hi
I'm looking for a bigger wave board and would like some input from others.
I 90 kg (all muscle ofcourse) and i currently sail a 80l exocet which works fine when its windy. However, in sub 20 knots its just not floaty enough.
I was thinking that I should go for a 90l or maybe even a 95l board but still not sure of how big to go.
any hints or tips would be appreciated
cheers Hooksey
Hooksey I can sympathise as a heavyweigth!
depends where you sail? Onshore Perth stuff mostly or top quality DTL like Esperance and G'loo?
If Perth, a FSW will be very good as they not only float you, they plane up earlier. Even the loosest ones though will p!ss you off no end at a real nice riding location.
A real proper DTL board (not FSW) in the 90L range has a few good choices but once you are up to 100L there is not many at all.
I have a 90L Quatro for sale hell cheap at SOS 
but it is DTL only - really loose and not an early planer
get on a NUDE do it
pm us if you're keen
a 90/95 litre twinsingle or........ options are endless do it!
Hooksey the best option is to go custom. To avoid the ever present red flags on this site feel free to message me if interested and I will let you know of two of the best.
Feel your pain as a heavy weight, but you can still get out there with the right gear.
not a wavesailor myself but agree,
when you are outside of the perfect weight class custom is the best solution.
I am 92kgs and always just used to have 90lt wave boards for east coast.
About 5 yrs ago I got a 100lt. What a huge difference those extra litres make when it comes to light wind days and big surf and getting over the white water.
You loose out a bit on the waves as they bounce a bit more but on a smaller board I probably would not have even made it out the back(beach break)!
I currently am using a 100lt Evo but am getting a Nude custom twin 100lt made up at the moment.
My small board is an 80lt ET.
There are not many production big wave boards and they are expensive.
rrd make 99lt twin, JP have a 92lt twin,Fanatic twin 92lt?, most are less than 90lt or are more freestyle/wave boards.
Last Jan at Margs there were plenty of big guys on 100+ lt boards ripping(Corey and others).
Go the extra 10lt above your weight, you will not regret it.
If you think its too big then drink more beer, problem fixed
Hooksey,
when you start pushing the 90kg plus finding a light wind wave board that rides like your hi wind one is difficult. Definately go at least 10L's more than your wieght for volume. Custom sounds a good option too, go an Evo style outline, I'm around 107 kgs and have a Kona Mini Tanker 120L which has a similar outline but with a big step tail. The MT goes well in clean cross to cross off but not suited to choppy conditions. Its easy to float over the white water and is great when the wind is light, its nearly 10kg but works well.
I have an Acid 94 (Pritchard mdl') for high wind which I love as it really feels like a scaled up DTL board for big guys, I would be interested to hear feedback on the 94 Kode with its multi footstrap setup, as it doesn't look like a DTL replacement for my Acid, the 100L Evo is discontinued and would of been a good option for the big guys.
MT...
Otherwise get a SUP and you can go out in just about anything, S'B' 12'6" below at Robe comp, there was another guy there too on a strapped S'B' 9'8" getting nice off the lips.
Hi Hooksey,
Im 90kg and sailing west coast SA which involves a lot of 15-20knot wind and decent swell, a custom board is the way to go, wavesailing in light wind will in volve shore punishing, therefore defintitely min 5 kg litres over your weight but more realisticly 10l, a twin or quad will help you point the board to where you want it to go on a wave once you are at 90-100l, a single fin will compromise your wavesailing technique at this size board. Suggest OES board 95TF or Quad, several ex demos going out now cheap
I disagree with twin and quad recommendations above.... in this case.
The guy says he wants more float, thats it. Now, twins and quads have many things going for them but there are also a few BS claims also. Just cos he is a heavyweight does not mean a twin or quad is better.
They may be looser, may go upwind better, blah blah, but why should a multi fin be better for a heavyweight?
If anything, a big board can feel corky on a wave so I don't think looseness and less ability to move the fin right back (for tracking) of a multi fin is necessarily a good thing.
Plus a big guy can put more pressure on the board at all points of a bottom and top turn so why not use a single?
Bjoern (as a big dude) could smash out a top turn on a single fin 10yrs ago better than most of us on seabreeze could do nowadays on a quad or twinny. So what has number of fins got to do with it?
I'd rather hear what conditions Hooksey wants to ride in first before eveyone says what to buy or says get a twin or quad or custom which just has to be better than factory shapes.
