Board design comparison - old v new (85 liters)

[ascott72]

Been sailing an old Bic Rap design (85 liter high wind slalom, circa 1990) in the Gorge for the last 10 years, mainly Event Site/Luhr Jensen, Hatchery and Doug's. I have tried several other newer designs. I recently picked up a used Fanatic FreeWave (86 liters) based on recommendations here.

Posting pics to show the dramatic difference in design, showing how the wide point and volume have moved back significantly.

I for one am not sold on the new designs. Not that the Fanatic is a bad board - I still need to put more time on it - I just feel the narrower tail of the old design makes it gybe better and gives it more control in high wind. It also feels faster and the wide nose makes for better jumping.

Presumably the Fanatic has a slightly wider wind range, planes earlier, and coasts through lulls easier. Still testing. What I can definitely feel is that I don't have to start in the middle of the board and move my body back the way I do with the older design, not that it was difficult to do.

[dllee]

Look where your footstraps a located.
The newer board is quicker to top speed, more responsive, quicker to make directional changes, planes up quicker with smaller movements, and has more variety in jibe arc's.
The older board is possibly easier to go straight, might be a hair faster, should go thru lulls without losing as much speed, and you're used to it.

[MalibuGuru]

What Z said above! I will add that you can go up 10 liters of volume on the new boards and still feel like you are on a smaller board. My 100 liter board feels like my old 90 liter board did. (both jumping and turning)

[ctuna]

On those boards one is ancient and the other is old.
the older one looks like its from the early 90's and the other
one the late ninety's . A newer board would have the wide point
in the center or slightly forward and a comparatively flat rocker,
and would be a lot shorter and wider for a given volume .
It would be made of some lighter stuff.
Take a look at the current fanatic or any other manufacturers
website for examples.
Truly they are both from the last Century.

[whitevan01]

to echo what has been said, you cannot have an opinion on new board designs based on your newer board, as it is still an older design.

[swchandler]

I have to agree, the two boards are about 14-22 years old, but they still represent two different generations of board designs. The different wide point and mast track postitions are clearly representative of the big design changes made between the early 90s and the mid to late 90s.

Looking at the mast track and footstrap positions on the Bic, the overall setup is arguably biased for the beginning/intermediate windsurfer. By moving footstraps to the rear positions, and re-positioning the mast track a bit back from center, the Bic will be much quicker overall. Moreover, by re-positioning the Bic, it would be better setup to measure performance against the Fanatic.

[ctuna]

The second board represents the no nose concept
Volume is carried under the footstraps mast track is further
back . Still its in the long and narrow catagory compared to
todays boards. I liked the no nose concept as it meant you didn't
have a large mass at the front that was augmenting the bumps when going
through chop and it was easier to plane at lower speeds since the
volume is under the feet.
I went from and Astro Rock to Bic Veloce . The Veloce was so much
easier to sail and the sails were evolving to.
Then went to Drops Bomber the first genertation of the wider shorter
boards. And Ezzy came out with his 5 batten SE addition at which
point I didn't need cambers anymore. Then the big easy was the Exocet cross even wider and shorter. Moved to Maui sails when Ezzy went with the deep draft or slightly after.
Currently have a Fanatic Skate 110 Free style and a Exocet Cross 4 114 and
Exo wave 105 .

[GURGLETROUSERS]

That 1990 Bic looks like a slightly lower volume crib of the original Mistral Screamer. (Not surprising, since Bic always knew a good thing when they saw it, in those days.) Same wide-point, mast-track, footstraps forward, and narrower tail.

Lots of comparisons of old v. new Screamers, but I always felt the better comparison should have been old Screamer 103 litre with the modern (2006) Syncro 104 litre, which was the real successor.

I've used my old Screamer a few times lately, in direct comparison with my 104 Syncro (a board I like) and it was surprising just how soon you ignored which board it was you were riding, and just flung yourself 'into it'.

The modern shorter fatter is a bit more versatile all around, but the old narrower wide point forward is smoother and more controllable when things get more hectic.

Of course, there are more controllable modern boards (I'm an Exocet fan, especially at 84 litres) but if the O.P. likes his old board, and uses it effectively in comparison with those on newer, who's to say he's missing out on anything?

Good on you sir. Keep the old alive, and ENJOY it!

[adywind]

Funny, the shape of a 2014 Fanatic Freewave looks to be closer to the shape of your older board then to your "new" 2005 one. "Old vs older" would have been the more appropriate subject

[isobars]

And Naish's showpiece 2014 wave board has "gone retro", too. Smacks of the overdue downfall of the no-nose era, as wide points began moving forward again to correct a fad.