I don't know of a 130+ltr wave board and I don't know why you'd want one. You could get an Evo at 100ltrs, a RRD Twin at 99ltrs, an Exocet Exo-Wave at 105ltrs and I think OES does a 120ltr. Some Northern Beaches guys in Sydney have large custom wave boards for the super light winds.

As for your other question - I would assume the Freestyle Waves have covered off exactly what you're talking about.

You looking for a light wind or fat boys waveboard?

nosinkanow said...
Just trying to get a heads up at the moment, but both light wind and FB waveboard, I'm 100kg.

I am a "little bit" heavier than that and have so far used a 100 liter Evo which actually floated me for some strange reason. At the moment changing over to a new board so put the Evo up for sale (insert shameless self promo here)... ad is here: www.seabreeze.com.au/Classifieds/Windsurfing/Boards/~rgq35/2008-Starboard-Evo-100-Xtv-Xl-Technora-237-cm-100-litres.aspx

I looked at the Kona option as well but decided it wasn't for me. To small a range and too expensive. Your other option could be a 115L / 105L Freewave/ FreestyleWave board. The main problem with those is that they are more Freeride rather than wave board in those sizes.

Overall you'll find that the higher volume wave board segment is only just now emerging... I have been raving at people for years that it's an overlooked segment in the market.

Shameless self plug.. I've got a 2002 105ltres Hifly freestyle wave going cheap..

edit that last post, SBC I found about it sorry, too scary for me just yet. Good luck on selling though.....

Crash Landing said...
My concern with the FSW option is that they are exactly what they say they are - not 100% pure waveboards. I did have a 100ltr RRD FSW which was great until you really wanted to crank a bottom turn.

I think there is a 100 liter cut off... It seems most manufacturers are scared of releasing a 100L+ board with wave characteristics. They probably feel there is too small a market for this type of board.

You should have a go on the 105 JP FSW though. I think that board is more wave than Freeride... not proper Wave but will work in small waves.

stehsegler said...

I looked at the Kona option as well but decided it wasn't for me. To small a range and too expensive.

If I can make a comment here, these boards, now called longboards under the Exocet range, do not retail more than 'standard' wave boards at $2,499 for the larger one (and this is not including a pre-order discount ):

Minitanker:
www.exocet-original.com/

Wave 9'5:
www.exocet-original.com/products/wave9_5.asp

Wave 10'5:
www.exocet-original.com/products/wave10_5.asp

Wave 11'5:
www.exocet-original.com/products/wave11_5.asp

The other option is the Exocet 3X which is the light wind wave board out of the U-Surf and X-Wave. The 96 is quite buoyant.

Cheers,
Remi

Mark _australia said...
Dunno about the latest, but up til 2010 in the magazien tests the JP was always rated the most freeridey of all the FSW's and the RRD a lot looser and more like a fast planing wave board.
They are very back footed though and none are good for proper DTL wave stuff

I had an 09 JP FSW, gotta agree with this 100%... the board was useless on a wave. I'd take my skate on a wave before i'd go anywhere near one with a JP FSW.

From what I've seen of some locals here, the bigger fanatic freewaves seem popular as a lightwind wave board and are probably among the waviest of the FSW's out there.

like this

I think Exocet are the best boards on the market you can buy, i had a quick ride of one a few week ends ago. It felt so stable in the really gusty wind and it was only a 106 litre.

Now I'm really confused, what happened to the round about calculation's I learnt from this forum about a year ago of 1kg = 1 litre of volume? Therefore including rig I should be looking at a minimum of around 115-120 litres? Besides, my next board has to be multipurpose just like my old f'glass board was but with plenty of float this time around.

One thing I can tell you I'm still a long way from drawing any squiggles on a wave face! Sheesh end of last summer was my first venture in 20 years to sail the surf and it was a disaster and that was in 2' waves on a Kona One! It's been too long between drinks and I don't care if my next board is not the perfect wave tool as I'm not having any pretenses of carving over 3' waves for a long while still. I just want to get out there on something a little less bouyant than a KO, turns well and planes quick.

However, the idea of longboard wavesailing is still very appealing, once I get back in the surf I know I'll want to jump it (loved it back then) when the wind comes up and this is not the longboard's fortè especially in flat landings, something I seemed to do a lot of back then but my board could take it so I didn't care.

Exocet (thanks Remi) seem to have added some new and interesting wave longboards from what I researched a while back. Ideal as they are, $2500 or even half that is still way over my head. I don't want to pay lots of money for something that I know I'll smash to bits in my first year back in the surf! Pity these boards didn't exist 5 or more years ago otherwise they'll be plentiful in the used market and at my budget.

Anyway I'm only tyre kicking at the moment, at least this exercise has targetted certain models that could be suitable for future consideration. I'm not convinced sub and a little over 120 litres is going to be enough at this stage of my sailing. I need a board that gives me a wider wind range, hence me thinking around the 130-145 litre class. Once I get sick of it I'll go smaller and who knows when that will be.

I think I'm making sense.

Thanks for your feedback peoples, it's good info.

nosinkanow said...

