After watching haircut and swoosh play on their freestyle boards on the weekend, I had a flippin' epiphany and realised that was the board for me.
A quick bit of research, a few chats on the phone, and I was convinced.
Since I bought a wave board on the weekend, I decided to finish splitting the Freestyle Wave into a Freestyle and a Wave.
Haven't bought much gear for too many years, so I figured it was time.
A quick trade later, and I'm holding a nice new board, and grinning like a fat tiger.
Raced down to Shearwater to try it out, and despite there being almost no wind, managed to get plaing and crack a gybe. Why did I not have one of these years ago ? I guess I got put off by dramatic images of outrageous tricks.
Did I mention that I love this new board ??
noice mayte
did u happen to get the wood one from surf fx? it is so light for wood sandwich model. would be a good buy
i too am surprised people don't buy them for blazing around instead of a "freeride" board or "bump and jump". if u put a bigger fin in it, it's just as good as a board designed for those who like to cut the grass. maybe not as quick as a slalom or speed board, but more versatile
Yeah cant wait to get mine (:
Hey got any tips on sailing backwinded haircut?
I got flattened from atleast half of me attempts 2day...
with hands in normal sailing position, put most pressure against the sail with front arm, and just use the back hand to trim it. if you are doing it right you can virtually apply all the necessary back hand pressure with one finger in about 15 knots. don't be scared to commit some weight and lay the sail down into the wind
p.s. if the sail looks like falling onto the water, take your hands off the boom and grab the lower mast/foot of sail and most of the time the wind will push it back up
omg that explains everythign, i couldnt understand why i wasnt being flattened clue first.
Once youve steered into the wind, and thrown the rig+body weight forward, and the sail becomes backwinded, do you then slowly rake it back to a normal state of sailing?
As a couple of times when i wasnt flattened i actually started sailing backwards..
yeah you'll find a balance between tilting the sail forward or backward like with normal sailing off the plane but it doesn't take much tilting, and will most likely feel best with the sail further to the back than normal off plane sailing
front foot just in front of mast base, and back foot right between front and back straps or sometimes just behind front straps works for me
and omg, while i was attempting and failing the "sailing backwinded"
i also discovered a rig 360 kinda thing, which i accidently caught onto by over throwing the rig forward.
But looking at guy cribb i was actually almost doing heli-tacks. i just needed to boomshaka and let the rig flip.
Hopefully 2moro will be a forgiving day :D
viva la freestyle!
got to agree, they are so much better for freeride than a freeride board.
if you look at the wanderers, most of the members use freestyle boards in the lighter winds.
why people think freestyle boards are only made for doing spins on is way beyond me, most probably because they haven't sailed one. 
....problem for me was no holes for outboard footstraps for blasting with bigger slalom fins
when i said big fin i didn't mean that big a fin 
- probably 30cm max with a 6.5m
it's never going to replace a board used by folk who are use to using a fin as long as their board is wide.
i find myself using it for everything everywhere and rarely bother with a waveboard as its well behaved from 13 - 30 knots and they don't feel like big boards considering their volume
p.s.
For those folks who have the mindset that they must have a big fin - try a smaller fin (23-25cm with a 6m sail) and persevere with it for a while, you'll begin to realise that it's possible to sail with a small fin and gain all the small fin advantages like maneuverability, jumping, not whinging that it's low tide at wello and having to walk out 500m, no more nicks in your fins from hitting the bottom etc - it just takes some time to get used to changing weight distribution and being aware that you can't poo-stance like you did on your slalom kit, or put every bit of body weight on the fin to go upwind
willaus is a perfect example - probably one of the heaviest blokes (he says +100kg ...am i allowed to make that public?) using virtually same size fin/board/sail as what I use at only 70kg and planes almost as early and can do the tricks
100% agree'd with haircut here.
i've gone from a 92L freestyle wave with a 27cm fin, to a 99L board with a 23cm fin (which is not just shorter but also has less chord) both with a 5.9m sail.
haven't lost any upwind ability, actually probably gained some in light winds because i can now get planing a bit earlier.
p.s. wello still sucks at low tide 
Good comments on fin size.
