Slash vs Dash

[Splat]

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that a lot of the new boards seem to sacrifice a little TOO MUCH dash for a little extra slash...

I will be the first one to admit most of the new boards turn on a dime...but they dont seem to do very well in the lulls.

[prozac]

I agree, new boards suck. They are way too slow. I have been riding custom built, (to my specs) since 1993. Mass produced boards are made for sailors that are afraid to go fast, afraid to jump high, and make too much money. Most just sail in a straight line and cant jibe or ride a wave or even a swell.
Sounds like you should get a custom built board or rig big for the lulls. Do both and get back to shredding.

[wanda]

MY MAN! I learned to carve jibe on a Mistral Energy, the fastest board ever produced besides that little F2 Sputnick that broke my front teeth while trying a one-hand jibe at 35 mph in Nags Head. The faster you go, the higher you fly. I bought and sold four board in eight months because they were too slow to catch air. Buy a custom board.

[spyder]

I guess it depends on what you are sailing in, but I have to say the JP Wave 250 is very wavy and fast. Incredible board.

I compared this against the F2 Wave 256 and 252. I thought the 256 was pretty fast and handled very well. I didnt like the 252, but I am not sure how good that rental one was..for one the board grit was gone. Maybe it had water in it.

I havent tried any new slalom boards lately, so I have no idea. But I hear the new Thommen boards are very fast.

[jwajack]

Try to demo the R. French 811 or the HiFly 99liter carbon board (I cant recall its number). The French planes early, is pretty loose (but not a full on wave board, though you could tweak the mast base, strap and fin placement to move along the slalom-wave continuum -- the board is fairly sensitive to these changes) and also is fast. I use it both for bump and jump and waves, though with a good swell is switch to the Naish Floater. (When sailing the French, even with wave sails, I am generally passing lighter folks who are sailing on bigger boards and sails.)

The French 87 has similar qualities, with a bit more maneuverability and speed similar to the old Seatrend 87 (which was scary-fast).

I have not ridden the HiFly, but a good friend is, and he has found it to plane early, be highly maneuverable (good carving 360s) and still fast.

Custom boards are great if you can articulate exactly what you want and the shaper knows how to implement your desires. However, you cannot demo a custom board first; if you order it, you buy it, even if it sucks (which has been the experience of many).

[joeyyyy]

So Find a better shaper and get the custom...... I still am yet to see a production board come even close to the performance of my custom boards.

[Splat]