Now I'm really confused, what happened to the round about calculation's I learnt from this forum about a year ago of 1kg = 1 litre of volume? Therefore including rig I should be looking at a minimum of around 115-120 litres? Besides, my next board has to be multipurpose just like my old f'glass board was but with plenty of float this time around.

One thing I can tell you I'm still a long way from drawing any squiggles on a wave face! Sheesh end of last summer was my first venture in 20 years to sail the surf and it was a disaster and that was in 2' waves on a Kona One! It's been too long between drinks and I don't care if my next board is not the perfect wave tool as I'm not having any pretenses of carving over 3' waves for a long while still. I just want to get out there on something a little less bouyant than a KO, turns well and planes quick.

However, the idea of longboard wavesailing is still very appealing, once I get back in the surf I know I'll want to jump it (loved it back then) when the wind comes up and this is not the longboard's fortè especially in flat landings, something I seemed to do a lot of back then but my board could take it so I didn't care.

Exocet (thanks Remi) seem to have added some new and interesting wave longboards from what I researched a while back. Ideal as they are, $2500 or even half that is still way over my head. I don't want to pay lots of money for something that I know I'll smash to bits in my first year back in the surf! Pity these boards didn't exist 5 or more years ago otherwise they'll be plentiful in the used market and at my budget.

Anyway I'm only tyre kicking at the moment, at least this exercise has targetted certain models that could be suitable for future consideration. I'm not convinced sub and a little over 120 litres is going to be enough at this stage of my sailing. I need a board that gives me a wider wind range, hence me thinking around the 130-145 litre class. Once I get sick of it I'll go smaller and who knows when that will be.

I think I'm making sense.

Thanks for your feedback peoples, it's good info.

Ok Im not into waves but im so glad I went the bigger size rather than recommended small when I bought my 125 rocket rather than the 115. Even at that size its wobbly in 5kts but at least it gets me out there..Maybe if we got consistent decent wind it would be different but in the season we had last year I would have only got out about 3 x with a smaller one.

Crash Landing said...
As you said the general rule of thumb is 1kg = 1ltr then add 10% for the rig. So you'd need a 110ltr just to float you - let alone be stable.

I think the 1kg = 1ltr only apply to when you are sailing in fresh water. Salt water has a higher density therefore provides more floatation. I can't remember the exact ratio for that but seem to remember it being somewhere around 5 to 10%.

Crash Landing said...


Great post - it amazes me how many people try to go smaller and smaller but then end up having a bad days sailing. They might have the perfect board for that one time the wind gusts and the wave of the day comes through but for the rest of the session they're bogging.

I remember at a beach last summer someone saw my 105ltr and said "that's not a waveboard". I then went out and scored loads of waves whilst he spent most of the day up to his knees in water.

Back in the late '80s we were convinced you had to have a sinker to do anything on waves or look serious. As the sport quickly headed to high wind performance many felt floaters didn't cut it which wasn't proven, we just thought it was coz the Hawaiian's used shorter boards and ripped (we were also blind to the fact NSW didn't have Maui or WA winds). And perhaps more so the floaters were marketed as "beginner's/intermediate boards" bad move. What a bunch of wind snobs we were and we paid for it by sitting on the beach in sub 17 knots. I could only sail when the water was well and truly whitecapping. That was a lot of lost sailing days! I don't want to make the same mistake with my next board!

Having said all that, I am a lazy sailor - meaning I'd rather have an easy time and maximum fun than use the smallest and most maneuverable board possible.

I agree, max fun = more volume. I've learnt from the past. It was also what killed my enthusiasm back then, after a while I just got sick of waiting for wind. In hindsight, if I went for more volume in the last board I might not have allowed myself to get distracted away from the sport so easily at the end.

Long boards are fun - I used to use a SUP and it was excellent, but it was only really good in backside riding. It was painful trying to get the thing going well in DTL.

Really? How was it "painful", it wouldn't bottom turn etc. in cross shore? Are you saying on-shore was the best winds for it? Hmmm I thought they were more versatile than that and everything was just done slower and wider DTL?

KenHo said...

If you want to ride in waves, as opposed to riding waves, then a FSW works fine, and they are great boards for getting back into the zone.
I used a JP FSW for this, and it worked very well. No, not a great wave board, but definitely a great board for getting out there and bashing through onshore slop.
It's a forum, where everyone's pecs are buff, all the SO's have a perfect rack and everyone carves mast high glass on a regular basis.

Errr, what's an "SO"? I want to do both just like I used to, jump on the way out/in or ride on the way in and if it's really crappy waves blast out the back. This time around I want to put more attention to small wave riding especially on a floatier board in lighter air. All I need is a board to have wave riding pretensions at this stage.

Which leads to, I read up last night the FSW styles, I think this is what evolved from my old wave/slalom board but quicker on the plane which I like. I think this style might be better than a Freeride for me. I'm putting this style high on my wish list. Thanks KenHo.

BTW, where does a JP X-Cite ride fit into the picture?

I've got a massive 130ish light wind custom wave board, built like the proverbial brick sh house.

I have seriously lost count of the number of awesome days I've had on that thing when it's too light for everyone else...

Corros, Spot X, Gnaraloo, the list goes on, I'll be the only one out there having a ball, everyone else is sulking on the beach.


Go for it!!!