Comparison FW Boards

[Sven]

Bluefinz,

First of all congrat at your forum 'site' it is great to be here. I hope a lot of questions will be asked and also that this forum will do as good as you hope it will. Much is to do with response time as you probably know. The AHD and the North sites just are not that quick in responding in comparison to their benchmark Gaastra and Starboard. Just wish you guys all the luck.

For my question,

You are the lucky ones that alreay sail the 147 and i'm also intereste in this one. Last year i race the 156 and especially with the 12 m I could not do very well. I reckon volume is part of the prblem here. I also trie one afternoon the Devil I and in the downwind I smoke a guy who normally smoked me when we were going own and I was on the 156 (he did not chane anything) So I'm a bit in love with the mistral now. What can you tell about the performance f the new 147 in comparisson to the 156 and the Devil I?

Hope to hear from you even if I will never be a customer at your shop.

[sukhdev]

Hi Sven, welcome to "Singapore" on the web & thank you for your kind words..here is my 0.02cents on your query:

I've sailed the following formula boards alot so they are my benchmarks:
sb175, sb186, sb186x, sb156, bicfw1.3, bicfw1.4, drops mb14, never sailed the devil.
I'll refer to the 156 as thats the board you are using. I'm 1.83m 85kg.
The 156 works well for lighter sailors. When I was testing the 156 vs 186x one thing noticeable was that the 186x could handle very large fins (tried a 77cm Deboichet on it) whereas the 156 seemed to work better with smaller fins/ligher sailor. No suprise cos the rear rail is relatively thin.

The 147 is an entirely different animal from all the boards I've tried before. Up to now my favorite has been the BIC FW1.4 but the 147 is the 1st board I've used that feels livelier than the bic (so far the bic was the liveliest). Most of my testing of the 147 has been with a 12.5 sailworks nx2 and a 10.4 sailworks nx2.

The board handles both sizes extremely well. The 12.5 would not really work well on the 156 but is very comfortable on the 147. The board is very easy to trim thru chop, most sailors who get on it notice that immediately. The hull accelarates fast, allowing slightly smaller fins ..or fins with faster foils to be used. I had to change my rigging  on the 10.4 compared to the bic fw1.4. Boom was lowered, slightly more downhaul, lines adjust a bit forward. To me this indicated the board was generating relatively more apparent wind in the same wind range.

Is it a much faster hull? Frankly I dont know, for me i just go by feel, the board is really nice to sail and that for me plays a major part in how much speed I can get out of it. Its very light on the feet, easy to trim and accelarates well. So far no technique change required, planes early..but my sense is I can probably get more speed out of it once i start testing it with different fins. It is definitely a fin sensitive hull, lots more testing to do in this area.

bottom line: works better than the 156 and takes a wider range of sailor weights and sail sizes. Its my current favorite hull. I'll be testing the hull with various size of Deboichet & hurricanes over the next 3 days if it stays windy and will post my impressions.

[Sven]

Sukhdev,

Thanks for responding. The 147 seems to be a new format. It is really the only one this smal (except for the Mythos that is) So all other boards still will be 260 to 275 in lenght.
When do you expect the new Bic 1.5?

Please let us know your findings with the different fins. Gonzalo likes his C3 fins. I reckon you don not have these in your quiver? So it is deb and hurricane then. what can you say about the hurricane in comparisson with the deb and the fin that is coming with the board?

Last question; Using my 12 on the 156 is really not a good combo? Would this be helped when I go and get me a new board like the 147 the Bic 1.5 or the Devil II ?? Just don't like to spend all my money for a new board and afterwards hear that i would have had the same with a new fin (for example this is) So what would be the way to go?

Thanks upfront

[sukhdev]

Hi Sven,

I'm trying to get some C3s. For my weight (85kg)I like the r13H series most. Our team sailor Meng who is about 10kg lighter likes the Hurricane 70M alot. No easy answer I guess re fins, depends on weight, whether you like to sail high/slow, low/fast etc. The stock fin on 147 seems to work pretty good.

I haven't had time to test the hurricane on the 147, should be able to do it over next few days as the weather map promises wind!

Your question about 12, the sail will work fine on the 156 but for the wind range I would use a 12.x in its not ideal. A few days ago I used the 12.5 on a bic fw1.3 which most people would say shouldnt be used with a 12.x, the combination works (it only had a 65cm fin!) but I would get better performance with a bigger board.

I guess the real question for you is which is your most used sail? If its the 12.x then you need a board that is optimal for it. What I like most about the 147 is its sail range. The 156 can take a 12.5 but for my weight if i'm on a 12.5 it means its 6 to 12 knots, in that light wind I would like a bit more thickness in the tail to both "pop" onto the plane early as well as use the leeward rail aggressively to climb upwind.

There is a complex relationship between rail thickness, fin size & length, sailor weight and sail size. If the rear rail is thin it will give very good high wind control but will not be able to resist the lift from a powerful fin. The 156 gives great performance for a sailor lighter than me. So far the 147 seems to be the best compromise here, and its not sensitive to sailor weight or sail size. I might end up using a sawed down r13h 77cm on the 147 for light days.

Re BIC 1.5, I've had no news yet. I'm still keeping my fw1.4 to use as a benchmark since I "lived" on that board for many months now. Right now my 2 most used boards will be the 147 and the hyper, both have a very smooth and "free" feel over the water.

[<Allan Cross>]

Hi Guys,
Very Interested in your findings on fins for the 147 as i weigh the same 85kgs and 5.10 tall, but will only use 10.9,9.8 and 8.7 here in the uk.

I have a deb R13 67cm would that work well on the 147 hull? Im also looking into C3 fins, what types would u suggest? I would wont to point high with less speed if it was a option.

Whats the original fin like??

Cheers Allan Cross
(UK)  

[sukhdev]

Hi Alan,

for the 9.8 and 8.7 the deb67 would work great. For the 10.9 a 70 would be better. The stock 70 is pretty ok, seems more lifty than the fins used on previous starboard formulas.

I've got both the Fox and Echo C3 on order, my guess is that the Echo series would be better suited to the sail sizes you are looking at. I'm looking at the Fox for 12.5 and echo for my other sail sizes.

regards

sukhdev

[<Allan>]

Hi Sukhdev,

How would my exsisiting Select Elite 70m go like in the 147? Any thoughts?  Me 85kgs largest sail 10.9.

Would this be a better fin in the 147 that the original standard fin.

I worry cos the standard fin on the x186 always span out on me, I do apprecaite the 147 is a differant beast all together, pse advise.

Bloody freezing here in the UK

Cheers Allan Cross