Hi, I have sailed the Kodes and I have two Dynos, including the 85.

If you mean the Kode freewave and not the Ultra Kode wave then yes, it's a great FSW board and easy to sail. It's a blasting board when fitted with a single fin, but works well on a wave and for control when set up as a tri fin.

The Dynos I have are the blue versions, not version 3, and they are my favourite board for all round use. They plane early and are forgiving when over-powered but they are also good on waves if you reduce the centre fin size from the 21cms one supplied.

If you are 82kgs then I'd suggest the Dyno 95, not the 85 - unless you think you'll be on your 3.7 a lot.

Basher said..
Hi, I have sailed the Kodes and I have two Dynos, including the 85.

If you mean the Kode freewave and not the Ultra Kode wave then yes, it's a great FSW board and easy to sail. It's a blasting board when fitted with a single fin, but works well on a wave and for control when set up as a tri fin.

The Dynos I have are the blue versions, not version 3, and they are my favourite board for all round use. They plane early and are forgiving when over-powered but they are also good on waves if you reduce the centre fin size from the 21cms one supplied.

If you are 82kgs then I'd suggest the Dyno 95, not the 85 - unless you think you'll be on your 3.7 a lot.

Thanks a lot. As for the size, my next larger board is a Severne Fox 105 (65cm wide) which I use from ~17-22kn (6.2 to 7.8 m2 sails).

A Dyno 85 works from 4.5 - 6.0, and Severne is rather conservative for the smaller end of sails. A Kode 85 works from 4.0 to 6.0 according to starboard.
However in 95L size, both boards can be used up to 6.5 which I think would be too close to my Fox 105, whereas a Dyno or Kode 85 would cover my 3.7-5.5 sails and Wind from 22-40kn perfectly. Above 5.5m2 / below ~22kn I would anyway switch to the Fox which I like a lot.

Does that make sense?

I am a bit biased towards the Kode since it is slightly broader than the Dyno which in general I like. But I think I would simple go for the board which offers better control for blasting in choppy conditions.

Whats your recommendation there?
best regards
mariachi76

Funny - Your situation is almost exactly the same as mine. Was in need of a smaller board and was choosing between a Used Goya One Pro and a Kode Freewave. I'm about 78 kilo and my next board up is a Tabou 3S 106. I figured an 85ish litre board would work well since once conditions get too big for the Tabou, I'll be good on the 86. I don't really look at recommended sail ranges from manufacturers since I don't see how they can be anything but arbitrary.

I ended up going with the Kode. (See the thread over in the General forum) Just received it yesterday. If a Dyno had also been available I am not sure which I would have chose. In the end I liked the wider tail and overall width of the Kode over the Goya for the gusty inconsistent conditions I often sail in. And it was cheaper - that helped make my decision too. We are in the depths of winter here in Canada though so I probably won't get to try it for a month or two.

good luck. It's a nice dilemma to have!

mariachi76 said..

Basher said..
Hi, I have sailed the Kodes and I have two Dynos, including the 85.

If you mean the Kode freewave and not the Ultra Kode wave then yes, it's a great FSW board and easy to sail. It's a blasting board when fitted with a single fin, but works well on a wave and for control when set up as a tri fin.

The Dynos I have are the blue versions, not version 3, and they are my favourite board for all round use. They plane early and are forgiving when over-powered but they are also good on waves if you reduce the centre fin size from the 21cms one supplied.

If you are 82kgs then I'd suggest the Dyno 95, not the 85 - unless you think you'll be on your 3.7 a lot.

Thanks a lot. As for the size, my next larger board is a Severne Fox 105 (65cm wide) which I use from ~17-22kn (6.2 to 7.8 m2 sails).

A Dyno 85 works from 4.5 - 6.0, and Severne is rather conservative for the smaller end of sails. A Kode 85 works from 4.0 to 6.0 according to starboard.
However in 95L size, both boards can be used up to 6.5 which I think would be too close to my Fox 105, whereas a Dyno or Kode 85 would cover my 3.7-5.5 sails and Wind from 22-40kn perfectly. Above 5.5m2 / below ~22kn I would anyway switch to the Fox which I like a lot.

