If you want an all round board I'd say you can go bigger than 85, but I guess it depends on the board, manageability at stronger winds is more about bottom area and shape, ie width, rocker and "v" than just volume.

I build my boards quite thick in the back to increase volume for subplaning conditions, (some young guys can grovel along up to their knees and still catch waves, but I'm not one of them), but the back is still not that wide or flat, so handles 20+ OK

Hi Paddy,

I feel that the problem isn't the board, more likely technique/setup. Have you tried playing around with mast foot position and boom height? Do you have two back straps or just one? How long have you been able to get into the front strap? If you're 85 kilos then a carve 99 should be bang on the money in terms of volume -- it's no good having bragging rights if your board sinks when the wind dies off a bit.

When going for the back strap, you should be planing, with your front foot in the front strap, back foot across centreline just in front of the back strap. You should be able to feel the back strap with your foot. Now quickly stab your foot into the strap without looking down.

It took me a good dozen sessions of strapping my front foot before I could reliably strap my back foot, so don't feel too bad.

99l way too big, esp. if you want to progress. I'm 80kgs and sail a 74l JP radical wave. Thats my only board, I used to have a JP freestyle wave 86l but just never used it, maybe 3/4 times in a couple of months so sold it. However your post says that u can't gybe and can't get in your back footstrap so if you got a neutrally/negatively buoyant board you might struggle, especially if the wind is a bit lighter and/or gusty. The new JP Free/Wave 85l would be a good size for you and u could keep ur 99l for lighter winds. This is also dependant on how much ure going to sail & progress..

Well to be brutally honest I didn't like my freestyle wave, it felt more like a slalom board than a wave board and it's not something that really felt at home in the waves. That was an 02 so maybe they're a different board now.. but I'm very happy with my wave board, great in the waves and a very quick board. I've sailed SB a few times and it's fine for flatwater, I've done forwards on flat water with it. I found my wave board a lot easier to jump than my free/wave. If I were you I'd consider a JP wave 74l (same as me) or the 79l one. But then again it does depend on what kind of sailing you're going to do..

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Originally posted by Paddy

Hey there

I am sailing most weekend either applecross or saftey bay, I see if any one demos around the 85ltr mark and see how i go .!

Do you progress quicker on samller board with litghter sails ?? I guess I am just the the tipping ponint of getting it together just need more Time on the water

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Well if you are on a big board and with a 6.0m+ sail you may have problems learning to gybe etc. I learnt on a 90l board with a 5.2 sail, which was great. You need a board that easily supports your weight and one that you can balance on, small wave boards are not particularly easy to learn to gybe. Best bet is to get a 2nd hand board - 80/85l and if you feel you want to get something smaller later on down the track, trade it in.

You guys live in a different world over there. Over here (Bris) a 90 litre board is a tad small as a one board solution. At 85 kg you'd be sailing a 100 L or thereabouts for bay sailing. I'm 70 kg and my small board is 75 L. I don't get to use it much - maybe 10 times a year. My mainstay is a 93 L JP.

I'm gunna have to move.

Yep from my experince it goes from not wort going out to 20 + knts ,
I have a 133 with a7.8 if i feeel the need to mess around in 10knts but the 99 seems a bit big as soon as the breeze comes in!!

Any one used the Exocet cross 84 as a allrounder ??

Hey Combs,

85 litre is great size for moderate to high wind blasting, and light to moderately high wind waveriding.

The latest Evos are fantastic down-the-line wave boards, but not as suitable for mainly blasting with ocasional wave use as a Starboard Kombat, JP Freestyle wave, or F2 Spice for instance.

Recommend you try before you buy, even just to get an idea of how well the new boards such as those mentioned perform in a huge range of conditions.

There's no real bad boards out there anymore, just boards that may not suit your personal needs, so try as many as possible and enjoy!

Hey There

Only just picked it up , I should be giving it a go tomorow if I can get out of work I should imagine it would feel a lot lighter, fingers crossed . wouldnt mid have a go on a 80 85ltr as well if anyone demos them ??