I hear alot of people recommending the 122, but if I am riding mostly the 8.5 and to a much lesser extent the 7.0, wouldn't the 133 be the call? Uphauling is more common for the conditions I will ride this board as I prefer my 8'9" slalom when the 7.0 is going fine. If the 133 makes sense, what 2 fins do people recommend?
HI I HVAE GONE FOR THE 133 GO VERSION OF THE FUTURA, Im 60 kilos, and have a upper traps injury, which makes merely on uphauls. I have been sailing in flat water 12 to25,knotts 4.6 metre wave sail up to 6.6 metre freeride sail. As can be excpected in 20-25 knott conditions gettig airbourne in chop. Lookig at getting a raked 38 cm freeride fin to assist in landing. Have not yet set straps to out most position, I think it will be the fastest I have ever been on a sailboard when I do get to this stage.
Hi camlan, I got the wood 133 last week and mostly use a 8.4 NP rsr. On Friday I had great wind to do some testing. Prefect size for me 84kgs after having a Hyper for two years. It plans super early which is what I wanted most, and has a very fast speed. The gybes are great. I also will use a 6.7 NP RSR with a 40cm fin. You won't be disappointed. I was worried the 122 is to narrow for me so went for a width I know worked well on the Hypersonic. The fin 48 is a huge bonus.
Svein's (Starboard founder - futura concept inventor) tuning tips for the Futura
One of the largest developments to the Starboard range this year was most certainly the Carve, S–type and iSonic combination to form the Futuras. With such a massive development for freeride sailing, it was most definitely important to catch up with founder Svein Rasmussen to get his feed back from the board range and also get a few tuning tips.
Out of the Futura range which is your favourite size and why?
The 122 is my weapon of choice. It is the board that we spent the most time on developing, so I have followed each prototype and retuning week after week during the test period. We were able to combine the feel of high speed, control and easy jibing making it a great all–round toy that I can use with sail sizes from 6.5 to 9.0. The fact that it also planes up especially early and stays upwind, helps me making the most out on those light wind weekends here in Thailand.
Can you give some tips on tuning the board, what your preferred sail size would be? Fin size? Wind speed? Foot Strap Position?
I like it best with a 7.5 freeride sails, and the standard Drake 40 cm swift fin. We spent a lot of time to find the correct fin style for the 122. The 40cm Swift is quite up right at the base and swept at the tip, which provides drive, it is also forgiving in the jibe. Well, wind speed is hard to judge as the air is "light" here in the tropics, but when it reads about 16 knots, we have just the right power. I always like to have all the straps in the middle position lengthwise. I prefer to use the outside position as it allows me to push a bit harder and get the last bit of performance out of the board. During testing we do however also use the inside position to see if the dome of the deck is correct. While using the inside position the board becomes easier to control and as one is then standing further towards the middle of the board the jibing improves significantly.
Why is the Fin size so important? How would the board react with a fin that’s too small? How would the board react with a fin that’s too big?
Fins have always been extremely important, and as the fins pretty much have doubled in size over the last 20 years, they are even more important now. If the fin is too long, it will make the tail of the board lift and the nose will go down, this makes the board feel heavy and hard to control, at the same time it will be difficult to jibe.
If the fin would be too small, there is not enough lift to get onto a plane, and one could not put sufficient power to the rail of the board to make the board deliver according to its potential. A small fin will also often lead to cavitations or spin out. If one however is using especially small sails, its possible to get away with smaller fins.
Finally could you give a small summary for whom this board is most suited?
The 122 is well suited for sailors that are looking for a lively, exciting and easy board. If you like to leave your friends in the wake, the Futura 122 is the ticket.
Sorry to go a bit off topic.... but considering the similarities in design I figured it's a fair question - how do the new GO's compare to the Futura's? Considering the smaller GO sizes are exactly the same in design/shape as the Futura's do they come close performance wise or is the added weight (around 2kg) and different material construction result in a big difference? Just weighting up the price difference & durability vs performance thing from an intermediate's point of view. Cheers.
the Futura's ended up being so versatile and user friendly that they ended up eclipsing many of the properties that the Go was designed to have- ie user friendly, easy to use, early planing massive wind range boards.
