28 Apr 2008 11:27:42

bertbarndoor

Highest performance board with a center/dagger board??

Just looking for some opinions. What is the highest performance board that still has a center board? For my purposes, I would define 'high performance' as possessing the ability to progress to using a harness, foot straps, and more advanced turns, etc. (power jibes). From my research, I would say that the closest thing that I have been able to find is the Starboard Rio S (175l). I am 5'11, 185 lbs and would classify myself as an advanced/aggressive beginner looking to learn/master the aforementioned skills. Looks to me that the small Rio has the least amount of buoyancy, length and width, but still has a dagger. Any thoughts or opinions? Any other boards I should be looking at? BTW, I have looked at the Kona One (seems freakin huge to me) and the Fanatic Viper (seems ok), as comparisons. Thanks (For those of you who have been following my progression, I am getting very close to pulling the trigger on a purchase).

28 Apr 2008 16:14:17

Dan Weiss

Re: Highest performance board with a center/dagger board??

On Apr 28, 2:27=A0pm, bertbarndoor <bertbarnd...@gmail.com > wrote: > Just looking for some opinions. What is the highest performance board > that still has a center board? > > For my purposes, I would define 'high performance' as possessing the > ability to progress to using a harness, foot straps, and more advanced > turns, etc. (power jibes). > > From my research, I would say that the closest thing that I have been > able to find is the Starboard Rio S (175l). I am 5'11, 185 lbs and > would classify myself as an advanced/aggressive beginner looking to > learn/master the aforementioned skills. Looks to me that the small Rio > has the least amount of buoyancy, length and width, but still has a > dagger. > > Any thoughts or opinions? Any other boards I should be looking at? > BTW, I have looked at the Kona One (seems freakin huge to me) and the > Fanatic Viper (seems ok), as comparisons. > > Thanks > > (For those of you who have been following my progression, I am getting > very close to pulling the trigger on a purchase). The answer largely depends on what factors you consider as high performance, but the general concensus has been that only "Raceboard Class" racing boards would fit the bill. They are very fast upwind, very fast downwind, and carve turns like a shortboard. They perform best when using racing sails, and full carbon masts and booms. Examples include the AHD 380 and F2 230 (neither made any longer) and the newer models such as the Starboard Phantom Race and Exocet WarpX 380. Another category of racing shapes that also includes a centerboard is the Hybrid class the most famous example of which is the RS:X (the 2008 Olympic One-Design windsurfer class). Add the Kona to the mix and you have quite a variety of design concepts. None of these (possibly excepting the Kona) seem to offer what you really want: a shortboard experience with the addition of a centerboard for light wind days.

28 Apr 2008 22:00:57

Re: Highest performance board with a center/dagger board??

The way you define 'high performance' the Kona One certainly fits. I've had raw beginners up on it and having fun, and guys who are much better than me (front/backloops, shove-its, vulcans, willy skippers etc) who thought it was a blast. It certainly keeps me interested up to about 20 knots, though I've sailed it with a 4.5 and a 5.0 to about 30 knots. A shortboard is more fun in those conditions, but the Kona goes through rough chop amazingly smoothly; better than most of the big freerides. I think in size it is about as long as the RRD Longrider (another contender, that planes up earlier than the Kona). The Kona could certainly take you from your aggressive beginner level through to waterstarting, straps and harness, carve jibes, high-speed blasting, etc. All the skills would be immediately transferable to a much smaller board; you'd probably be able to jump to a 110 -120 litre second board (if you really have these skills on the Kona, even a sub-100 litre) and skip the 130-180 litre size range. These smaller boards will knock your socks off; they accelerate so much faster than the Kona (though their top-end speed is probably about the same). They are less forgiving of less-than-perfect technique for carve jibes than the Kona. They certainly jump a whole lot better! Thats for next year probably anyway! You probably don't want to buy a real high performance longboard, like the Exocet Warp 280 or the Starboard equivalent. They are very technical to tune and sail and won't carve a turn as nicely as the Kona One or similar. Great for racing, though!

28 Apr 2008 23:23:26

James

Re: Highest performance board with a center/dagger board??

Actually, almost any board with a daggerboard is good for learning harness, footstraps and power jibes. I own a Kona ONE and it's definitely a good one. So is the RRD Longrider, which I have ridden. My recommendation to you would be one of those. The RRD is a little lighter and earlier planing, but the Kona has a better daggerboard-down performance, and has it's own racing class. The Rio ain't bad either. It will probably be fine for you if that's what you choose.

29 Apr 2008 02:14:27

John I

Re: Highest performance board with a center/dagger board??

On Apr 29, 1:23 am, James <d0ugl...@hotmail.com > wrote: > Actually, almost any board with a daggerboard is good for learning > harness, footstraps and power jibes. > > I own a Kona ONE and it's definitely a good one. So is the RRD > Longrider, which I have ridden. My recommendation to you would be one > of those. The RRD is a little lighter and earlier planing, but the > Kona has a better daggerboard-down performance, and has it's own > racing class. > > The Rio ain't bad either. It will probably be fine for you if that's > what you choose. I've been sailing for eons. I like the Kona One lots. I could sail anything that Sandy Point Progressive Sports sells, but chose the Kona One. BTW, I do also own the Kona 11-5 wave machine. It rocks in the surf. The RRD would be vastly improved had they chosen a better dagger.