dear All,
I am living in Saudi Arabia and trying to find out what to buy as slalom gear for the next couple of years as the first shop is about 3000 km away. I plan to go and bring it back.
I sails by 15-25 kn wind and with quite flat water. I weight 85kg for 1.80 m and my equipment is the following: firerace rrd 112L with 2 gaastra phantom 7.1 and 7.8m2. fins are cane fire vector carbon 37 and 42 cm.
So far I am stuck with 27-28 kn max speed, and as I cannot do much downwind runs due to the limitation of the place, I believe I could slightly increase the speed by choosing a thinner board such as a falcon 100 L / isonic 97L or rrd firerace 98L and a smaller fin such as caspar select 33 and 31 cm (just for the speed).
I have seen a 89L falcon for sale (quite cheap), but I am afraid it would be too small for my weight, and I do not plan to lose 10 kilos more.
Also I am quite happy with the phantom sails (I can always go for more race oriented sails in 2-3 years) but I find the firerace quite limited above 17-18 kn.
So i would like to know your experience with the boards I mentioned above (isonic 97L, falcon 100L or firerace 98L) and which fins you would go for if to use 7.1 / 7.8 gaastra phantom sails with quite flat water
thanks a lot in advance,
Erwan
Select to expand quoteerwanksa said..
dear All,
I am living in Saudi Arabia and trying to find out what to buy as slalom gear for the next couple of years as the first shop is about 3000 km away. I plan to go and bring it back.
I sails by 15-25 kn wind and with quite flat water. I weight 85kg for 1.80 m and my equipment is the following: firerace rrd 112L with 2 gaastra phantom 7.1 and 7.8m2. fins are cane fire vector carbon 37 and 42 cm.
So far I am stuck with 27-28 kn max speed, and as I cannot do much downwind runs due to the limitation of the place, I believe I could slightly increase the speed by choosing a thinner board such as a falcon 100 L / isonic 97L or rrd firerace 98L and a smaller fin such as caspar select 33 and 31 cm (just for the speed).
I have seen a 89L falcon for sale (quite cheap), but I am afraid it would be too small for my weight, and I do not plan to lose 10 kilos more.
Also I am quite happy with the phantom sails (I can always go for more race oriented sails in 2-3 years) but I find the firerace quite limited above 17-18 kn.
So i would like to know your experience with the boards I mentioned above (isonic 97L, falcon 100L or firerace 98L) and which fins you would go for if to use 7.1 / 7.8 gaastra phantom sails with quite flat water
thanks a lot in advance,
Erwan
Erwan, I reckon you've got the right gear already. Just keep practicing 
Select to expand quoteerwanksa said..
dear All,
I am living in Saudi Arabia and trying to find out what to buy as slalom gear for the next couple of years as the first shop is about 3000 km away. I plan to go and bring it back.
I sails by 15-25 kn wind and with quite flat water. I weight 85kg for 1.80 m and my equipment is the following: firerace rrd 112L with 2 gaastra phantom 7.1 and 7.8m2. fins are cane fire vector carbon 37 and 42 cm.
So far I am stuck with 27-28 kn max speed, and as I cannot do much downwind runs due to the limitation of the place, I believe I could slightly increase the speed by choosing a thinner board such as a falcon 100 L / isonic 97L or rrd firerace 98L and a smaller fin such as caspar select 33 and 31 cm (just for the speed).
I have seen a 89L falcon for sale (quite cheap), but I am afraid it would be too small for my weight, and I do not plan to lose 10 kilos more.
Also I am quite happy with the phantom sails (I can always go for more race oriented sails in 2-3 years) but I find the firerace quite limited above 17-18 kn.
So i would like to know your experience with the boards I mentioned above (isonic 97L, falcon 100L or firerace 98L) and which fins you would go for if to use 7.1 / 7.8 gaastra phantom sails with quite flat water
thanks a lot in advance,
Erwan
In terms of the small board situation Peter Slate (North Sails & Fanatic tester), he weights 80-85kg and his smallest board is a 89L. He uses it as soon as he can with a 7.0 and a Meanline SX-Phantom33.I think if you wanted one board the Isonic 97 would be best, sick boards and take 6.3-7.8 easily. In terms of fins for each of the boards you mention I would reccomend a Meanline 35 (7.1) & 37 (7.8) Phantom.
Hi Erwan,
I'm envious i was working in Saudi 3 years ago, and got to do a lot of sailing in Dubai. I have tried differing brands but for me Carbon Art SL are what i have stuck with, fast and easy to sail. I know you can bye gear in Dubai and its not that expensive.
Good sailing 
thank you all for your response,
well I have broken the gaastra mast 75% last week, therefore I need to replace it. There is not much in Dubai (99% kitesurf) in terms of windsurf gear: I haven't found a single shop yet only rental places. So yes the next shop is either in germany and lufthansa is one of the few airlines around that allow to transport windsurf gear. So I have decided to buy a few mast 4.60m (maybe another 7.8 or even 8.5 phantom, the equpment suffers from the temperature and uv here) and to also give a chance to go out with less volume. So i found the isonic in germany near frankfurt that would be a perfect match for my needs and my logistic. Another possibility is to look in France, get the stuff shipped to a friends place near paris and pick up the gear and come back to the sun.
Life is very good in Saudi Arabia (sunny, a bit windy and 28-40 C in the water), but some gears are just not here. Nothing is perfect but we try to make the best of it.
cheers
Select to expand quoteerwanksa said..
thank you all for your response,
well I have broken the gaastra mast 75% last week, therefore I need to replace it. There is not much in Dubai (99% kitesurf) in terms of windsurf gear: I haven't found a single shop yet only rental places. So yes the next shop is either in germany and lufthansa is one of the few airlines around that allow to transport windsurf gear. So I have decided to buy a few mast 4.60m (maybe another 7.8 or even 8.5 phantom, the equpment suffers from the temperature and uv here) and to also give a chance to go out with less volume. So i found the isonic in germany near frankfurt that would be a perfect match for my needs and my logistic. Another possibility is to look in France, get the stuff shipped to a friends place near paris and pick up the gear and come back to the sun.
Life is very good in Saudi Arabia (sunny, a bit windy and 28-40 C in the water), but some gears are just not here. Nothing is perfect but we try to make the best of it.
cheers
I had a 2013 Gaastra phantom 7.8 and I was using it on the 75% 460 mast and the mast broke on the 8th time out. The retailer replaced the mast and the replacement mast broke on the second time out, about 2 minutes after leaving the shore. The sail was very heavily damaged and I never bothered repairing the sail or pursuing another warranty because why bother, 2 broken masts is enough for me. I replaced the sail with a Severne NCX and have had no problems whatsoever and it's a much better sail as well. I love Gaastra's wave, crossover and no cam freerace sails, I own all 3 and they are great. I do not love Gaastra's cambered sails. They have brought me nothing but grief.
Your setup isn't the problem if you ask me. Speeds up to 32 kn should be easily possible with the right trim and bearing of on a broader course. I think in the right conditions, rider skill, trim etc. your setup can do around 35 to 36 kn top speed.
