Do wide, stubby wave/FSW boards turn off the back foot?

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

By that I mean, can one slash them 45, 90, or more degrees, at full speed, with nothing more than heel'n'toe pressure with the back foot in its strap? Or do they just look at you blankly and plow straight ahead unless you get your weight forward, engage the forward rail, and add sail input as many of today's boards demand in tight turns? Or does the answer still vary completely among brands and models?

I ask because as I get older and more burdened by my chemotherapy, I want to add a larger and earlier-planing board to my heap with the same goal of full-speed, full-power, slashy maneuvering across and down wind. These stubby thingies, in wave and especially FSW versions, seem well suited to that. I'm particularly interested in 100-105L single- or tri-fin boards.

Or are such boards, with their very short lengths, not well suited to sailing straight downwind, in heavy swell and/or chop, heavily-powered? Does that all but demand the longer, narrower, more traditional shapes?

capetonian · Joined: 11 Aug 2006 Posts: 1197 Location: Florida

The Fanatic Stubby 99 L snaps around off the back foot. But it's a wave board, not a FSW, and I have not tried the FSW version so I can't 100% answer your question.

coachg · Joined: 10 Sep 2000 Posts: 3550

You are in the Gorge. Go to one of the shops & demo one.

Coachg

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

Easier said than done. I could drive >400 miles (to and from Hood River plus to and from a windy launch) and still get skunked. Even when I lived there in a van with nothing else to do it was seldom worth the hassle and uncertainty of bringing together a demo board and some appropriate wind. I tried for an entire summer to demo one particular board the shop stocked and never could get my hands on it.

That's why I began buying boards by the SUVload (OK, one trip was a small truckload); it's far easier, the choices are almost infinitely greater, and given a week or three it's easy to find wind. I'm hoping this thread will answer the broader question and maybe even point me towards some specific examples.

U2U2U2 · Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 9:43 am Post subject:

Your questions are generalized. Within the 100literFSW group of current boards( be advised your past history eliminated them as new and costly)
So newer boards then, each brand has its own priority , early planing, turns, fast turns..etc

Much to be said for the move oriented tri fins, Fanatic for one.
As a single the Tabou 3S .
Lots of Starboard options.

Sorry to read about your cancer therapy. Wish you all the best.

FWIW , I BOUGHT a well used factory prototype 3S, tri fin, 96 liter 2011 board, repaired it. I really like the way it performs in tri fin mode, far more move oriented than my NAISH 100 Starship, close to opposite ends on the FSW platform.

U2U2U2 · Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 9:50 am Post subject:

The very newest craze

http://forums.boards.co.uk/showthread.php/77229-Quattro-Mini-Thruster-the-Ferrari-of-windsurf-boards

PeconicPuffin · Joined: 07 Jun 2004 Posts: 1830

manuel · Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Posts: 1158

Iso? Surprised me a little to find such a question from you?
FW boards vary greatly. I reviewed a few (see my blog).

For my light weight, in brief, the most turny was the JP FSW.
The most skatey was the Fanatic Stubby FW (probably would fit your requirement), very back foot, very sharp turns.

The JP can be front foot turned while the Stubby provided little advantage.

dmilovich · Joined: 19 Jul 2009 Posts: 99

Iso - While sailing my 105 Fanatic Freewave STB this morning with powered 5.3, (and note: single 30 cm Makani weed fin) in SPI thought of your question. I made some full speed 15-20 degree slashes back and forth in the troughs of the chop and noted they were all off the back foot. With the thruster setup it is a bunch more loose, so maybe right up your up your alley. But it might be more skatey than carvey (if that's a word), so depends on what you're after. All the same, it's a lot looser than my beloved 105 Angulo Sumo, which is a gold standard for me. (using 3 footstraps in both cases, BTW)

For reference, the 105 STB has worked up to 6.5 easily, but that's probably not necessary for your sailing. There was a guy here two weeks ago, weighed probably 185 lbs (I'm 175) who was routinely sailing at 5.8 on a 95 liter FW STB and went down to a 4.7 super comfortably. He commented that he perhaps should have bought an 85 liter. I've sailed the 95 with 4.7 and it's really fun. Could go smaller sail no problem. Or a bunch bigger. Point being that these boards plane early and coast through lulls pretty well, so perhaps you can go smaller than 105 and get even more slashability (that's a word, I'm sure of it), along with early planing for ease of use. Best if you can borrow or demo one, of course.

Good luck with your health, dude! I've been reading you for 20 years and really appreciate your insights and contributions .

U2U2U2 · Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 9:28 am Post subject:

Words like, skatey loose, slashy are all interpretive.

Using a tri fin as an example , cause it's the best to and easiest, but changing the fins size it's possible to vary the handling quite a lot,
For instance a large center with very small sides will come closest to the feel of a single, using 3fins of similar size will come close to the feel of a twin, skateboard loose. Variance in between are personal preference, few take the money and time to compare, being content to ride what came out of the box.

It's no revelation that a single fin Sumo has quite different character than a Freewave STB.

A multi fin , in a more compact form, not necessarily the newest version of Stubby , I feel would be a better option for Isobars, but then what do I know