Large wavesailing boards- old Aero 117?

Hi
So much time in lockdown makes mind work.

I'm thinking of buying a big waveboard for 12-17 knots with a sail not bigger than 5,6 m2. Besides, as my spot is full of surfers in summer, I have to sail to a peak non reachable by road. Though I only weight 70 kg, I'm thinking on increasing the size of the board to around 115 litres, so that I wouldn't need a sail bigger than 5,6m2. I will have to get upwind to go and downwind to come back.

I think the best option is a 115 l freewave, width can be from 65 cm to 71 cm, depending on the model. A wider board is better to come back shlogging, uphaul and get upwind, but could it be too wide to get speed at the wave face? My experience with 73 cm wide SUP wavesailing is that the board goes too slow down the wave.

There are lots of 66 cm wide 115 l freewave boards such as fanatic, JP, Goya, Tabou, etc. However, I saw an old board Starboard Aero 117 which is 71 cm wide and very manoeuvrable. Could someone give any experience/opinion about this model or others and the issue of the width/speed?

Thks.

I had an old Starboard Aero 117 back in the day. From memory it wasn't a great planing board. I ended up trying pretty massive fins to get it to plane more easily but it didn't help much. I weighed about 80 kg in those days. I wasn't much of a wave rider back then so can't comment on that aspect of them.

If you have to go a long way upwind then you might be better off with one of the more modern multi fin FSW boards. 115 L might be too big for wave riding at 70 kg, can you demo first?

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philn said..
I had an old Starboard Aero 117 back in the day. From memory it wasn't a great planing board. I ended up trying pretty massive fins to get it to plane more easily but it didn't help much. I weighed about 80 kg in those days. I wasn't much of a wave rider back then so can't comment on that aspect of them.

If you have to go a long way upwind then you might be better off with one of the more modern multi fin FSW boards. 115 L might be too big for wave riding at 70 kg, can you demo first?

Thanks. No, I can't demo it first.

Maybe you Don t need to go that big since you are pretty light. 100l would already be very big but maybe more manoeuvrable and easier to sell if you find out wavesailing in superlightwind with big sail does t work for you on your spot...

I m 5kg heavier and I also wonder sometime if a bigger board than my 85l would be interesting for the very light side off summerdays...
Would be interesting to test for sure

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Nicko29 said..
Maybe you Don t need to go that big since you are pretty light. 100l would already be very big but maybe more manoeuvrable and easier to sell if you find out wavesailing in superlightwind with big sail does t work for you on your spot...

I m 5kg heavier and I also wonder sometime if a bigger board than my 85l would be interesting for the very light side off summerdays...
Would be interesting to test for sure

I agree.

As a big guy I ride 100L and 112L waveboards. I give them to light guys to use on very light days and they struggle to get the rail to bury in a bottom turn. Too corky.

So if you want to really ride waves, its going to be really way too big. If you need to get upwind and just want to plane up there and then jump a bit, it is fine I guess.

Can you get to the beach at your other break?

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Grantmac said..
I'm 86-88kg plus quite a lot of wetsuit (Canada).

My Kombat is newer than the Aero and I didn't pay much for it. The construction is just okay, so I would make sure you really look it over well.
The fin box is too far back to work well in waves. They came with two fins from the factory an upright and a forward set swept one. Mine is missing the forward set fin and I think it would turn much better if I had it. I use an older 21cm wave fin, finding wave fins in tuttle box is difficult. I might try adapting something.
The other option is adding thrusters, which is complicated by my board having cut-outs. I haven't figured out where I'm going to put them.

It's actually a very versatile board; I've ridden it like a freerace with an upright fin, outboard straps and a 7.5m cammed sail.
Just don't expect it to bottom turn in the straps, you have to move the back foot like a SUP.
I'm going to experiment with fins and also offsetting the rear strap to see if I can make it work better in waves. We have some excellent light wind wavesailing and I'm simply too clumsy to slog and ride my regular wave boards.

If you can uphaul a 66cm wide board then I would go that direction. There are a bunch that come to mind. I can just barely manage a board that width but only if there is a decent period between swell without much chop.

Hi Grantmac

It's very interesting the point you mention about turning a wide tail board as a SUP, pressing on the leeward rail without rear footstrap. Maybe I could take away the rear footstrap in a very wide waveboard. The big wave boards have thinned tail to surf easier with the rear footstrap, the sups don't have footstraps. The tail of my sup is wider than the big waveboard's one, but my sup's tail has less volume.

In my case I will use the board to get upwind first in very light winds to arrive to the peak, then surf the waves, and when the wind drops come back shlogging easily. A lot of requirements for a single board. I usually use 80 litres boards in 18-30 knots, but I think in this case a bigger board would help me. I must admit I love the easiness of a wide sup to shlog.

I have discarded all the freewave or wave boards which are very loose but with little upwind performance (black box, reactor, goya quad, etc..)

I also could use an smaller board with bigger fins to get upwind, but though I prefer the big board with smaller fins to surf in light winds, I'm not sure about the following two points, between smaller board (100 litres) with bigger fins and bigger board (115 litres) with smaller fins:
- Which board would get upwind better. The wider with smaller fin or the narrower with the bigger fin
- Which board would surf better.The wider with smaller fin or the narrower with the bigger fin

I appreciate your opinions.

Thanks.

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Grantmac said..

Mucel said..

Grantmac said..
Can you get to the beach at your other break?

For the moment, here is cold, 7?C and some lockdown conditions, so few chances to sail. The board I'm asking you about is for spring-summer

I mean can you physically sail into shore once you get there or is it not accessible by sea either?

I can sail into shore there

I tried the Tabou 3S freewave board which was 116 ltrs. I loved the board but when I started getting more into actual waves, I decided to go full wave board. If wave sailing is the priority for you, I'd stick with a Wave board over 114 ltrs. I know not many manufacturers make them but there are some dedicated Wave board alternatives that from my experience would serve you better on waves than a Free Wave board.

DC

I'd throw in the Goya One 116 too.

Definitely consider the two fin option. Takes just a moment to swap and you can run a pretty huge one just to get upwind in the beginning.
On my 122 Kombat the 32cm pointer goes upwind far better than my 20cm wave fin but sucks on the wave.

Hi, finaly I found an exocet wave 111 and a Starboard ultrakode 105 2017 (ultracore technology) at an affordable price. Both are stable waveboards kind, not freewave ones.

I think I will go for the ultrakode, as I've realised that for my light weight I don't need so much volume but a wide board like the ultrakode for a balanced float and ride and easy uphauling. I hope it will surf better than any freewave board. Besides, the ultrakode has a usbox fin track and in case it doesn't turn as tight as I want, I can put it in twin mode too.

Hi
I've sailed with the ultrakode 105 and I confirm I can turn tight it on the wave with my 69 kg and thruster mode with 21 cm central fin. Stable board and turny at the same time.
Rgds