Freeridespeed for higher winds

[hans kleingeld]

Hi team,

Currently I have two futura's, 93 and 111. I surf these boards with reflex I 6.2, 7.0 and 7.8. They work great between 14 - 35 Kts. Recently I bought a reflex 5.6 from Peter van Dijk for 25 - 40 Kts use. Although the windrange of the Futura 93 is huge in stronger winds, it is remarkable that this is the smallest Futura. My weight is 190 lbs and the boards gets planing with my 6.2 with about 17-18 kts. For smaller persons and bigger sails the board planes even earlier. A smaller Futura ( 75 ltr, ofo 36 cm) would defnitely add some extra fun, control and maybe speed for lightweights in mid/strong winds and heavy weights in strong winds.


- Why is there no smaller Futura(like) board on the market?
- Can starboard give an alternative for recreative speeding in strong winds (25-40 Kts) on flat water with the same easyness the Futura range gives?

Thanks in advance, Hans

[davide]

Originally Posted by hans kleingeld

A smaller Futura ( 75 ltr, ofo 36 cm) would defnitely add some extra fun, control and maybe speed for lightweights in mid/strong winds and heavy weights in strong winds.

- Why is there no smaller Futura(like) board on the market?
- Can starboard give an alternative for recreative speeding in strong winds (25-40 Kts) on flat water with the same easyness the Futura range gives?

Thanks in advance, Hans

I am 72Kg and I agree that a smaller Futura might have its uses. The Futura 93 is close to 62cm wide, and maybe something less wide would be nice. However the rational for not having a smaller Futura might be that recreational medium/light weights switch to a Kode (80 or 86) when using sails smaller than 6.0. And if a recreational sailor is willing enough to use a race sail in powered up 6.0 or less, he/she might as well get an Isonic 80, that is probably as easy to sail as anything out there ...

[hans kleingeld]

Hi Davide,

I really like how easy and smooth the Futura's are while being powered up. Does the iS80 have the same smooth characteristics like the Futura's? What I really like with the Fu's is the neutral reaction while surfing in strong and gusty winds. You just have to focus on having fun;-)

[Maximus]

I agree, there should be a Futura abour 80/86L 58 wide and 37 tail. Would be sweet

[BelSkorpio]

Well, this topic keeps on popping up.

http://www.star-board.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9604

I can tell you about my experiences with the IS87.
It's a super easy board to ride. Nothing technical about it and I'm no pro.
I use it with 5.0 and 5.7 sails.
It flies over chop and if I have to, I found it not too difficult to jump as well.

If you take a look at the dimensions of an IS87, a Kode 86 and a Kode 80

IS87: Length x Width x Tail Width: 243x56.5x36.6
K86 : Length x Width x Tail Width: 237x58.5x38.3
K80: Length x Width x Tail Width: 234x56x33.9

They are all not that far apart.
The tail of the K86 is even bigger than the IS87, which should make it even harder to control in heavy conditions.

The biggest difference has to be the rocker line of these boards.
This is important when you start riding waves.
If you're not into this, I recommend an IS87.

Personally I'm now considering an IS80 (same dimensions, lower volume), just like Remi advised a couple of months ago.
The IS87 only helps in serious lulls.

And if hell breaks loose, an old school wave board is probably the best choice. They are still the smoothest in these conditions.

[hans kleingeld]

Thanks for brainstorming;-)

Starboard has a lot of small boards (70-85 ltr) but these are wave, freewave, freestyle and freemoveboards). And even the freemove in the smaller sizes (kode) are focused on waving including US-box. This not really has much to do with speedsurfing at 20-40 Kts on flat water to light chop I guess.

A small Futura board with 75-80 ltrs would be nice, maybe even more for these smaller surfers (60-70 kg) than the heavy weights (85-100 kg)who can handle the futura 93 very well.

Maybe in my case (90 kg) a smaller board won't add range of use when a Futura 93 doesn't work anymore with a reflex 5.6. Maybe getting out of your sweetspot with this combi, means getting out of the sweetspot with every board-reflex 5.6 combination? Or in other words, the easyness of a Futura 93 already adds so much windrange that when you are blowing from the water with your equipment, solution is walk back and relax on the beach. ..... Or can a Futura 78 add extra fun in 6-7 Bft windrange.....is their a potential to sell a board like this for starboard??

Hans

[davide]

Originally Posted by hans kleingeld

Hi Davide,

I really like how easy and smooth the Futura's are while being powered up. Does the iS80 have the same smooth characteristics like the Futura's? What I really like with the Fu's is the neutral reaction while surfing in strong and gusty winds. You just have to focus on having fun;-)

I only have experience with the Is-86 and it is a very easy board, easy to jibe, fast, stable. The Is-80 should be even easier to handle for a lightweight. Thing is that below a certain volume/width modern boards get quite easy to handle. Where things get hard for somebody of my size (72Kg x 172cm) and skill level is for widths above 64-65 and larger fins with big sails that generate a lot of leverage when overpowered. I have a Is-111, but I am not so sure that a Futura of equivalent footprint (say a Futura around the dimensions of the 122) would be much easier to handle.

[BelSkorpio]

I totally agree with davide.

According to me, in the smaller range all boards of the same footprint start to look alike.
There's still big difference in the rocker lines between wave and speed oriented boards.
V, double concave, flat bottoms, etc ... are getting less important because they have less surface area to work on.

If SB would decide to create e.g. a FU80 it would get VERY similar to a IS80.

For me, the Kode was no option because of 2 reasons:
- I'm not really into waves
- I don't like US fin boxes.

Hans, don't be afraid of the IS80 or IS87. The IS87 really rocks !!
I'm 87kg and if I would choose now again I'd probably go for the IS80.

[Remi]

Hi Hans

I confirm, the iSonic 80 is very easy and very fast, the main difference with the iSonic 87 is the control who start really to be a big key for light weight. On top of the excellent performances you will get with your 5.6 & 6.2, you will be surprise to get them also on 7.0. And I can say at 92 kgs I prefer the iSonic 80 also to enjoy (for racing need the 87 because most of the time they put the mark in less wind place )

All the best

[hans kleingeld]

Originally Posted by BelSkorpio

If SB would decide to create e.g. a FU80 it would get VERY similar to a IS80.

Thank you all for thinking. The remark from Belskorpio is an eyeopener for me. I understand that iS80 and 87 are good boards, but do they offer more than a Fu93 in conditions below?

- 25-40 Kts wind
- flat water to small chop
- 5.6 to 6.2

Does the iS80 a windrange and water condition in which it performs significantly better than the Fu93? Can you trim an iS80 that it feels as comfortable and forgiving as a Fu93?
If not, then I can go on with the Fu93 and 111 and don't have to wory about a third board for high winds. Otherwise the iS80 will be a serious option.

Hans