Hi,

I have a question about the volume of Freestyle boards.

I now have a RRD Twintip 109 '10.
My weight is about 90kg.
My level is stuck doing spocks/grubby/forward.

I have the impression that the turning of the board is very slow in the moves (F.ex. spock).

Would a 100L board will do for me ? It is narrower for sure.
Is it that much of a difference in the start of planing ?

Grtz,

Philip.

Hi Philip,

Well, 90kg is pretty heavy,... for you, a 109 liter board is like for me a 90 liter board (70kg)...

The RRD Twintip is a pretty forgiving board with a lot of volume in the tail (which helps you to not sink the tail during your slides).

You could for sure use a 100L board, but you will definitely feel it in your early planing abilities.

What sail sizes are you using mostly,- what winds are you usually sailing in ??

I would say the 109 is good for you - what fin size do you use? maybe you can speed up your rotation speeds by fine tuning the board --> move mast foot a bit back (in 5mm steps), moving your footstraps back, smaller fin,...

What's exactly your problem in Spocks/Grubbies?

Forwards? how far do you get??

An 109 liter board is just not a small board,.. but for your weight it is the only way to get planing early and have the stability during slides and so on...

good winds
Rossi

Thanx for the reply Rossi,

I'm using this board as only freestyle board.
From lowwind to heavy winds. Using sails sizes : 5.3, 4.7 & 4.2.

Mast foot is at the back completely.
I use a 18cm fin.
I think I will set my foot straps 1 hole more backwards to test.
Most used is 4.7.

While performing spocks, I get a huge splash on landing, this is getting the speed out of my move. I ain't got the time to perform the whole rotation.
Grubby : I'm standing still after 180° of the rotation.
I'm landing the forwards on my back, able to waterstart. On a waveboard, I'm standing them.

I think I'll stick to the 109L, to be comfortable in low end.

Regards,

Philip.

Hi Philip, where are you windsurfing - 5.3 as "lightwind" is cool!!

well you could probably go for a 100, as the wind seems pretty strong where you are. However, for your body weight the 109 is just right i would say! - gives you some extra volume when you need it in slides and stuff...

Spocks and Grubbies:
Probably it's not the board that doesn't want to slide - it might be just some more practise that is missing...

Hard to say without seeing it on a video or in real, but for the Spock it's important you grab the other side of the boom at the same time as you rotate the board, so that you are almost on the other side once you land. also keep your weight on the front foot and extend the back one... you need to force the board to slide backwards, then you will also get it spinning...

Grubby: almost the same thing - try not to jump too high, rotate by lifting the back foot slightly to get the nose into the water and rotate around it. Extend the back foot once you are facing the wind. Don't twist your body, extend the sail hand and bend the mast hand to let the sail help you rotate.
Start the Grubby (jump) out of a slight carve downwind, not just from sailing straight downwind, that will help you to keep on rotating after landing.

Forwards:
It's definitely harder to do them on a 109 liter board - just so much more volume - also the volume prevents you from pushing the tail of the board really down to create that pop when taking off.
If you're landing them on your wave board, just keep on practising - you need to develop the perfect "light wind" technique...

later
Rossi

Hi Rossi!

I have an Starboard Flare '10 98 litres and I weight 64 kg. I sail in Gran Canaria (Pozo, Bahia, Vargas) in Summer, the wind is really strong!


¿¿98 litres is a right volume for me??

Thanks!

Hi Benjamin,

The Starboard Flare is a very good board, but man - Gran Canaria!! - i am in Fuerte right now in Sotavento, we have wind for 4.2 and 3.8 usually... i guess you have similar wind forces over there most of the time - or even more...
So the board is actually way too big for your weight - you should have at least the flare 88 or some other small freestyle board if you do freestyle mostly.. or a freestyle-wave board if you don't do that much sliding tricks...

Guess you have a wave board too?

If you can - go get a board with 90 liters (or flare 88 for example) - for your body weight this will be just right...

also get used to use very small fins, this will help you a lot in spinning/sliding moves...

All the best from Fuerte!
Rossi