petermac33 said..
I did an extended test (5 sessions) of a 2015 carbon 90 against my 2012 wood 87.
Below 18 knots the 90 was faster as it powered up better.
In 25 knots and above the 90 was the worst board I've ever sailed.
The trim was so difficult to maintain. The board is super sensitive.
Would sail on a reach with the leeward rail engaged--then I would lose that trim and then found I was sailing more on the windward rail.
This trim change would happen many times over a minute! Tried many fins but still found it impossible to trim well.
Above 25 knots I was going a good 2-3 knots slower on it than on my 87,possibly by as much as 5 knots.
That 90 should never have went in to production. It's fast in medium wind but is seriously SLOW in strong wind.
Yet to see anyone make it work in really strong conditions.
Absolute nightmare board to trim! So happy to get rid of it.
Petermac, I agree and disagree with your comments
I also had a 2012 Is87 wood and a 2014 Is90 Carbon (which I believe is the same as the 2015 Is90 Carbon)
Firstly the Is87 is a brilliant high wind board - excellent control even in really windy and choppy conditions, you always know exactly what the board is doing. However, it does have some weaker areas - it can be slow out of the gybes, particularly if you are racing with lots of other sailors around you, ultimately it is not that fast, the wide tail restricts its max speed - I do a bit of GPS speed sailing and actually find that my Is107 is faster.
Where I agree with you is that the IS90 is a technical board to sail and it is incredibly sensitive to fins. Following a dialogue with Remi, I use Drake DW R2R fins, which I find work pretty well - the most important size is 30cm which I use with 5.2m, 5.7m and sometimes even with 6.4m sails, the 32cm works well with the 6.4m and 34cm works well with the 7.1 (which I sometimes use with the 32cm).
It is not just fins that the board is sensitive to, it is also very sensitive to sail characteristics - the greater the mast-foot pressure, the better it feels - this means that it works well with race sails, however, your smaller free-ride or wave sails probably won't work well. Just to put this into perspective, the Is90 feels much better on my new 2015 GA Vapors than it did on my F2013 North WARPs, the GA creates more mast foot pressure. The Is87 works well on all sails including wave sails - I even raced on a 4.5 North Ice in one very windy event - I don't think that there is any way that you could do this on an Is90.
When I first had the Is90, I found it almost unsailable with the 5.7m and 5.2m, it was impossible to trim and would spin-out coming into gybes, however, with the R2R fins I do not have trim issues and gybing is not a problem even in 35kts wind with the right size fin
Where I disagree is speed, the IS90 is undoubtedly faster than the Is87. Sailing on a broad reach, it has incredible directional stability, which is very unnerving at first - but live with it and it will go very fast. My experience is that it is 1 to 2kts faster than the Is87. This IS90 has a reputation, amongst the speed sailing community, as one of the fastest slalom boards - you just need to learn how to sail it and use the right fins and sails
