hey james,

only about a year ago i was sailing a Tiga 285 (very much slalom board) with a 5.0, 2000 Neilpryede Core wave sail most of the time depending on the wind. I wasnt in the footstraps at that stage but i invested in a Naish Quest Wave 258 wihich is 99L i think, and picked that up quite chep with a full rig (5.8 Gaastra Grind with mast boom and everything). I am getting on very well with that and i'm about 63 to 68kg.

As mine is a wave board it handels chop very nicely but i have never sailed a Carve which i hear are a great board. Are you every going to want to start wave sailing, anything like that, or are you just going to stick to freeride? My wave board is not as quick as my Tiga 285 and other freeride boards around, but i want to get out in the waves as soon as i can. If you are just going to be freeride sailing you may not want a wave board and would be better off with something like a Carve.

I also think that your tiga 295 might be a bit more than 120L as i sailed one and it was quite a bit bigger than my 285 which is in the 110 to 120L mark.

Since about easter i have been in the straps and harness Confidentially all the time on both of the boards and my dads larger board which i use in smaller winds. I think you could very safely move down to a 100L board like me, but it does take a little getting use to as i found out.

I also think it is worth while getting a newer sail (anything newer than 2000) beacuse they have alot more give in gusty wind, much easier to control and are allround a nicer sail.

bubs,

Sorry bout that, correction made, shes a 285, really wanting to stick to flat water freeriding for now but the waves are tempting. As soon as I master the waterstart and full planning gybes I'll be ready for the waves.

Thanks for the advice, 100L sounds exciting! I shall have a look around. A newer sail sounds nice too... Currently on a older tushingham sail (single camber?) that has seen better days yet it blasts me around great.

Sounds like a good way to learn those waterstarts racy, thank you very much for the offer, I'll have to follow up on that sometime :)

I'm sure dad can leave his gear at home and take a bodysurf, but we'll see...

Just a side note, not seeing very many sailors going about, instead gybing everywhere, something to do with the smaller boards?

Togo ? what are you up to Tony?

Hi Edge,

The ideal board size for most conditions is your weight + 20 kg's. This allows you to uphaul in low winds, while still being small enough not to act like a barge in higher winds. If you're 65 kilos then I'd look at getting an 85 litre board. Still, you can learn to waterstart and get to the straps on a 120 litre board. Tacking and gybing with so much flotation should be a piece of cake I would suggest that you learn to waterstart before venturing out into waves however, uphauling with swell rolling past is difficult to say the least (been there, tried that, got spanked big time)!

My experience is as follows:
Bought a big old 180 litre 'plastic fantastic', probably over 20 years old, learnt to get going, tack and gybe on it. After a while it got a bit boring so I bought a board that was my weight (85 kilos) + 20 = 105 litres. This board allowed me to learn how to plane, waterstart, get into the straps, gybe, chop hop, and now I'm going out into the waves every now and again, as well as getting close to carve gybing.

If I were you I'd aim for something around 85 litres, this will feel like a matchstick compared to your old board but after a while you'll get used to it, and will wonder how you ever managed on your old Tiga.

Don't worry about carve gybes yet, they are fiendishly difficult especially if you're not in the straps yet. Try slowing down, grabbing the uphaul rope, holding the mast to the outside of the turn, and slowly walking around the mast as the board turns under your feet, then grabbing the new side of the boom once the board is pointing in the right direction. At least this way you get to stay upright Once you've got that then try a slow 'flare gybe', sailing out clew first then flipping the rig. So many skills to be learnt, and so many moments of pure joy when you learn a new skill.

Enjoy

Are you sure it's around 80?
By the sound of it, it'd have to be getting close to 9' to have that volume, 8' 9" or so?

Doesn't sound very user friendly anyway, it'll probably stay in your shed until you can give it away to somebody else!

Cheers fellas these forums are really helpful!

hey edge, that's a great link.

i wouldn't mind one of those for myself.

After todays sail at Applecross, I can say to myself I'm ready to move on. 6 waterstarts, some in flat, some in ugly swell, planning in the straps having a crazy time keeping the tiga on the water with all the chop. 4 spinouts (WOAH! That was fun! ) crazy carving in straps and some blasting from side to side.

Just had to share it, being a 'stage' I've almost ignored for some time it's fantastic to overcome it.

Now I'm off to chase down Racy

James