I'm around 80 kilos, normally sail inland on a 5.8, occasionally less and I've been using a 2007 chilli 107 since I started sailing a few years ago.

I got to try an 84 litre tabou pocket wave in 5.0 weather last weekend, and was totally blow away by how light the board felt, manoeuvrable and quick the rotations were. So much so, that I was sailing away from spin loops, where as I normally struggle off flat water.

The biggest difference was the ability to pop well downwind, whereas my current 107 won't pop downwind and I have to normally find a bit of chop before throwing them.

My question is, should I be on a 100 litre freestyle? I was told the 107 would be better when learning, but I can pretty much vulcan, grubby and spock (struggling with flaka) now. Will the 100 become my regular board, or will I need to keep the 107?

Thanks
Richard

Hey Richard,

Yeah small boards make jumping in flat water a LOT easier...
it just makes landing and then sliding a bit more difficult...

I think with 80 kilos you might end up on a 100 litre board... its just more fun and feels smaller... it is planing a little bit later, but for sure it pops better and also has a wider range when the wind gets stronger...

Maybe go and try a buddies 100 litre freestyle board on your big sail, then you can say more... its hard to tell what suits you better... but a smaller board usually is more fun to turn and easier to pop... with 80 kilos you are not that heavy, so 100 liters could be prefect...

all the best
Rossi

Hi there,
I'd like a suggestion about choosing a fs board.
Which is the difference (in feeling and manoeuvring) between a very short board (e.g. rodeo or the new jp, about 225-227) and longer board (about 240), both around 105-110 litres?
Which is preferable for a beginner like me, not only in terms of lenght but also of whole board shape? (I'm 85 kg, sailing in a range of 20-25 knt)?
I like the jp 106 2012. Is it a good choice for me, or is it too technical?

Thanks!

Federico

Hi Federico,

How much beginner are you?! The thing is, that those boards are made for high end freestyle, which means, that they turn very well in sliding moves.
So, if you want to learn Spock, Flaka,... it will help you greatly to use a modern very short freestyle board! Those boards are made for flakas and stuff like that...

If you plan to stay with jibes, tacks, 360s and so on, it might be good also taking an older board which is a bit longer.. these boards can still do spocks and stuff, but they do not help your rotations and slides as much as the newest shapes.

At the end you will be able to do all the moves on both generations of boards, it'll be just a matter of getting used to...
JP 2012 sounds great!

But let me know what's your level exactly... what are you planing to learn the next years/with that board....?

all the best
Rossi