Hi,

I'm new, so hope this is in the right place.

I am after some advice. I am wondering about swapping boards but wanted to make sure this is a good idea.

I'm an intermediate 100kg sailor. I have not got carve gybes yet, but super happy with water starts and straps and harness. I sail in Wanaka in NZ, where the wind is generally strong, gusty with mid-size chop (freshwater). edit: Sailing on 6m sail mostly, sometimes a 7m.

I have a 136 Fanatic TE Slalom board (85cm wide) which I got at a great price, but I wonder if it is making things hard for me to improve? I was wondering about swapping down to a slightly smaller board and one that is not so race-focused to make thing a bit easier to progress. The 136 is great, but hard to control over the chop and I'm not enjoying instigating turns on it!

Would a different board make progression easier, do you think it is worth swapping it out - if so to what?

Edit: most of the guys that sail here are on wave boards, sailing 4-5.5m sails - if that helps you get an idea of the conditions, but they are also smaller than me!

I used to use smaller wave style boards when I first started, and I could jump chop, scream around and basically look cool by going fast, until I had to gybe, and then I looked like a kook. I got so worn out from having to water start constantly, it wasn't much fun.
I ended up buying a bigger free ride board (112 Magic Ride), and then I actually found that gybing became a lot easier. Bottom line is, having the right equipment can really help you progress, and slalom boards can be a little trickier to gybe, whereas a good free ride board like a Magic Ride can make things a lot easier and a lot more enjoyable. That's my two cents anyway. Good luck. :)

I learned to carve gybe on a small FSW first (and technically I never learnt to gybe wide slalom boards properly). You need a hell of a lot of commitment to gybe slalom boards and a big rig to keep the board down. Sounds like you have plenty of wind. I think you'll learn faster on a 115 FSW.

If you are still learning to gybe don't even think about any board less than your body weight plus 30 kilos. So for you 130 litres. Any less and it will be a real battle to learn. Look for a free ride board a little narrower than your Fanatic. I would keep the Fanatic for light wind days.

Mr Milk said..
You used to duck gybe, but now you're trying to carve? Unusual progression!

I know, but I was struggling with carving so an instructor said to try the duck, it felt more natural to me - I'm a long way from being consistent or good at any sort of gybing - I managed to make the first one I ever tried, went downhill after that, but still feels easier to me.

tbwonder said..
If you are still learning to gybe don't even think about any board less than your body weight plus 30 kilos. So for you 130 litres. Any less and it will be a real battle to learn. Look for a free ride board a little narrower than your Fanatic. I would keep the Fanatic for light wind days.

I was thinking I'd keep the 136 fanatic for light wind , but I'm not so keen on getting another board of the same volume - doubling up seems a crazy. From a pure numbers point of view going to 115 - 120ltr seems like a good separation between the boards. If I get a 130 freeride board I would sell the Fanatic, maybe that's a better option?

BenAS said..
Hi,

I'm new, so hope this is in the right place.

I am after some advice. I am wondering about swapping boards but wanted to make sure this is a good idea.

I'm an intermediate 100kg sailor. I have not got carve gybes yet, but super happy with water starts and straps and harness. I sail in Wanaka in NZ, where the wind is generally strong, gusty with mid-size chop (freshwater). edit: Sailing on 6m sail mostly, sometimes a 7m.

I have a 136 Fanatic TE Slalom board (85cm wide) which I got at a great price, but I wonder if it is making things hard for me to improve? I was wondering about swapping down to a slightly smaller board and one that is not so race-focused to make thing a bit easier to progress. The 136 is great, but hard to control over the chop and I'm not enjoying instigating turns on it!

Would a different board make progression easier, do you think it is worth swapping it out - if so to what?

Edit: most of the guys that sail here are on wave boards, sailing 4-5.5m sails - if that helps you get an idea of the conditions, but they are also smaller than me!

Been there done exactly that.

I had a Fanatic Falcon (125L) that was blisteringly fast and awesome in a straight line (when I could get it dialled in) but for me it was a bitch to get going, it was very unforgiving of poor stance or bad foot position or incorect fin choice, prone to spin out when working up wind off the fin, super slappy in the chop, I could not uphaul it for love nor money and stacked my gybes regularly, operator error I know as others were having a ball (it was also fragile and easy damaged) .

I grudgingly had to admit to myself that I'd made a bad choice. It was ego that had kept me from going for a less than "top end professional" type board and being a snob about a less full on speed machine in favour something more "amateur" well I was wrong I don't slalom race and don't need a slalom board.

Seeking advice from Sam at wind surf n snow he recommended at least trying the Fanatic blast 130L - well what a difference -
Fast-tick
Gybes-tick
Tacking-tick
Uphaul-tick
rock solid over chop-tick
Fun-Big Tick

Ive never looked back, totally put the stoke back in my sailing . It is not as top end fast as the slalom (but close) 90% more time plaining then swimming more than makes up for that. So to answer your question YES get on a fast free ride board, and I can't recommend the Blast enough. Also agree with others 130L is right for you.

PS Blast is foil ready if you have any desire to go there!

No doubt a decent freeride/freestyle wave board will make jibing easier. When deciding on the volume, check the width, too. For example, a Fanatic Blast 130 is just 70 cm wide. It has much less volume in the tail and is therefore a lot easier to jibe, and will feel like a big step down from the Falcon. In comparison, the Tabou Rocket 125 is 75.5 cm wide, and the Rocket 115 69 cm. If you choose the Rocket Plus, the 113 is 73 cm wide; the 3S+ 116 is only 66 cm wide.

The Rocket 125 would be a good choice relative to your current board. Rockets are much easier to jibe and sail in chop than the slalom boards, but still have lots of speed. The 3S 117 would give you even more control and be a bit slower. It's closer to what other guys at your place are sailing. I think you'd be quite happy with either choice.

I am leaning towards selling the Fanatic TE and buying a 125-130 freeride board after reading this advice. I see the argument for keeping the Fanatic, but I suspect as I improve I will want a smaller board for windier days. We don't tend to get too many light wind days, down here in Wanaka. Also means I can recoup some money rather than have it sit in the shed for a year or 2 depreciating!

your board is too big for the sails your using in rough water.

bigger slalom boards need big sails to keep them pinned down through chop and the rail engaged when gybing.

freeride and freestyle wave boards are usually designed to work with smaller sails.

110 freestyle wave, if you can water start easy you won't have to uphaul it, if the other guys are on wave boards there must be plenty of chop for jumps, you will out grow a big freeride board fast once you can gybe and want to start to do jumps.