need advice on a slalom board

[Guest]

hi my name's alex i was wondering if anybody had any advice on what size slalom board i should get? i want it for 4.8 to 6.6 with size fin of 26 or 28 - 34 or 36. i weigh 145ish. o and i live in the gorge where it is really choppy.

[steveC]

You've raised an interesting question, particularly with regard to your specifications. I know the Gorge on some great days, and I'm similarly sized now, so I can appreciate what you might be asking here.

I think that it's important to decide on a bit of focus here, especially since some leverage can achieved from a production versus custom scheme. Where do you want to sail in the Gorge, especially with slalom in mind? I guess what I might be aluding to is a Dale Cook/Bruce Peterson approach, or something more mainstream in thought. No opinion one way or the other.

[Guest]

my estimation: modern 75 liter slalom board or a bit less, eight feet or less. If you could accept 6.3 as your biggest sail you could get a smaller board and have a more comfortable ride on the 4.8 days. Other factors would also dictate, like % of time you expect to be on the smaller vs bigger sails, how gusty at your spot... etc. However, looking at the isonic 50's specs it can handle a 6.6 and at your weight, maybe would work well with the 6.6. Although the is50 might be more of a speed than slalom board. The 2007 jp slalom board at 69 liters might also be worth taking a look at. I tried it with a 6.0 which it handled with no problem. I was surprised at how big it felt for it's size.
sin909

[o2bnme]

I was thinking the same thing. If you really want to put a 6.6 on it, you'll have to get a slightly larger board IMO.

I'm 140-145 pounds myself and have had trouble picking boards for high wind. I'm still on the search for that perfect 4.8-5.6 board. I just need to try more to see what I like, I guess, but that's part of the trouble...finding them to demo near me.