235L Equipe XR vs. 258L Equipe II XR

WingMan · Joined: 11 Sep 2010 Posts: 37

Hi All,

Any advantage to one or the other?
-Flat-ish water course racing
-175lbs (80kg) sailor

zirtaeb · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 1769

Bigger beats smaller in all conditions, racing.
For freeriding, smaller jibes pretty well, but still can't quite keep up with freeride boards reaching back and forth.
Expected winds the determining factor.
+15, smaller can keep up.
Anything under or around 17, bigger just walks away, especially with the thicker rails and added tail width.

WingMan · Joined: 11 Sep 2010 Posts: 37

Thank you!

ronm41 · Joined: 02 May 2007 Posts: 166

techno900 · Joined: 28 Mar 2001 Posts: 903

I raced an Equipe II XR for several years. It's a GREAT board with exceptional performance on all points of sail. Even for it's size, it amazingly fast on reaches. For upwind/downwind racing, only Formula boards (or the later model "course/slalom" boards are faster, but only if the wind is over 10 knots.

The only issue I had with the Equipe was the dagger board gasket. The original one tore up and the issue was removing the old one. The Mistral glue essentially made the gasket part of the board. It had to be cut off very carefully so as not to take the board with it. Finding glue that would hold the new gasket in place was almost impossible. I eventually found some aircraft epoxy "Click Bond" in Nevada that finally worked. This will be or is or has been an issue for ALL Equipe II XR boards.

One other issue was the adjustable mast track for the mast base. The lines (rope) that made the thing work wore out and had to be replaced. It's a tough job to get it right. I don't remember the specifics, but I do remember it was a pain in the ass.

I should add that I weigh 77kg and raced the board with sails ranging from 10.6 to 6.5.

jingebritsen · Joined: 21 Aug 2002 Posts: 2065

i always loved every ride on those racing long boards. wish they had never been taken out of windsurfing culture. imagine how good that class would be right now?

http://www.exocet-original.com/rs-d2-elite.php

http://www.exocet-original.com/rs380-elite.php

ronm41 · Joined: 02 May 2007 Posts: 166

It is too bad the longboard racing just died and pretty much all of a sudden. We had a local windsurf club and put on one race per season but had a schedule of races we went to that were sponsored by the Hobies, Multihull clubs and various small boat regattas. So there was a decent turnout as racers from Northern Nevada, Tahoe and Northern Cal would show and they as well as us never had to organize much as the sponors liked us joining in to fatten their entries and $$. In the hay days we would have upwards of 30-40 boards turning out. I think what killed it was that there wasn't a decent way to divide up the boards into classes as usually there would be a five board requirement to make a class or you would go into the open class. The open class was never fair as it was a run what you brung and there was always bickering about sail sizes ect ect. Small guys wanted limits on sail size that benefitted them and bigger guys want bigger sail size limits. Sometime you would show up at a race and the locals would have influence with the organizers and would have class rules that benefitted them. Anyway once the pecking order took over as to the outcomes of the races alot started quitting. I did quite well back them as I came from years of cat racing and had a good background and experience in racing in light air. Most of the races were in light air as we raced on lakes and not in the bay. I had a killer light air rig, a Mistral Superlight with a tuttle box and big fin and I reglassed the rails from the mid point aft and hardened them up and really improved reaching and running. I had a Aerotech 7.5 USYRU sail and used this board when the rules limited the sail size to 7.5. So even so I was heavy, I was still fast in light air. I also brought my Equipe 11 that I used alot too with a 8.5. This created alot of bickering too as having two boards wasn't fair, but IMO open class means open. The bellyackers should have just sailed a IMCO and had their own class. I gues the above is a main reason why club recreational racing died.

WingMan · Joined: 11 Sep 2010 Posts: 37

It's a perenial subject, this decline in lognboard class racing and your observations ring true. I think Kona One, whatever you might think of the gear itself, attempts to solve some of that stuff.

One point that occurs to me is that Kona One is the first um.. democratic mass-apeal class to emerge in a highly connected, interactive Web 2.0 world. There is a LOT of discssion that takes place, for example on the forum, that helps to get things solved off the water before racing begins.

I wonder if there is some aspect of the North American culture of individualism that makes it hard for us to get behind a particular class. We're not prepared to be slotted into a class and weight group, we want to be free to opimize an innovate on a constant basis. Some can, same can't and those who can't leave.

WingMan · Joined: 11 Sep 2010 Posts: 37

Anyway the board was a CHS - not XR and I think my Superlight II has to be pretty similar in its capabilities.

DelCarpenter · Joined: 06 Nov 2008 Posts: 102

Longboard racing is still pretty alive and well in Wisconsin, Iowa & Minnesota, and I think, in Ohio & Michigan too, through events organized by MOWIND
(http://www.mowind.org/wp/). Most racers are on an Equipe or Mistral OD, there is a growing Kona OD group, and some use a Prodigy. The "Open" fleet has two divisions, Unlimited and 8.5 Limited.

This weekend, May 19-20 is the Saylorville Lake Dam Jam at Polk City, IA (near Des Moines)(http://www.mowind.org/wp/?page_id=741). There might be a few Kona OD charters still available.

I'll be there racing my Kona OD. I'll also bring my 1993 Fanatic Mega Cat 380 which is for sale or can be traded in some kind of a deal for another Kona OD.