Best board for South Bay chop

Shoreline · Joined: 05 May 2009 Posts: 1 Location: Palo Alto, Ca.

I sail a 200liter Starboard Go with a 6.6 sail and tried it at Palo Alto 5/10/09. The wind must of been in the high teens low 20's and the chop was big for me. I weigh 190lbs. I was getting bounce around quite a bit. I was wonder if anyone had advise on getting a smaller board maybe 130liter.
What is the best board for someone learning at Palo Alto? I have been for several years sailing Shoreline with a 9.0 and planning but I am looking to get some more water and wind. It may have been the day too, as some folks said the chop was bigger than normal and I may need time to get used to it. I was able to windstart and uphaul too. I made a tack turn, but I can't jibe so a smaller board seems dicey.

Hap

Wind_Boarder · Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 1:24 am Post subject:

Hi Hap,

I saw your board on the dock at Palo Alto today. We definitely had some great solid low 20s today and I was well powered up on a 5.2 NP Expression (I'm about your weight as well). It would be very challenging to sail a 6.6 and 200 L Starboard GO in those conditions!

For your next board, I would recommend a good freeride board in the 140 L range. This would be a significant but manageable step for your next board. You want a board that is easy to use (forgiving) and will allow you to learn essential skills like solid waterstarting, fast tacking, and jibing. A 140 L board is still not ideal for very choppy conditions in places like Coyote Point but Palo Alto is a bit more flat and larger boards are still manageable. For today's conditions <100 L would be better if you are an experienced sailor.

Some good freeride boards that my friends and I have sailed and like include the following:

Tabou Rocket
JP Excite Ride
Starboard Carve
Exocet Cross

Others will undoubtably add to this list. Please don't be afraid to chat with any of the PA "mud dog" gang. We're a friendly bunch and always willing to help wean people off the Shoreline teaser pond! Almost everyone that I know who finally made the jump from Shoreline to the bay has said that they wished that they had done it sooner. The bay gives you clean unobstructed wind for miles, giving you plenty of room to setup and practice nice wide planing jibes.

See you out there!
Alak.

ctuna · Joined: 27 Jun 1995 Posts: 1126 Location: Santa Cruz Ca

If you have limited yourself to big sails and big boards you might find that sailing smaller boards is almost a different sport . At your weight you should be able to up haul a 115 liter board easy with smaller sails . You need to get your water starts down as its easier to do in higher winds and its almost impossible to up haul in a high winds. You need a sub 6.o quiver unless you are doing formula boards on the bay.

julianstokes · Joined: 26 May 2002 Posts: 5

Hap:

I am the same weight and had the issues early on, now on 94 liter on a 5.3 in low 20's but you need to build up slowly. I had a 150 liter hifly to get used to getting into the straps, planning etc, totally different experience as the wind speed picks up. I actually was going to bring my old 150 to the swap meet at Helm sports this weekend and find a good home for it. It is in great shape and would be a good step before you make an investment in something with a bit more horsepower! We could work something out.

ctuna · Joined: 27 Jun 1995 Posts: 1126 Location: Santa Cruz Ca

I would say it would be good to have a 150 as it will require more balance but its still a handful in planning winds in the 20's.

kevinkan · Joined: 07 Jun 2001 Posts: 1661 Location: San Francisco

Hi Hap,

That HiFly that Julian has for sale would be a decent board to transition down to. Seeing as how you can already waterstart and plane in the footstraps, you should be able to go smaller than 150 liters also... something in the 110 to 150 range would work. A lot depends on how comfortable you feel getting in the straps and harness. Dealing w/ chop is part technique and part equipment. Even with the right equipment, you have to learn to sail through chop.

If you're still not 100% comfortable getting in the straps and harness, then err on the side of caution and get a bigger board. If you have that pretty dialed, and you waterstart well, then you can go smaller. At your weight you can still uphaul smaller boards in the 120 range, but it will be tough at first... just have to practice and be patient.

If you have trouble getting in the straps, look for a board that has a set of inboard footstrap positions for the front and rear straps. Some board even have a single back footstrap option. I would advise toward more of a freeride/freemove type board. These boards are slightly longer, have narrower tails for control, more vee for smoothness, and generally are less technical to sail compared to freerace and freestyle wave boards.

Check your message box, I've also sent you a PM.