What is your most used board in lower mainland?

[grantmac]

This is an option if you have lots of money. Freewave, Freestyle and foil in one.

https://www.mb-boards.com/e/windsurf/wildcat.asp

I'm debating ordering the largest one. It is a huge purchase to make without a demo but nothing else seems as versatile.

[LeopardSkin]

I'm debating ordering the largest one. It is a huge purchase to make without a demo but nothing else seems as versatile..

Yep, versatile.

[grantmac]

According to the MB shaper it's all that and a bag of chips, but which shaper doesn't think that?
I'm in a somewhat unique situation of wanting a board that I can easily travel with and use with a compact quiver of sails plus foil. I was even looking at semi-inflatables.

MB claim the outline offers excellent carving compared to the typical FS board but still lots of pop and early planing.
Since I'm just getting good enough to start learning freestyle I want a board that can do more than just pop and spin.

The Skates are very well regarded as freerideable FS boards but finding one for a decent price is really difficult. Then I'd need to decide if adding tracks was worth the hassle.

[Ryan]

Tony figure out where Balz is sailing next and go there to demo. Maybe he'll be in Jeri in the fall.

[LeopardSkin]

Tony figure out where Balz is sailing next and go there to demo. Maybe he'll be in Jeri in the fall.

Maybe in Bonaire too

[shmish]

For foiling ----> I can get something like a foil ready JP Super Ride 115L. Any idea if this type of board (68cm wide, freeride, kind of parallel-ish outline, narrow tail) is fine for a few of years of foiling?

If there are too many compromises between something like the above compared to a dedicated foil board, I may just go with the foil and maximize TOW.

[adam2]

For foiling ----> I can get something like a foil ready JP Super Ride 115L. Any idea if this type of board (68cm wide, freeride, kind of parallel-ish outline, narrow tail) is fine for a few of years of foiling?

If there are too many compromises between something like the above compared to a dedicated foil board, I may just go with the foil and maximize TOW.

I know Pavel on here has a Super Sport that he fin sails, perhaps he can comment as a slalom board. The tail is a bit narrow for foiling, but it would likely still be great, especially in higher winds where width matters less. Personally I ride a dedicated 125L foil board as my one board Lower Mainland quiver and I don't miss slalom sailing at all.

[grantmac]

I don't miss slalom sailing either.
Foiling with a board that's quite narrow in the tail I find quite enjoyable. You just can't use very large sails, 6.0 is about max for my 85kg and you'd be a bit more limited still.

[shmish]

I spoke with Pavel, he was good to talk to.

I didn't know about the sail size issue. Do the larger sails put too much downwards pressure on the board to prevent lifting up on the foil? If I was to get a foil for a 115L freeride, I'd hope to use it for light winds. I've read about people foiling in 10 knots, but I don't know what size of sail is needed for this and if it's possible to do with a freeride.

[adam2]

I spoke with Pavel, he was good to talk to.

I didn't know about the sail size issue. Do the larger sails put too much downwards pressure on the board to prevent lifting up on the foil? If I was to get a foil for a 115L freeride, I'd hope to use it for light winds. I've read about people foiling in 10 knots, but I don't know what size of sail is needed for this and if it's possible to do with a freeride.

How big a sail are you thinking of going? For reference my big sail is a 7.3 on a Wizard 125L board, I weigh about 185lbs.. I also have a 6.5 and don't notice much of an advantage with the 7.3, there's definitely a law of diminishing returns as the sails get bigger. I seem to need about 12mph to have fun with either. Slingshot listed a 6.5 as the biggest sail size for my board, but the following year upped it to 7.5 or something like that, without changing anything other than the board's graphics. I'd say that probably a 7.0 would be as big as you'd want to go for a 115L board, but there's definitely wiggle room. Big sails are noticeably heavier, and as you allude to, that weight is pretty far forward and needs to be overcome by the foil. It's not that much different than using a sail that's too big on a finned slalom board. Once up on foil in light wind it's nice to have a fat tail on your board so you can get some back foot pressure going on the foil to crank upwind.

Something else I've experienced, and others will likely disagree with me, is that in light winds non-foil-dedicated slalom boards get up a bit earlier on the foil than comparable-volume stubby boards like the Wizard as they don't plough as much through the water. It's the same reason a longboard is way faster than a slalom board in sub-planing conditions. With that said, the stubby board is super fun the moment it's out of the water.

At 66kg I don't think you could do much better for a single board quiver for the Lower Mainland.