FSW
RRD or Tabou 3S, you can't go wrong with either. These boards revel in Port Phillip Bays rough messy conditions so should be just the ticket.

mr love said...
FSW
RRD or Tabou 3S, you can't go wrong with either. These boards revel in Port Phillip Bays rough messy conditions so should be just the ticket.

The 3S is my go-to board for bump & jump. Sail wise - any good freeride sail will do imo. I'm enjoying the NP Fusions for blasting and chop-hoping.

I have a 89L starboard kombat for exactly these conditions. Three of 4 straps. Its fast and comfy while still being easy and control friendly. Works well with RAF or cammed sails. It will be handy in windy LOC if we ever get one again

I have 2015 3S 106 & 96 exactly for ocean bump and jump 20-25. I use 26 jp weed/wave for powered up and 31 jp weed/free ride for a bit more lift. Sails= 5.8 through to 4.5 (powerful wave-sails) which will see me from 16-35+ knots in 100% control every sail and can throw it of anything I've come
across

Make sure you test ride a Patrik FSW from Steve or feel free to borrow mine. I'd also consider checking out a smaller freeride like a Tabou Rocket. I know you've said B&J but I reckon you're too addicted to speed now I think the freeride boards will stay down better when you want to push the accelerator but still have nice pop when you want to grab some air. My 5.6m Gaastra Cross works really well in that wind range, plenty of speed, great maneuverability.

If you want something on the speedier side of the spectrum then I can recommend a SB Futura 93. I bought a used one last year to use as a hi wind slalom board for rough conditions. It handles chop nicely and the surprise was that it also carries a 7m race sail, I'm 90kg

It has in & outboard strap options. Ive only used it outboard with slalom fin and I would imagine it would loosen up more with softer fin and it should be good with a 5.2m. And in the SB camp another looser b&j / free rde option is the carve. I haven't tried the later models but hear good reports for open water sailing.

For b&j / wave I use JP FSW's. I have a 78l & 93l, an 84l would be a good one board option for 80kg. The thruster models are really smooth and slashy in the turns.

petermac33 said..
The trouble with some of the boards mentioned.....is their foot strap position is not on the rail.

That K.O 's the board for me.

Would love to try some of the free ride boards from Patrik.

Sailing at Pelican Point in strong winds is far from easy!

He is talking 25kn on the ocean - long way from Peli.
I'd go bottom shape and volume for control long before I think about outboard straps. A 75L FSW (suited to an 80kg guy in 20-25kn open ocean) would have a 23cm wave thru to about 28cm FSW fin and not need the feet out on the rail.

Mark _australia said..

petermac33 said..
The trouble with some of the boards mentioned.....is their foot strap position is not on the rail.

That K.O 's the board for me.

Would love to try some of the free ride boards from Patrik.

Sailing at Pelican Point in strong winds is far from easy!

He is talking 25kn on the ocean - long way from Peli.
I'd go bottom shape and volume for control long before I think about outboard straps. A 75L FSW (suited to an 80kg guy in 20-25kn open ocean) would have a 23cm wave thru to about 28cm FSW fin and not need the feet out on the rail.

Mark - good point re. bottom shape.

What shape would you consider optimum for control, maneuverability & comfort (though perhaps mutually exclusive)?

Hi Azimuth.

Easiest way is to demo boards from the shops.
2ndWind have some of each models from the RRD range that can be demo'd, but probably the FreStyleWave's, or FireMoves, would be ideal.
Feel free to try.

Jez

Just remember to make sure your gear is strong and ell maintained. A pfd is good too.

Mark _australia said..

azymuth said..

Mark _australia said..

petermac33 said..
The trouble with some of the boards mentioned.....is their foot strap position is not on the rail.

That K.O 's the board for me.

Would love to try some of the free ride boards from Patrik.

Sailing at Pelican Point in strong winds is far from easy!

He is talking 25kn on the ocean - long way from Peli.
I'd go bottom shape and volume for control long before I think about outboard straps. A 75L FSW (suited to an 80kg guy in 20-25kn open ocean) would have a 23cm wave thru to about 28cm FSW fin and not need the feet out on the rail.

Mark - good point re. bottom shape.

What shape would you consider optimum for control, maneuverability & comfort (though perhaps mutually exclusive)?

Hard to say as old school vee throughout has it's place but concaves work just as well or betterer.......
3S or RRD FSW are great - you need to go ride one off the coast on Sat arvo. You will be hooked.

To those saying Rocket, yeah it is the freeride board that is closest to FSW .............so it feels great to slalom sailors when it gets properly ruff - or to wavesailors looking for a race board that still feels close to home.....................but when mega powered in 2m swell plus chop on the ocean, you will pick the FSW over the Rocket in an instant just for the gybing and air control.
This is an 80kg guy asking about 25kn open ocean, not 20kn gusts on the river.
No Rocket, no.

He did say he was less interested in jumps and more interested in speed, ergo the Rocket recommendation. I am 76kg and sail it in a bay (not open ocean) and would choose it over a FSW board any day of the week. I am also interested in speed more than jumps. I do love a good bit of air, but its not my primary focus. It gybes fine for me. At 25kts, my Rocket is in the zone.