At the same time the range of board choice was simplified - win win!
The weight obviously takes the top performance edge off the shape - but not by as much as you would expect. A good technique rider can be very competitive on a Go in a bit of breeze.
As a true intermediate - go the Futura in your preferrred construction - as a progressing beginner (on a budget) the Go is your friend - especially if you can see the board being used by a large number of family and friends.
I am looking at getting a 144 (fat boy) For those that own a Futura - how do they handle chop?
I am getting back into it after a long time away and I am starting pretty well at the beginning again, Im not worried as I know Ill progress. My problem is whether a Futura would be suitable. The majority of my riding will be in Twofold Bay Eden which gets a lot of swell and heavy chop onto top if SE or NE. Will the Futura cope with that well or should I look at something else like a Kombat?????
I ditch my 122 and jump on my kombat when the waves/chop gets to mid thy. But thats in a very steep short chop, Ive ridden about 2-5 feet swells no problem in another location. They do handle it pretty well, Although I wouldn't reccomend serious wave riding Depends on how steep and short it is where you sail, Kombats are good sh^t too!
I bought a Futura 111 on spec. I bought it to replace a JP supercross 115. Starboard says it replaces the Carve and the S type. I don't agree - I think it is a detuned Isonic. It is fast but it is too wide (up front) to be comfortable in reasonable swell or chop and (perhaps) too narrow in the tail. It has a very flat rocker line. For me it needs a lot of wind to plane through a jibe (strap to strap) although my 70kg mate has no trouble (carve jibe). Starboard say that it is 15% slimmer - but slimmer than what? If they had made it thinner again (30% -40% [of what?]) then I think it would be a better board. The JP 115 was very comfortable but not as fast. My advice to anyone thinking of buying a Futura, who is my weight, (83kg) and sailing ability, (medium +) is to buy the 101 instead. I originally intended to buy a Tabou Rocket 115 which is both fast and comfortable but the importer had run out of them. On reflection I should have kept my JP Supercross 115 - it was very comfortable and jibed like a dream - and bought a Tabou next season. My partner has the Tabou Rocket 105 and I love it - again fast and comfortable. To sum up the Futura 111 is fast but not comfortable in stronger breeze and chop. I use freeride/slalom sails with 2 cams. I have just switched from Aerotech Rapidfires to Naish Boxer SL's.
If you are having trouble with the nose in chop - experiment with riding the boom at a higher position - this may involve narrowing the spread on your harness lines - or even purchasing some longer ones - most average height crew should be at least in the top half of the boom cutout.
Often crew ride their gear a bit low and drive the rails into and through chop - these boards definitely dont like that.
when you go too high ALL the pressure will come off the rails and the board will feel like it is tail walking - thats too high
you want the happy medium between these 2 positions - to get that super light weightless feeling - thats the zone where the speed lives!
once you get this tuned gybing will also suddenly ping in to place also as the weighlessness of the rig balance will make a MASSIVE difference to how the whole package carries through the gybe.
of course sooner or later as it gets windier any board will become too big.
You will be amazed at what some tuning experimentation can achieve.
I am 85 Kg and have had the FU93 for about 1 month now. I love this board and can state that the 'hype' created by starboard is correct. I will agree that driving the board upwind with the standard fin, is not going happen. I supose this is because the DFC (dual flat concept) taken from the Isonic needs a slalom fin to really drive it. So my advice is get a good slalom fin appropriate for the desired sail size.
Also you are right is your assesment of the 101 might have been the better option, all though you didnt state what desired wind and sail range you intended on using it in
You are right. I forgot to mention that the Futura 111 is my medium size board for winds of 15-20 kts. I have an older Starboard Carve 90 for stronger winds and a Naish Titan 160 for 10-15 kts. I like the concept of the Naish Boxer SL's. They have a good shape and they set on small skinnies. I haven't really sailed them enough to come to any conclusion but I think once I get them tuned they will be good. Thanks also for the advice (from the importer?) on boom height. I will give that a go. I tend to have my boom at halfway (and am 5'9" in the old money).
