I have a slightly out-of-the-box plan for slalom racing next season and was interested to hear some opinions. Two board choices, I want to choose just one:
1. 2012 iSonic 107 -- 107 liters, 68cm wide, 6.3kg
2. 2014 Exocet Cross 104 (carbon) -- 104 liters, 63cm wide, 6.7kg
Keeping it simple, let's say I had just a 7.0 twin cam (Severne Turbo) and good carbon race fin on each board (38cm on iSonic, TBD on Cross).
My goal is: reasonably competitive top speed and early planing without sacrificing what could be a huge advantage on jibes. We are talking about club-level racing here -- good competition, but this isn't the PWA. Last season I raced on the Cross, but with the crappy stock fin and a 6.8 wave sail. Sprint-style slalom, short courses and large (15-20+) fleets. The advantage at the marks with my setup was enormous, but the top speed, of course, was not adequate on the straightaways, and I had trouble maintaining or starting to plane in some holes.
So...after practicing with the iSonic recently, I am realizing that the jibe advantage (being able to go quick and SHARP turns to pass multiple people) will be totally lost. My question is, for short downwind reaches, will the top speed of the Cross be somewhat close to the iSonic? Early planing and getting through holes, same thing -- will the 2-cam sail be the difference maker here instead of the board? The width and weight of the boards is not THAT far off, although obviously rails on iSonic are sharper. For a pro I'm sure the difference would be remarkable, but would a club-level racer even be tapping into the full potential of the iSonic in my situation anyways?
I know the Cross will be slower speed and slower to plane, but by a massive, unacceptable amount?
I'd be leaning towards the isonic for its extra width, if possible try them both with the turbo/carbon fin, they'll both change the way everything behaves, the wave sail you were using wouldn't have glided through lulls too well at all compared to a cammed sail, nor would it have been too stable.
I have the Cross 104 carbon too. I normally sail with a 6.5 Ezzy camless freeride sail. Observations:
Magical gybing - it's the best gyber I have ever sailed. As you have already found it would be a huge advantage in the turns.
Excellent acceleration (in my opinion) which I really feel coming out of gybes.
Slower off the wind. I have been experimenting, but can't get close to off the wind performance of the guys at my local with racier setups. This could be down to my no-cam sails though. If you were using a two cam freeride you'd probably claw some of that off-wind performance back.
My take is to stick with it, add a two cam freeride sail and some good quality race fins. I haven't used the stock fin on mine, but prefer the black project type R fins (35 and 32.5 cm) I have which are easily available in power box. The Cross is an excellent board that flatters your sailing and will keep you turning while others are falling in.
I recently raced John N across the river (3kms) on my 2015 107 and John on his 2011 carbon Futura 111 litres In around 14-18 knots.
We were almost dead even both ways on our own boards but when we swapped our boards only,the difference was freaky.
Around 400-500m he beat me both ways and another 300 m higher upwind.
Believe he was sailing only a little faster on my Sonic though. The problem was I could not rail the windward rail of Futura up so I struggled to get upwind and hitting much,much more of the chop!
Off the wind---the difference between a slalom board and a de-tuned slalom board or old style narrow board will be very little provided you are powered up.
Across the wind the difference is clearly there. Upwind / tight reach the difference is huge.
I find the new gybe Sonic 107 gybes great ---- provided you MAINTAIN pressure on the rail when carving. If you do not maintain the pressure and let the leeward rail lift just a little,the board bounces badly and you will stall your gybe every time.
Select to expand quotepetermac33 said..
I find the new gybe Sonic 107 gybes great ---- provided you MAINTAIN pressure on the rail when carving. If you do not maintain the pressure and let the leeward rail lift just a little,the board bounces badly and you will stall your gybe every time.
Yes, I noticed this pretty quickly on the iSonic as well (I'm sure its the same on any big fat wide board like that). Not a problem when it's smooth water, but....many of the races we run have some choppy water around most/all of the marks, often real nasty. That's why I'm leaning towards squeezing as much as I can out of the Cross, since I can jibe that quickly in pretty much anything.
