Hi Dan,

I am your size and regularly sail Botany Bay...

... my biggest board is 92L which I seem to use mostly with a 5.4 and 4.7 sail but it can hold a 6.5.

I think from what you describe you should go for a board in the 110 to 125 liter range. Personally I love the JP boards. I think they are simply some of the earliest planing fastest boards around at the moment. Take a look at the Freestyle wave range... perhaps a 109 liter version... could be a bit small but I think Windsurf and snow has those on demo so you can give it a go before you commit.

I have also heard people say good things about some of the boards in the Fanatic range. I know Sam stocks those as well so perhaps have a chat to him about it.

Speaking of Windsurf and Snow... if you don't want to buy new they currently have a number of used or ex demo boards which I think are a great deal. I actually don't think board shapes have dramatically changed over the last couple of years to really justify always buying the latest.

I am 102kgs and was using an older AHD maxxride (110l) with 6.3 freeride sail. It would just get me planing in 15 knots but I wanted some new gear that would work for seabreezes in the 12-20knot range. Ended up getting a JP X-cite Ride 145, NP Hellcat 7.2 and NP Helium 8.5.

Haven't had a chance to test fully but so far very happy. The board is really easy to sail, handles chop well, carves nice gybes, and doesn't feel big. It is 75cm wide so not overly wide. The 8.5 is a really gutsy sail designed for early planing, I reckon I'm up and going in 12/13 knots and can plane through 10 knot lulls. At 15/16 knots will start to feel overpowered. Was concerned the board may have been too big, but have had it out in 20-25 knots with my 6.3 and it handles fine.

If you are keeping the Air Max it may be worth considering going for a bigger freeride around the 130-145l range. The extra volume will make a big difference in the lighter days and you won't sacrifice a lot in manoeuvrability.

105 here also....

i use a 125lt freestyle and a 95lt fish for bump and jump. it's a great range. with a 6.4 i can sail on the 125lt in 12+ knots with a 32cm freewve fin. 15 knots and i'm fully powered.

i have also used the 125lt board with a 5.3 in 25knots and a 5.8 in 18-25