I think the one I used yesterday is about 28, quite upright, but with a nice sweep.
I have never sailed Shearwater before, and the tide had gone out a lot by then and I was worried about smashing a nice new fin on an unknown bottom, so I went with the old fin. I've done that before and it's a real bummer.
It's a proven performer for me, and I never gybed better with any other.
I will use the stock fin as soon as I get a chance.
I agree it is good to be light on your feet and let the rig do the driving.
I admit that after a 5 year lay-off, my technique has been a bit ordinary, but it's starting to come around and I'll surely be working on it now with these new boards.
I always loved my Delta thruster too, wiht small fins. It does not have the same positive feel in the water as a big single fin, but it cranks upwind and responds well to a light touch.
I'm feeling very motivated to get on the water and start working on stuff, let me tell you.
i've been using a 32cm with 6.4m sail in light winds and get planing very early. also found a short wide 25cm freestyle fin gives plenty of lift for the 6.4 as well. but we are talking 12 knot wind range, as soon as the wind is 15 knots there is penty of drive.
i agree that the double strap option would improve the general blasting feel on freestyle boards but only really feel that way when wanting powered upwind sailing. off the wind there doesn't seem to be much difference. also only think that it is applicable on boards over 110lt.
on the smaller circa 100lt freestyle boards a single strap is plenty.
You mean its just your board Haircut ???? I thought you had magical planing powers !!
852 Helitack attempts
851 Failed attempts
1 Succesfull HELITACK
Woohoo, i quit while i was ahead :P
How good do the Jp's jibe! very nice can't wait to get some wind to give it a real go.
^ This. My other board is a Starboard Carve and it is maybe twice as hard to gybe as my JP FreeStyleWave of the same vintage.
Boards: Hmmm... maybe I want a Freestyle around the 95-100 range, and a twin/quad around the 85 litre range? and 3 sails (one being a storm sail). I'm 75-80kg and intermediate.
Fins: I was running my 6.2 Alpha with a 27cm fin the other day, I think I could go 25cm without noticing any difference. The mast was all the way forward. Am I right in thinking you can get away with a smaller fin on a narrower board because you can far more easily use the rail? I'm an ex-bodyboarder where fins are very, very useful, but almost optional.
There are a few spots on the broadwater I'd like to try, like Hollywell on a NE, but they are so shallow. Quads and twins might open up some new sailing spots. At 16cm draft you've actually got more sailing area than the kites because you don't have to worry about trees.
Days like today I feel like going into Surf FX and buying gear to make me feel better. (Don't lick your lips if I walk in today, just getting a bodyboard for son Greeny )
See you all when it's windy next. I'm off to Adelaide mon-fri for six months. Hopefully get some sailing in after work 
thats my combo.
99L freestyle board mistral joker rd 99L
84L wave board jp twinser pro ed 84L
+ rarely used 75L fanatic newwave for when its crazy windy (not really worth selling unless i get a good price)
sails in 4.5m (storms),5.3m (windy days),5.9m (everyotherday)
don't think you need anything bigger then a 6m if you got a 100L freestyle board, i'll probably be downsizing my 5.9 to a 5.7 next season.
jp fsw gybes okay, but i find it struggles to carry speed through gybes anywhere near as well as my freestyle board. carves i thought were meant to gybe well.
I'm a bit back-foot heacy, so I like the 31 cm fin I am using at present. I'll try teh stock 24 on windier days.
Swoosh, I really need a 6.2. At 82kg on a good day, I spent 3 seasons down here sitting on the beach watching, cos I only had a 5.7 wave sail. Gettint teh 6.2 made all teh difference to me this year, realyl put the smile back on my face.
I went for the 92 L quad cos, (a) that's what they had, (b) it's just not windy enough down here to regularly use a smaller board.
I still have my old Delta thruster, about 75-80L, for forays to windier climes or the odd hell-windy day. You should have a blast on that sometime, and I have a Windtech 8.8 downwind slalom board too, built for the Ledge to Lancelin race, which is a real hoot to sail. Anyone who bumps into me at the beach can have a blast on those any time.
Good luck in Adelaide, EP, lotsa wind down there in winter.
