Upgrade from an old Formula board

[gvogelsang]

I have one of Starboard's first year Formula boards.

I am thinking of upgrading to a light wind free ride board, such as the Supersonic or JP Lightwind.

would there be a benefit?

Does anyone else ride a light wind slalom board?

[coachg]

I have an 85 cm wide 2013 Fanatic Falcon 142 light wind Slalom board. The Falcon replaced a 2005 AHD GTS that was 86 cm wide & 160 liters. The GTS was closer in dimensions to your formula board which I have sailed as well.

Depending on your ability you will gain speed for sure & potentially speed through jibes as well as tighter jibes. A newer slalom board will get on a plane earlier but not as smoothly as the older, longer board. A new slalom board will feel squirrelly until you get used to it.

For general BAF you may not notice a big difference, but if pushing your board to its limits I think you will feel a big difference in a modern light wind slalom board vs. your old formula board.

Coachg

[dllee]

What exactly are you looking for?
Early planing? Upwind? Downwind? Reaching? Jibing. Keeping up with rec sailors on slalom boards?

[gvogelsang]

[dllee]

What winds and what's your weight, where do you sail and how often do you need to slog home?
Hard to give any answer without knowing a bit about you and your conditions.
And, what Formula board did you have? NOT FreeFormula I hope, as it's not a Formula board except to novices in windsurfing.
And what's your skill and pumping level?
I find, I can plane up in 15 mph winds with a 6.0 sail on my 11.5 lbs JPProSlalom 84, at 55 wide, as early as any of my Mike'sLabCourseSlalom boards, which weigh between 14-16 lbs..
With a 6 meter sail, I can plane up sooner with that JP than I can with a Starboard Formula 162.
It won't stay on a plane, of course, but I can pump it up to a plane the best with the lightest board.

[gvogelsang]

[dllee]

Light wind slaloms jibe much easier than Formula, due to lighter weight, but more so from thinner rails and curvier outlines.
Max sail sizing would be limited to 10's, but that's OK, big enough for late afternoon after work sailing.
Fin sizing in the mid 50's as opposed to mid 60's, so you have to work harde to get onto a plane than a bigger board.
Modern Formula's are around 162 in volume, straight outlines, super short, and vary greatly depends on who designed them and what winds they are designed for. Starboard makes 3 different Formula boards, the wider tailed and the narrower tailed versions for lightest winds to medium wind handling.
Stand and allow the wind to pull you onto a plane types generally prefer a bigger board, fin. sail setup than active windsurfers who like to pump and ooch onto a plane.
Have you looked at new Formula boards, like the JP's, Exocets, Starboards?

[gvogelsang]

[rangerider]

I love the Ultrasonic 147. Awesome / light / fast / durable (so far - I crashed it into my dock a few weeks ago and only put a little blem in the paint, but I digress). The Starboard recommended sail range is up to 12.0 on it but I think it would work well up to 11.0. I have used it with Lion 9.5 - perfect, Lion 7.5 - good but wishing the board was smaller, 6.4 no cam - terrible. I have a select S1 57cm and a makani 48cm weed fin for it. At your weight you should get a Lion 9.5 to go with it, if I was going to pair a board with a Lion 8.5 as the biggest sail I would go with the next size down isonic which would be great as well. I really want to try a full-race 11.0 with 100 carbon mast and see how fast I can go in light wind. The board flies

[dllee]

I mentioned on another thread that lots of Formula racer's are trying much smaller sails, with immediate success in angles upwind, a little slower downwind, but much easier handling.
Where they used to use 9 meters sails, mid 7's is the norm, especiallyl for 155 lbs riders.
Some are using cammed 6.5's with very good success for rec sailing, but not for racing.
The guy who wins every CalCup he participates in here used a 7.9 sail on his Starboard Formula Wide.