jermaldan said...

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.

You'll be fine if there is enough wind, less fine if there is not, but that is always true of sinkers. Really depends on where you sail it.
I'm the same weight and I've been using a 92L JP quad, and it floats me when not planing, so I think you will be all good.
92L is on the large side for a wave board, but it feels tiny.

jermaldan said...

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.

Hey there, i'm no expert and am looking for my first smaller board at the moment but i'm looking at around 13 - 15 litres above my body weight which i've been told is around enough to reasonably comfortably float me.

You might want to check your sums because dont forget your whole rig will probably weigh at LEAST 8 kgs DRY and obviously more when wet, plus your wetty, booties full of water, wet harness, go pro camera, flares and epirb (for when you do get stranded in dying wind), collected jellyfish, etc.

A freestylewave type board should be a little easier to get planing for noobs like us than a wave board though the difference could be minimal ?, and be a little nicer to sail, though you may have to spend a little more to get one s/h.

That said if you can get an 88 wave at a good price it probably wouldnt hurt to get it and if it doesnt work out stick it in the shed with all your other w/s crap and get it back out in the future.

Jeez thats quite the collection your getting....

What size boards you got and how do you hide that many from the missus...

I cant even get away with a new fin without mine noticing

x sport guy said...

Jeez thats quite the collection your getting....

What size boards you got and how do you hide that many from the missus...

I cant even get away with a new fin without mine noticing

3.8m Jet Longboard (aprox 220l)
2.8m windpro custom made slalom (110l)
2.6m Bic Tecno (135l)
2.4m Starboard GO (170l)

I dont hide it, its a constant fight. But she spends more money than me on "Stuff" so unless she want me to give her a hard time about her designer chairs then she just goes with it.

Buying kit is the easy part - finding time to go out and use it is the real battle!!!

jermaldan said...

x sport guy said...

Jeez thats quite the collection your getting....

What size boards you got and how do you hide that many from the missus...

I cant even get away with a new fin without mine noticing

3.8m Jet Longboard (aprox 220l)
2.8m windpro custom made slalom (110l)
2.6m Bic Tecno (135l)
2.4m Starboard GO (170l)

I dont hide it, its a constant fight. But she spends more money than me on "Stuff" so unless she want me to give her a hard time about her designer chairs then she just goes with it.

Buying kit is the easy part - finding time to go out and use it is the real battle!!!

I guess there's a plus right there to women spending money like crazy..... problem here is mines the op-shop queen so i cant use that argument.

And i hear ya on the time thing. looks like sunday/monday are looking good at last and i got no chance of getting out there..... pfftt.. family stuff

Leman said...

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.

In low winds I even find my 135l is tippy, so this one will be strictly for hurricane season. I will only use a very small rig on it so not to throw off its balance.

Given the sloppy wind recently I have been having more fun on my GO rather than any other board, but when the wind turns up its like turning an aricraft carrier. Not the most agile of things. Also when the wind almost completely dies off i feel much safer when out 500m from the shore.

KenHo said...

jermaldan said...

Leman said...

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.

In low winds I even find my 135l is tippy, so this one will be strictly for hurricane season. I will only use a very small rig on it so not to throw off its balance.

Given the sloppy wind recently I have been having more fun on my GO rather than any other board, but when the wind turns up its like turning an aricraft carrier. Not the most agile of things. Also when the wind almost completely dies off i feel much safer when out 500m from the shore.

Hmmmmm, I first saw a GO a few months ago and was quite taken by it. I was almost thinking that even my wife might get GOing on one. MAybe I need one for the crap dodgy days down here at the southern goldie. MIght start to keep an eye out for one. great board to have as social board too. After all, who does have friends who can actually sail ??

Brilliant board, all my friend a jealous. While they are all struggling with the low wind I'm off practicing heli tacks and duck jibes. (non planing conditions of course).

In truth I want one - very good light wind board. Think that will be my next purchase after the very soon purchase (probable purchase - its complicated :P )

jermaldan said...

K Dog said...

jermaldan said...
Brilliant board, all my friend a jealous. While they are all struggling with the low wind I'm off practicing heli tacks and duck jibes. (non planing conditions of course).

Hey!

What??? You think i dont see you there all glassy eyed watching me do pirouets around you? Hehehe[}:)].

yes.... its true its true...

You can borrow it anytime mate

Woo hoo!

Nice profile pic mate!

Thanks - feeling pretty comfortable with myself these days