Does that make sense?

I am a bit biased towards the Kode since it is slightly broader than the Dyno which in general I like. But I think I would simple go for the board which offers better control for blasting in choppy conditions.

Whats your recommendation there?
best regards
mariachi76

Yes, I read all your post.
You might read my old review of the Dyno in this gear reviews section. It's a bit weird but the Dyno 95 doesn't over power easily in strong winds because of the bottom shape.
So you might think the 95 litre version is too big an addition to your quiver of boards, when it's not.
I bought mine, thinking it would only be a float and ride board, but it turned out that with a smaller centre fin fitted it was a great FSW and all-round bump and jump board down to 4m sails. And I'm 75kgs.
So for your weight, you want the 95 and not the 85. I note you say you're 82kgs and an intermediate sailor.
You'll love the 95 Dyno, and a bigger Kode is a good idea too.
But note that the Dyno 85 is 57.5cms wide whereas the Kode freewave 85 is 60cms wide, and the latter is therefore a much bigger board.
The Kode shape is more flat bottomed and with Vee at the tail - compared to the clever and complex multi concave Dyno bottom shape.

Thanks a lot for all your replies and for pointing out the width of the two boards which I am aware is key.

Since my Fox is 65cm wide, I also think the next step down should be to around 60cm, so I would probably take the Kode in 85L, or the narrower shaped Dyno in 95L. I think both are good options, in the end I will make it dependent on price and availabilty.
I will also see if I can rent these boards and try them before buying (though I never used such small boards and would probably need some time to get used to it anyway.

best regards
mariachi76

leto said..
If I were you, I would listen to Basher and get the 95L board. Your logic of selecting boards with non intersecting sail sizes and if one has 65cm wide board the next down shall be 60 makes me smile. Also putting 6.0 sail on 85L wave/fsw board will feel pretty bad regardless of what they say in specs.

Hello Leto,

my bigger board is the Fox 105 and I like to ride with my 6.2/7.0/7.8 Overdrives, which are slalom-oriented sails. There is no sail overlap with a FSW simply because you don't put a 3-cam slalom sail on a FSW.
If you read my first post, you will see that my largest Gator (crossover sail) which I would use on the FSW is a 5.5, with sizes going down to 3.7.

In terms of wind-speed however I do see an overlap between the Fox 105 on a 6.2 slalom sail and a FSW on a 5.5 crossover sail. The Fox/6.2 combo I would use overpowered basically in the same (wind-)conditions as the FSW and the 5.5.

And yes, for the Dyno I would buy the 95 as said. For the Kode I would tend to the 85 since it is wider. Whats wrong with that?

best regards
mariachi76

Grantmac said..
I would want the narrower board for my higher wind setup.
Currently I run an 85/59cm down to 3.7m and even at 90kg it starts to get rough under 4m. I think the 85 Kode will leave you with a significant quiver gap with no increased ability to handle the choppier days compared to the 95 Dyno.

You mean the gap between Fox 105 and a Kode 85 would be too big?

I used my Fox 105 already with the Gator 5.5 and Overdrive 6.2 in ~24kn Wind (in the same session) and either sail worked perfectly fine. And I would believe that in 24kn/5.5 I also could easily switch to a Kode 85. As for rough waters, the Fox is a real chop-eater and with its Vee.

Why would you think there would be a gap?

The spot description where I move to reads like "The season starts with strong NW clearing winds in late March or April. These occur off and on through June. During the summer, thermal winds continue into September but gradually get weaker. In the spring clearing winds, sail sizes can range from 4.0 to 5.2. In the summer thermal winds, sails in the 5.0 to 6.0 are more common" and "swell in the 2-5 foot range. On epic NW wind days, 6-8 foot swells roll through the channel. This is a great place for jumping and slashing."

While it doesn't say which rider weight, I assume with my 80kg I am quite average. So I would believe a board with a sweet spot sail size of 4.7, but still good for 4.2 and 5.5 is what I am looking for. 3.7 would be the rare exception I would believe.

best regards
mariachi76