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greenleader said..
Magic Rides are a fun platform that are based on Fanatics Gecko range from a few years ago.....Starboard followed suit with the AtomIQ and a bunch of other board builders with their products coming out of the Cobra factory in Thailand.....choose the colour you like best or base your choice on the best resale if you wish to upgrade later. No doubt JP is the up there contender for that.

The very first brand in making a "freemove" board (that is, a widish and slim freeride), was RRD, with the Firemove. Thanks to the success with intermediate riders, all the other producers followed suite, with Magic Ride, Atomic, Gecko, Rocket Plus, Volar, etc.
@ Boobah: the boards you mentioned are equally good, but the Volar is only full carbon, hence very delicate. I'd suggest you a Gecko in HRS construction or a Magic Ride in ES build, which can take a few hits without damage.

Thanks everyone. Appreciate the input. Funny - I'm not quite 98kg - missed up on the lbs to kg conversion. I am 200 lbs. Can I uphaul on a 140 liter board in choppy water? This is another issue for me - water starts weren't great when I was in good shape so need some volume but not sure how much.

thanks, now I know that Magic Ride is better for me

I started on a classic freeride - Tabou Rocket 125. My next board was a Tabou Rocket Wide 108 and it was a game changer for me. Go for width.

I am 220 lbs and could uphaul comfortably on Magic ride 130 lt. I am an intermediate windsurfer. I also have the 118 lt Magic ride for strong days. I love both of these board but now I am mostly foiling and getting into wing foiling.

Boobah said..
Thanks everyone. Appreciate the input. Funny - I'm not quite 98kg - missed up on the lbs to kg conversion. I am 200 lbs. Can I uphaul on a 140 liter board in choppy water? This is another issue for me - water starts weren't great when I was in good shape so need some volume but not sure how much.

200 lbs = 90 kg add 15 kg for wetsuit and rig and theoratical you should stay afloat on a 105 liter board.

I would suggest looking at a board in the 120 to 130 liter range. Those should be between 74 and 78 cm wide. This will give you a stable enough platform to uphaul. Plus they are easier to handle in choppier condities and when the wind picks up. The learning curve might be a bit steeper, but in the long run you'll get more board out of it. The wind and sailrange compared to a 140+ board isn't much different. A 75 wide can easily handle a 8.5 and has the benefit that it also holds a 6.0.

The 140+ boards are generally over 82 cm wide. That's a lot of board! The lowwind range is where these boards are most comfortable. You can sail these with 9.5 sails. But since you're getting back into the sport I would stay clear of anything over 8.5. The downside of such a big board is that they really don't like the smaller sails and stronger winds. Unless you're a real heavy weight and skilled sailor you might get a 140+ board to work with sails smaller than 7.0 but otherwise the sweetspot of these big wide boards is 8.0+