Hi all,
I very confused as to what the differences are between the freeride, freestylewave and crossover boards of the same size .. 100lt p.e. when it comes to handling, handling chop, planing and so on ...
In addition, I have a tabou rocket 125 and I weight 72 kg.
Looking to make a step down and try the 95-100 lt boards. For flat - small chop - big chop, which of the following would behave better for general windsurfing purposes (planing, jybbing and small jumps) ?
Tabou rocket 95 or 105
3S 97
naish allterain 95
RRD freestylewave 95 or 100
JP funride 100
Thanks !
Freeride is faster and a little harder to gybe that a freestylewave (FSW)
FSW is a little slower but a lot looser and easier to gybe. Freemove is sometimes in the middle but is not as well defined.
Anyway, if you have a 125L freeride and are looking for a step down for stronger winds I would definitely recommend a FSW.
The RRD particularly as they are regarded as doing everything well, and not being too wave oriented or too freeride oriented.
But I notice you said well behaved (handling easy?) but you also seem to imply fast to plane? You can get fast to plane but to have all the other things for bump n jump, like the gybe ability and jumping and handling chop, you are looking at a very different board. What are you priorities?
I would scrap the JP Fun Ride off that list and replace it with a JP All Ride in either 96 or 106. I have a 106 Pro Edition which i stepped onto after my Fun Ride 130 and it is so much better in every way it's not funny. It is very easy to ride, gets on the plane quickly and is quite fast. I also have a 93 litre Single Thruster Pro but have no problem pulling out the All Ride and at times i choose it first. Don't get me wrong the Thruster is awesome but i LOVE the All Ride because it is faster and more relaxing to ride especially when i'm getting a bit tired after 4 or 5 hours on the water. Just a great all round board
Yes, I am looking for a friendly board since i ll be jumping from my Tabou rocket 125.
So I want a friendly and a bit forgiving board compared to the others with the same volume and my main target would be to blast from flat to choppy sea water and occasionaly do a littlejump while blasting (no freestyle moves or any kind of serious jumping)...
It seems that I should be looking at the freeride boards of around 100lt volume for my needs...
SO perhaps a JP xcite 100 , tabou rocket 105, naish global freeride 104 ??
Any thoughts / suggestions / comments are MORE than welcome !
Thanks guys
www.windsurfingmag.com
Heres a bit of info on the latest Tabou Rocket 105.I know its bigger than what you are after but I imagine its probably similar in the smaller sizes..now all I need to do is win lotto and I can upgrade..
JP FSW 93..... Or similiar..... Between that and your 125L you will have all conditions covered. With your weight 93 would not be to small. Would depend a little on your sails to.... For blasting a 5.0 to 6.0 would be sweet, i use a 5.3 & 6.6 on my 93L
Thanks for all the repplies and thoughts.
I have done a little research and leaning towards a FSW board as a more versatile which will probably last me longer.
I have found the foolowing two (2009 models) in very good condition and at the same price.
JP freestyle wave 101 and RRD freestyle wave 100
What do you think about them, what are their differences - planing ability, more forgiving, less sensitive to hard use and so on ?
Thanks
RRD FSW is one of the easiest and nicest boards I have ever ridden, truly a great all round board.
It has quite a flat rocker in the back half so it planes up easily and is quite fast. Lots of V so it is great in chop, really smoothes the ride out and the thick spongy pads make it very comfortable.
It gybes extremely well and is fairly loose and grippy, but note that it is not a true wave board. These type of boards are about compromise, trying to get an all round performance, so it is not going to be as radical as a wave board in surf or as fast as a slalom board on the flat. However the RRD designers have done a great job balancing this boards performance out.
With a couple of fins you can get fantastic range out of these boards, I have used my 96 with a 4.7 Wave sail and a 7.5 KA Koncept Slalom sail on flat water and it felt comfortable at either end, pretty amazing.
Highly recommended.
+2 on the RRD - brilliant board, they have won so many FSW tests over the years. Love mine, will always have one.
The JP is liked by heaps of ppl too but traditionally it is a little more freeride oriented - just a bit faster than the RRD and not quite as turny.
Really for bay blasting B&J and open ocean etc, unless you are going to ride waves you would be very happy with either.
Just to throw in another option the exocet cross might be worth considering. Its a FSW but leans more to freeride than some of the other FSW boards. For the conditions it sounds like you'll be sailing it it would be a good fit and its incredibly easy to ride.
^^ I'd the the opposite - the Rocket is his freeride for lighter winds, when it is really starting to blow and looking for a smaller board, I'd go the easy handling of a FSW
^^^ I can vouch for the Cross's handling. It's a very secure ride in rough/open water. problem might be sizing for him thought at 72kg. Might want the 94l rather than the 104l.
The RRD sounds intriguing though and at exactly 100l sounds like the right size.
The other board to consider is the Fanatic Hawk, (say 95) it a nice easy riding free ride and good in B&J. Their FSW's are good too but a little more technical.
I've had a range of JP FSW's, a Tabou Rocket, an RRD FSW and Exocet Cross, all in the mid 90l size. The boards have changed in their ride characteristics over the years so it's hard to generalise. However I'd say that the RRD would be the firendliest ride overall.
For your weight you could consider 85-95L range, most of the above FSW in the 90-95 l range will handle up to a 6.5m sail. With your weight in bumpy water and a 100L, you may struggle with 5.5m down.