We should rename this post "fat b**tard wave sailing". I am also 90 ish kg and have been sailing a JP FSW102 litre and love it. It can handle from 18 - 28 knts. I have sailed fresher but it gets pretty "loose"
when in the air.... I was out of sailing for 12 + years so was a good all round board wave board to get back into it.
I will defintalty hang onto it as my light wind board and am currently looking for a 88-92L wave board.
Hooksey,
I'm weighing it about 93-95kgs so can also give some advice for the heavyweights. I agree with everyone here - I had an RRD FSW 100ltr which was excellent, but as Mark says, as soon as it was good DTL it just didn't work well enough. The RRD FSW from that year seemed to like to track nicely in a straight line - not ideal when trying to put in a good bottom turn.
I then changed that for an AHD Pitt 99ltr which was their "Euro Board" or on-shore board. That board was excellent, so much looser and made wavesailing a lot more enjoyable. The only thing with the AHD was I believe it was smaller than the stated 99ltr volume. It sailed more like a 92/93.
This was changed to my most recent board (I change when a great ex-demo board comes available which is not too frequent for 100ltr waveboards!) which is an Exocet Exo-Wave 105ltr! This thing is amazing, I can DTL with it, free-style and ride on-shore mush. It was one of the reasons that I massively improved my rankings in the NSW WA comp. It meant I actually scored many waves in a heat rather than sinking between the sets!
I totally recommend that you get a big wave board - I can now wavesail in 8 knots (and enjoy it) which means more time on the water!
Not so long ago when I was 92kg my main board was a 95 ish litre twin fin (custom) wave board at 60cm wide. In retrospect I could have even have used 62cm wide in a multifin board. I tried FSW shapes but for me the straight tail would not turn a tight arc in cross onshore conditions I was always doing big arcs to far out in front of the wave and pushing down too hard stalled the board. If you went production RRD and Quatro both have some nice bigger wave boards that turn well. If you go a twin make sure you use bigger than recommended fins!
have a chat with Pete Ross at OES. Agree with all the above- weight +10= perfect light winder. photo below is OES 95 Twin from a while back. most air reo shots are 70kg guys on 70L boards- this is a genuine fat guy reo on a fatboy board; they rip. I am 93kg. He's done some awesome looking 105 quads. personally i prefer twins down the line, but rode an OES 105xwave single in light down the line conditions on the weekend (usually use this board for onshores) and it ripped. his 90 twin (bottom turn shot below) is the best wave board i've ridden. I know euro GFC has hit his order book- give him a call he might do you a deal.
Yank style disclaimer; i do not own stock in OES, i do ride em and help Pete flog em in adelaide because i rate them. but i pay for my boards.
ps please see deciated sa thread to give me ** about my harness
Spotty,
Nice MiniTanker piccies. I've got one of these too and love the way they need so little wind to get going. A bit slow on the waves of course, but amazing grovelling capacity. I find it's a question of "Is the wind light enough for the MinTanker?", rather than "Is there enough wind to go sailing?"
I've had mine for about 3 years now, and I reckon it's a board you'll own forever as it just sits there waiting for the light wind, good wave conditions. While I find I don't use it as much as my short wave boards, there's enough of those light wind days, particularly at the beginning or end of the season to make me thankful for the MiniTanker.
Cheers, Jens
im pretty light >70kgs and have been riding a 93 JP wave single. have found that its a bit to big and as soon as its windy a struggle. but i cant believe how fast loose and nice it is to wave ride. seriously good board i think especially for ****ty wind wavesailing. i can up haul it easily! if you have been riding a 80litre a think 90 something would be fine.
Don't forget that he is 90kgs Hail,
Your light wind board is 20lt above your body weight yet you say he should go 90lt ish.
When its windy big guys can use well below their body weight but light wind is another story.
I can recomend the 104 freewave - this is with a 6.4 S2 (may it RIP) and it works a treat in light winds - every one I know that has them is pretty happy with their wave performance - a compromise but a good option for a 90kg.
Great spot Rob!! So not only have people been using this thread to get pictures of themselves up (including me), they're also pimping their buy and sell products.
Brilliant!
all the input is much appreciated. Ended up with a 95l Quatro single fin and cannot wait to get out to test it (it may be 5l too small but got a it for good price)
cheers Hooksey
good choice and i did not mention my board was for sale at all. just giving some advice!! from the equipment that i have tryed. if its not windy enough for a 90-100 litre board in waves get a bloody sup! i swear some people just like to stir ****t!
