Chris 249 said..
Song, it's very personal. I sailed IMCO for years (including being twice 2nd in the nationals after they were out of the Olympics) and was into Raceboards well before they had their very first world title (in which I was part of the national team), so I know and love them. They were amazing fun when they were used as they were intended, which is for a mainly reaching course with a 12-15 knot wind limit on open water.
A few thoughts;
1- the RB's mast and CB position, big fin and low foot mean that it tacks much more slowly. You cannot work the small shifts like you can in an LT, and to be honest I always found tacking a RB to be painfully slow and frustrating. Many of us love working those small shifts by zipping the LT around through tacks even if we go slower than a RB. Others prefer speed and that's great.
2- The fact that the LT is twitchier in stronger winds is lots of fun for many of us. It's a bit like driving a fast manual car instead of a fast automatic car, or perhaps like skiing moguls rather than a perfectly groomed and flat ski slope. We love the fact that you have to respond to each wind gust and each wave. Personally I love it when windsurfing becomes a boathandling challenge, and in the LT that happens in lighter winds than it does in a RB. A RB in 20 knots is a test of speed because the board handles so well, an LT in 20 knots is a test of speed and handling. Some people dislike that and it's fine.
3- The rig's power moves around, but the other side is that the rig is very light - the sail is just 2kg. Some of us don't like heavy rigs, especially in something we often sail in light breezes and especially when they spend so much time raked that you are often effectively stopping them from falling backwards. The LT's upright rig almost balances itself in light winds.
4- Yep, with footstraps you can lock yourself in and that's nice, but in the straps with the track back you tend to sail a narrower range of downwind angles and styles. The LT has a wider range of fast wind angles; depending on the gusts, the strength, the waves and the tactical situation you may be gybing through high angles like a RB, or you could be going deeper, surfing the little waves in a wave the RB cannot do. On the LT you are dancing up and down, like walking the plank on a long surfboard. You have the fascinating challenge of staying stuck on by using balance and feel rather than just sticking your feet in straps. Some of us really love that, although we also love the fantastic feeling of a RB howling with the track back.
5- Oddly enough, in really strong winds the LT now seems to be handling better than the RBs with their 9.5s!
6- We don't pump upwind, which is a lot more fun to some of us. We have more varied events - course racing, marathon, slalom and freestyle. And there are more LT fleets around.
7- LT is $2700, RB is about $12000?. One is going to stay the same, the other could be obsolete next year.
8- "Technical" yes, but that seems to mean that there's a bigger gap between fast and slow sailors in speed. Many slower sailors get a bit discouraged by the gap. The LT fleet is closer together and because they tack fast and we don't pump upwind, slower sailors can do especially well in light winds.
9- The LT doesn't carve quite as well as a RB but you can still throw one-handed duck gybes on them. The LT is much more fun for me in light wind gybes, mark roundings etc because it turns faster.
10- I still have an IMCO, 2 old custom Naish RBs including a proto of the original pre-concave Pan Am, and an Equipe II. I haven't sailed them for ages but must get them out one day. They are great boards for charging along in a straight line if it's breezy. That's what the class was designed for. Personally I find them frustrating when used for windward/leeward flat water racing in light winds. If you love them, that's great!
PS - the guy who got 2nd in my class at the Australian nationals was top 10 in the world in the Olympic IMCO rankings, and 2nd in the youth worlds on an IMCO. The junior world IMCO champ and masters RB world champ were in my div at the LT worlds, with IMCO Olympians in other divisions. Our former national IMCO champ is a top LT sailor. There's a lot of people who love them both.
Based on the majority of comments here it seems the Windsurfer LT (Latest Technology?) and foil (Future of Windsurfing?) has made the humble raceboard "obsolete".
If there are any LT sailors (or foilers) no longer using their old raceboards let me know as we can surely use them here in Brisbane.
The raceboard fleet here is growing and they handle the range of wind and wave conditions that we sail in very well.
Also, the raceboard nationals will be held at RQYS in Jan 2020 and there may be a few sailors looking for a raceboard to join the fun.
So if you have any "obsolete" Mistral, F2, Fanatic raceboards taking up room in your garage and need to make room for more LTs, don't throw them out, let me know
