hello all! now i have been sailin on/off 20 years and spent most of that cruisin, that was until 18 months ago when i got my first gps! no flash speeds have been clocked yet just 32kts mainly due (i hope ;) to my local haunt its an inland res which gets pretty choppy/gusty, over time i have built a quiver of NP RS slaloms an JP super x/sports,i have only been down a speed course a couple of times but this year thats changing! now my small kit is '04 82lr 57w 254l / NP RSS 5.8 now i want to upgrade the board to something speed like!
the heart says speed board! the brain says the logical progression is slalom, anyway i have been lookin around and stumbled across carbon art looked at their slalom range an jeez 55w @ 94lr!! the equivelant JP slalom is 70ltr so its useable at my local as well as a speed course, so does anyone know what the carbon art slaloms can do down a course? i dont expect to do 45kts but the holy grail is 40 is this acheivable? or do i take the plunge on a sp50?
any comments welcome p.s im aware of the possible ball ache of gettin it here, cheers
Go the sp 50 or 47. The volume is very well distributed allowing you to say above the water and they handle the chop really well. I ride the SP40 at the Pit and in chop.It nice to jybe and chop jump too.
for it. He only uses it for a bit of relaxing fun, and spends most days on the speed boards.
thanks for the replys! il send a message to CL, was fancy'n an sp50 wasnt really plannin to use it at the lake as other boards will do the job but the main benefit of goin for the slalom would be more 'time on the water' with it so when i did go for it down a speed course i would be comfortable/familiar on it, bearing in mind the lake is 25mins away works almost all directions nearest speed course (the ray) 1hr20 tide an direction dependant, thats really the dilema
Hi Alex,
Depending on your weight and if you are comfortable using a board that sinks when there is no wind, the SP44 would be the one to go for. I run it comfortably with 6.6m down to 4.4m. I've even used it with a 7.2m. It flies through lulls and is surprisingly easy to get going due to the relatively drawn-out rocker. In the past few months its been my most used board- we have been getting a lot of 18-25kt wind- perfect for 6.6m... Farrel O'shea set his Kirby PB on this board, and I've got most of my PBs on it (not much wind in the last year to really fire up the SP40 apart from one nice rain squall!). You would get a lot of use out of this board if you often sail powered up on 6.6m and 5.8m. It handles lake chop exceptionally well. It only starts to come unstuck in large swells (open ocean) with steep cross chop -ie very difficult conditions for any speed/slalom board. Gybing gets tricky in steep chop, but is easy peasy on flatter water and rolling swells.
The larger SP47 and SP50 are more suited to larger riders or as a board for really fast blasting in light-moderate or super gusty wind. They are a little bit harder to control on a proper speed course or really windy day (obviously). Having said that, Spotty (a bit of a mad gorilla 
) nudged my SP50 over 46kts last year.
If you want a more relaxed overall ride in heavier chop (ie waist high+ and steep) then the slalom boards are excellent. I use these when sailing in the ocean or doing slalom- they are excellent boards through the gybes, and upwind, with solid top-end. I usually find myself a few knots quicker in peak speed on the speed boards though.
There are quite a few other guys around here who have the boards so they could probably give you an independent comment. My guess is you would be stoked with the SP44 to complement your other boards...
hmm food for thought, pierre recomended the sp44/50 too, i think the speed board is the way forward...just which one? bearing in mind im coming from 'fast free-ride' to speed board concerned the sp44 might be too full on? erik lootz recomends the sp50 as an entry to a speed board, i weigh 85kg (before xmas! ;) the sp50 would rip the lake up nicely not the 44 just too gusty perhaps the sp47?
chirs, how much did ur gorilla pal weigh? when he hit mid 40's on the sp50?
the question is do i want a dedicated board for speed venues or go a bit bigger and use it at the lake as well...hmmm!
I have been sailing a JP 84L slalom II (from a JP FSW 91) and stepped on to Sam's CA44 for a single run the other day. Not as technical as I had imagined and got a PB 500m straight off the bat. Only problem I had was tailwalking a bit in the gusts but I am sure that was just trim. If you are serious about speed you need to go smaller. IMO
thanks lao, how much do you weigh? im around the 85kg an i think the sp47 might be a better bet for me
Eastcoast
I have an SP40 and have ridden the SP44. I think Spotty is around 105kg? Don't be worried about the SP44 it's really quite easy to ride. As Slowie said, if it's 18-25knots lake sailing it would be perfect - if speed is what you are really interested in. If you want a fast board for blasting AND tricky gybing AND large chop, go a small slalom and lose the 2-3 knots of max speed.
Happy sailing.
I weigh 75kg. But Slowboat is about 85kg and was storming around all day with his 6.6 while I was sailing the JP84 on the 5.8.
Hi there
I've been sailing the CA sl55 quite a bit as my smallest slalom board, next to the sl62 and sl70, and I can really recommend it is a high wind slalom board, i.e. on slalom course where speed and acceleration out of jibes as well as top speed are essential. I used it with TR4 6.6 and 5.5, this year I'll do TR5 6.6 and 5.9 (we rarely have so much wind that I need 5.5). I have sailed it with 7.0 too and it handles that size perfectly well too. In fact I think it could handle up to 7.5. But for that size on a slalom course you need a bigger 'platform', and then the sl62 is just too good :) (had my best slalom result this year on the sl62 & TR4 7.6)
I haven't sailed the CA speed boards (yet!) but there's no doubt that in terms of top end on a speed course (i.e. any stretch of straight and relatively flat water) they're faster. I'm getting the sp44 this year for some dedicated speed runs on 6.6 and 5.9 (and 5.1 if it get too hairy :o )
Cheers from Belgium (yesterday first sail of '09, 2°c!)
chris (bel29)
thanks everyone for their input plenty to think about, my friends talking to CA today on a double purchase x2 SP's a44 an still not decided for me but thinkin the 47 