"After going wider and shorter, Starboard brings you thinner shapes.
Tiesda"
Starboard is stretching it a bit by claiming this is a new concept of theirs. I've got a 4 or 5 yr old Fanatic Falcon slalom that is 72 cm wide and only 96 litres. ( Fanatic claimed 110 litres but it was tank tested by the slalom registration as 96 - and it feels like it when the wind stops). It's very thin, and I suppose it does sort of have a low c of g feel that starboard talk about. The thin rails gybe nicely, but you've got to get it on the rail quickly or it will lose speed.
Despite being thin its held its shape pretty well. Still less than a mm of hollow rocker between the straps after a lot of use. But yes thin feels good.
i dont think Starboard claim going thinner it as being their new concept - just one that they are exploring (in conjunction with all the other shaping innovations like super release side cut outs, nose and tail widths, rocker lines and rail foiols) to see where it leads them.
Apprently it all came from a testing session where they had 2 identical plan shape boards - with one being thinner than the other - the thinner one gybed and handled alot better than the thicker one.
I am 75 kgs and just sold my Formula. I am looking for a board to sail from 9 or 10 knots with 9 m sail to 16 knots (7,3 m sail). I am think 133 futura could be a good choice..Did anyone test it? Thank you!
I have sailed the F133 wood recently in about 11-14 knots. It handled very well, planned up early and had good speed. I am 85kg and used 8.5m sail. This was on flat water
Well I've been very happy with my Futura 122 which I've had for about four months. Has enabled my to make the most of what has been pretty crap winds for Perth. I bought some Severne Overdrives and a Futura 93 a few weeks ago but the wind has been non-existant since I bought them. Finally got some time on the 93 today with a 6.5 OD. Stoked! Fast and easy, just what I was after Gybes nice and easy too. And popped my first decent air without even trying. Happy customer The ODs seem well matched to these boards too BTW.
I still hesitate between the 93L or 101L for my 75kg, did you try the 101 before your choice for 93 and is it a wood one or technora ?
french season is begining , it's time for the best board investment!
No, didn't try the 101L, went for the 93L based on recommendations and I wanted to (in combo with 122) max out my potential sailing - with these two I could go from 4m to 9m. ATM I have 5.5, 6.5 and 7.5 which gives pretty good coverage. I got the wood ones. Good luck with the french season, whatever your choice I'm sure you'll be happy!
Supermodelo, I have a Futura 133. It is all I hoped for. The fin that comes with that size is excellent. I can't say that for the smaller ones. I've been on maxi's and felt how good it was with a slalom fin. I've also jumped on the 111 (all of these were wood). The 111 was on the stock fin and felt like a different board. I have used the 133 with a 6.7 RS Racing, 8.4 Rs Racing and 7.5 V8. All sails suited the 133. If you are concidering a 144 it is important to note that is the only board that doesn't have the thin design. I bought a smaller fin for my 133 today but didn't try it so can't tell you how that is yet. I did ride the 6.7 with the 48cm fin suppied. Powered in a race after a few hairy moments getting used the combination I settled down well and had fun. I agree with Maxi. They do what Starboard say but the smaller sizes that have the free slalom swift fin could do with a better fin. It a shame Starboard don't put smaller fins like the fabulous 34 Drake sr6b g10 that I got with the Hypersonic. I still have that fin and it goes very well in a Futura.
I am looking at getting one my self, but not sure what size! Currently i have fanatic cross 100 as my general blaster and 79 Jp for higher winds and speed board, but looking at getting back to basics and nailing all my jibes. The Futuras sound like could be right up my alley.
I'm bout 85kg and have sails 4.7 > 7.0 and blast around the Perth area.
Be good too hear from someone who has got one and the size they went for and why.
I am the same weight and have the F93, I use this with 6.7 & 5.8. If The Futura is going to be your biggest board, then perhaps 101 might be the better choice, it certainly will work a lot better with your 7.0. I feel the 6.7 is slightly too big for the F93, however still works very well.
