Sorry if this is a little long but I'm guessing you can't recommend a board unless you know what it needs to be used for!

I'm looking to buy a second hand modern board for the first time. I haven't learnt how to gybe yet but I like to think it's because of my ancient fibreglass board that no-one can believe I'm still fighting with. I've had a run on a friend's Starboard Evo 92 and S-Type 115 and they were so much easier to sail that I felt like I could be gybing with just a day's practice.

I sail at St. Kilda on Port Phillip Bay, so we're talking about a little bit of chop and 15-25 knots mostly, but also 12-15 knots and flatter water as the wind dies down in the evenings. I'm light at a little under 70kg, and I want to go blasting in and out and get a little air off the chop but nothing too fancy at this stage. I've currently got an old cambered 6.3 and a more modern 4.5 - the former has no give and is hard work when it gets heavy and the latter is too small. I probably need to pick up a modern 5.4 as well.

A couple of years ago I did a lot of reading and thought I wanted something like a JP 84 or thereabouts. Now that I'm looking into it again it seems like everyone's using boards with much more volume. The Starboard boards I had a quick run on were amazingly easy to sail but felt a bit twitchy to me after my smaller volume, much longer old board.

If someone could make some suggestions for ideal board sizes and types I'd really appreciate it. I can't wait to get out there and start doing laps all evening rather than spending the whole time trying to waterstart my old kit.

Salamander,

My boards range from Bodyweight - 10 litres to Bodyweight +20 litres.

This sees me sailing in everything from 12-13 knots up to 38 knots.

I used to sail out of St Kilda and would think for your weight that around 90 litres would be plenty to get you going in the lighter ranges, you may need a really small board when it honks in a big SW change.

Generally, you will have a lot of rolling swell that you can use to help get you planing at St Kilda, by bearing dowm wind a bit.

With regard to sails - that old 6.3 is probably a good sail - especially for the lighter winds. I have just invested in a Naish Redline 7.0 (3 cams) and am very impressed - it handles like a sail 0.5 m2 smaller than it is, nice to gybe in comparison to some older cambered sails.

5.5 is a good size for Port Phillip

- J

I'll agree with the Carve, 80L ish should be good for you from 12 - 25. Make sure you get the standard fin and also one size up for the larger sails.... standard, factory supplied modern fins are too small esp on wave gear.

By the way, you will find the EVO twitchy, they are very loose and want to turn all the time. Many traditional wave sailors haven't liked them for that fact, If you do bump n jump sailing they are not really the go, they want to waveride (always be turning).

By the way, what would you expect to pay for a Carve 90 or similar second hand and where's the best place to look? How many years old is the Carve? When you find a board, how do you know how much it should weigh so you can check it? So many questions for you guys!

I've checked the forums here, ebay, trading post etc. Haven't been down to RPS or SHQ yet but will do so soon.