You're asking about exactly the same sailing I normally do and I'm about the same weight, so I will go out on a limb and risk mentioning the brands and full equipment I use on windy days - even at this late stage in the thread. I tend think about durability first and performance second.

Boards: Exocet Cross FSW mk III, the 2011 glass models. I have two, a 104 and a 94 litre. These have concaves and moderate vee, and a tiny bit of tail-kick behind the fin. They have reasonably wide tails and footstraps somewhat inboard. In rough waters I find them very soft riding, predictable and easy gybing - especially in-between swells. The stock footstraps on this model were made from sandpaper so I replaced them with Dakine straps. The 104 is a touch faster than its smaller brother, but the 94 is a beautifully settled and maneuverable board. Both make you feel like a genius on the water.

Fins: Black Project Type R. I feel fins have come a long way and there's no control advantage anymore in curvy FSW and wave style fins. I use sizes 35, 32.5, and 30cm with the Exocet boards. Happily they come with powerbox heads. They are quick, moderate lifting fins disinclined to spin out and pretty easy to recover when they do. They work well in my boards and fit well with their easy gybing characteristics.

Masts: Ezzy RDMs. These are very strong, with about double the wall thickness of othere RDMs I have seen. There is a small weight penalty for that, but I never think about that when I am 3k offshore. I always use the supplied nolmitz shims which are very durable and thicker than some others I have seen. I believe this supports the mast better.

Sails: Ezzy Cheetah no-cam freeride sails. I use 6.5 and 5.5 with the above boards. The 5.5 is nice in winds into the mid twenties and the 6.5 has nearly the same top end. These sails have massive wind range and are incredibly stable, so coming off cammed race sails you will appreciate the feel. They are soft springy sail readily absorbing gusts to give you time to adjust for the extra power. This is great when you are getting tired. Gybing is super-easy and water-starting a doddle with the full shape, narrow luff-sleeve and RDM mast. They have bullet proof construction but are still light in weight. You have to tune them though. Ezzy's instructions only go so far - they need a lot more downhaul than advertised. They're quick enough too. I have had a few sessions over 30 knots on all the above equipment on flat water without loosing desirable qualities offshore.

Booms: After breaking an alloy boom in half 2k out I switched to 100% carbon booms. I use Chinook Pro 1s which have been great over 18months now. Not as stiff as some, but the plastic fittings are generally better quality than others and the widths suit draftier sails better without needing a "race" tailpiece. I had some issues with the head sliding around on the arms piece but fixed that myself quite simply. They seem to be better priced than other carbon booms I have seen.

Extensions: Chinook again - alloy extensions with the single piece cast europin base. These seem strong and reliable. I replace tendons each September or sooner if they are showing too much bulging.

Personal: I use a seat harness, a life jacket and sailing gloves. A long sleeve rashie keeps the sun off your arms. It's too hot up here for wetsuits so plenty of sunscreen, an FCS chinstrap hat and sunglasses (Polaroid of course for spotting turtles) are essential. It's also good to consider carrying a small spare fin and fin bolt etc if you have a lot of turtles in your area.


I have done thousands of kms sailing in open waters and feel pretty safe on this gear. It's easy to sail too, so I often do sessions between 50-100km total distance in the lumpy stuff without getting too beaten up. I hope this helps.

AUS1023 said..
I have 2015 3S 106 & 96 exactly for ocean bump and jump 20-25. I use 26 jp weed/wave for powered up and 31 jp weed/free ride for a bit more lift. Sails= 5.8 through to 4.5 (powerful wave-sails) which will see me from 16-35+ knots in 100% control every sail and can throw it of anything I've come
across

sailed the 96 3S Tabou in Maui recently , over a few days in gusty 15-30+conditions, all B&J as winds were different direction to norm so sailed 'the other' side of the island.
Was really impressed with the 3S, really easy to sail, ate chop (especially when mast track was put back from centre, it really flew over chop then), had a '2nd gear' that was super fast, almost slalom board fast, turned super easy and quick, responsive to foot steering, and liked jumping, love the super comfy pads also, board felt solid and was never an issue with control even in the big gusts....didn't really get to try it on waves.

for blasting in choppy waters could certainly recommend it.

The board is listed as 96, but didn't feel that big, felt more like a 85ltr, but I seemed to be the first to plane everytime on the water and was flying past everyone else, and stayed on the plane in lulls when others on more trad wave set ups were off..., used a standard 24cm MFC wave/freeride fin.

Was paired with 2014 Ezzy Tiger 5m and 5.7 Ezzy elite, both were beautiful sails, crank the downhaul and they were both ridiculously stable and easy to control, the tiger(5 bat) twists open more than the elite (4 bat), possibly the better for high wind control,, test pilot is around 84kg.

Great board and sails, both would suit sailing off the open Perth Beaches I'm sure, I'm told also the 3s is great in small/med waves and rides well....certainly plenty of people in Maui have been and are riding them in the waves breaks off Kanaha beach in Maui.

^Have to disagree there J, An 80 kg does NOT WANT to be on a board 95-100litres in 25k open ocean. 85l-90 litres gives you 58-59cm wide, that is the secret to having a great sail as opposed to the "close to out of control" feeling.