Looks great great Des enjoy

Good to see you can fit a 111 and a heiniken.

Spent a couple of hours on the board today in 10-20 knots. Felt much more comfortable 2nd time out. Got the stance much more balanced and comfortable, and board trim was much better. I feel I can now move the straps to the back position F&R.

I still felt I was pushing too hard on the back foot and on the verge of spinout at times (still on the 44cm fin & 7.8 RSS), also need to get the board a little higher/free on the water for more speed. While I certainly didn't set any GPS records I wasn't too far off the pace compared to other speeders on the water.

The board felt very safe charging down wind over the back of chop but not as free and unstuck as the AB+. The gybes are getting better and planing through was getting easier, I think the gybes will rip with more TOW.

Pumping up was still challenging, normally I pump hooked in but I needed to get more physical out of the harness lines. Just need to learn to get move back to the thicker part of the rear deck while pumping...almost got launched in the process.

Hopefully get it totally sorted tommorrow with a good NE'er forecast

Weight is w/o straps & fins.

The Falcon is a very different feel. I don't know much about design characteristics as such so my comparison is based on feel and the way the board trims.

With the falcon most of the volume is behind the mast, it has a wide chunky tail. It was quite challenging to tack for that reason. Also because of the concave bottom shape you couldn't push hard against the fin. The stance was front foot biased and you loaded the fin top down. It has a more direct feel, I'd say the rails are sharper further forward. The SB has a softer feel, but you can drive the tale / fin with more pressure
Gybing the falcon, the harder you stood on the tail rail the sharper the turn, with bite. The SB is softer and more uniform in the gybe, seems to engage more rail. It took me a while to dial in the falcon, it always improved with more TOW. Whereas the SB I sense will be much quicker to tune.
I'm still about 2 knots of the top speed of the Falcon w 7.8m. But judging by the progress today I'm hoping to close the gap and a bit more fairly soon. I'm yet to try the smaller fin (38cm), perhaps tommorrow with 20-25 forecast.

keef said...


you know i'm still wondering why you want a 111lt for your light wind board, light winds 8 to 15knts, and today there predicting 20 to 25knts? i thought you was testing the board for light winds, so are you looking for a board that will go in 8 to 25knts?
it's obvious you wont be getting a bigger sail, if it was me id be testing something around the 125lt and haveing the option for a bigger sail
i'm enjoying this thread and im interested in how the board goes today in stronger winds, lets hope for 25 today the BOM has been a bit short on there predictions the last couple of days

The 111 is a perfect size for the 7.8m. I was contemplating a bigger board but I like the fact that I can start sailing in around 12 knots and not have to change gear until it gets really windy. This wind pattern seems to be typical for Sydney between 12 -20. Moreover my back is a bit flaky so I don't want to go a bigger sail and risk time off the water.

Glad you're enjoying the thread, I'm trying to provide the sort of information I'm always looking for when buying a new board, which can be difficult to find, and often it's often a little biased. I'm happy to be critical of my gear and tell it as it is.

The wind did kick in and we got a short burst of 20 gusting 25, NE. I moved the back straps to the rear position. Mast track a little behind the reccommended position and boom fairly high on the 7.8 rss (I'm tall).

Board handled the conditions very nicely, the more power I stuffed into the more it locked into a level position with very steady ride. As long as you kept the hammer down it just blasted over the top of chop without much fuss. However it was a little smoother today than what is typical, no jet skis to chop the water up.

I changed down to from the 44 Drake to the 38cm, it comes with 2 fins. I expected I may get some spin out as I was marginal the day before. However no problems, the rig and mast track tweaks made it all quite balanced. The smaller fin made it much more comfortable to go really deep. I'm pleased to say that I got my GPS speed just a tad above the Falcon. (BTW, one of the locals rocked up with the brand new 09 Falcon 110, bought it O.S.). The gybes are getting better this board and is really increasing my percentage of fully planning gybes. BTW getting the board on the plane was much more efficient today.
I'm not sure that the supplied fins are that fast, I have a Curtis 38 I plan to try.

P.s Our Aussie champ Alison Shreeve was out sailing with us today. I actually went charging past her at one point.....but she was trying to water start at the time. But I won't let that get in the way of a good story.

Hi Vando, any recommendations for fins?

I have a 38cm SR6b which I haven't tried yet, hopefully it works well. I was thinking that a 42cm would be a good complement. I'm using a Tectonics Falcon on my smaller slalom board which is great. So I'm thinking that something from Tectonics would be the go. However I hear from the SB camp that the Vector Canefire is a good match.

Open to any suggestions.

vando said...

Hi Des yep the IS111 would be perfect with the 7.8 I have the IS122 works great with the 8.5. The Isonics feel pretty sweet especially once you have them locked in they just seem to fly over the top of the chop rather than bounce there way through.
Which is exactly what the latest Planchemag said .
Im certainly very happy with the Isonics.

ta Vando

OK, so would a 8.4 m race sail be OK on the 111, or would it be better on the 122 The starboard www said that the 111 can take up to 9 m. I would think light wind planing be better on the 122, but GPS speed be better on the 111 when fully powered up

No futher comments required

keef said...

des i think your new relationship has turned in to a love affair ,once you find the rite fin that suits your sail i cant see you giveing it back, how long can you test it for till you have to give it back

You're right, and I got to confess, this one is not going back..I'm keeping it.

Waiting4wind said...

[b] my back is a bit flaky so I don't want to go a bigger sail and risk time off the water.

hows your back des 9/0, i was on my 52 slalom with a rss 5/8 fully powerd up(thats down my way), its amasing the 111 can handle a sail that big how much wind did you have up there

Waiting4wind said...



You must have got the 5.8 weather we were expecting, it would have been great to have our race in really powered conditions. But them's the breaks.

Jason's given me a ticket to ride his new 09 Falcon 110 - so stay tuned for a report.

des if you take a few comparisons you will notice that on we allways get a few knts more than you guys
your lucky you can try out these fantastic boards, down my way eveyone rides freeride boards futura's and supa cross, and there's no retail and demo's to try, haveing said that the board i was on yesterday was one i made dureing the winter break and i would say it's the best board ive ridden on flat water, the back straps are to far back& out like the isonic, so it can be a bit scary comeing off the back of lumpy chop so im going to bring them in a bit and a touch forward, it was great being fully powerd up on about a 65to 70lt board when everyone elese is on there 105's, if you want to have a look at it its in my pics, i have to go to gosford on the 8th of nov so i mite call in and have a sail at the aiport on the way up and back, thats as long as the wind is up

no worries des ill be up there anyway so ill call in