Has anybody sailed one of these boards?
Apparently a few have been brought into Oz over the years, would be very interested in trying/
buying one.....
Thanks
From the limited sailing I've done on one, pretty much as you'd expect. Outstandingly quick upwind in light stuff. Very slow to turn. Extremely hard to handle downwind in planing conditions.
To be honest I think the design is too specialised. It's very much like an early Division 2 board but with a fixed centreboard, no fin and a narrow extension to the tail. However, D2s of that shape (like the Eliminator Mk 1) were only competitive up till about 8 knots of wind, even by the early '80s. Later D2s had fully retracting centreboards and mast tracks and would plane (fairly slowly) under reasonable control. Division 2 boards also allowed you to rake the centreboard to stop the board from railing too much, which isn't an option on the Serenity. You can get a D2 board around the track in any sort of winds, whereas it would be really, really hard to sail a Serenity home downwind if you got stuck out in a big breeze - and I mean "really really hard" from the point of view of someone who spent years relishing D2s downwind in a breeze.
Great fun in the right winds, but if you're after a light wind longboard a Division 2 board is better in just about every way IMHO - its strong points are very similar to that of the Serenity and it's much more versatile.
Thanks for that Chris. I gather from reading reviews it is a very specialised board, but I guess that is what I am after. There must be somebody in WA with one.