Wave/Freestyle??

[SurfShark]

Hi,

been sailing in the flat waters of singpore all this while and i am wondering if anyone can explain the difference between a freestyle gear and a wave gear? can they be interchangably used? meaning freestyle gear in small waves (e.g. manamana/kuantan? ) and wave gear for freestyling in spore waters? Wat are the pros and cons of the two types of equipment?

[sukhdev]

Firstly, wave boards differ..pure sideshore boards vs onshore boards.Sideshore boards tend to be slower, slashier, onshore boards carry more speed. Sideshore boards are suited to real waves, with side to side-offshore wave conditions. In onshore conditions you need a board that is able to go faster, especially with better upwind ability.

Freestyle hulls tend to be based around a much flatter rocker with little nose rise relative to wave boards. Volume is more even than on wave boards (wave boards are thin tailed).

Are they interchangeable? Firstly forget sideshore boards for our conditions (including manamana and kuantan).

A good onshore board can be very versatile; I've been using a Fish for both bump'n'jump & onshore wave conditions for past 2 years and its being replaced with an Evo now. Prior to the fish I used a freestyle board as my onshore board for our light conditions.

Given my weight (85kg) I used a fish 96 with 6.x in manamana changing down to a custom RogueWave onshore board with about 75 liters volume for days when I could get away with a 5.x.

Freestyle boards are now wider than they used to be so you may get a bit more range out of them in our light conditions. I personally lean towards a good onshore/light air wave board as my "fun" board simply because I like the slashier feel. In the end the easiest way to understand the difference is to sail them; from this weekend I'll have the evo92 for demo and we already have freestyle boards for demo..try them and see..or pop by and I'll show you both boards.

Pros and cons
- freestyle boards
: great in flat water
: can usually carry bigger sails
: even volume makes them easy handling, easy to slog with
: not so good in rough conditions, flatter rocker can make them bouncy, not meant for cruising
: low nose rise can limit them in good sized waves
- onshore wave boards
: need more wind than freestyle boards
: carry less speed usually but turn way better
: handle better in rough conditions

My personal choice to switch was based on "pop" - ie how easy is it to get the board out of the water when jumping and slashiness, ie how tight can the board be gybed.

[SurfShark]

Thanks for the advice Sukhdev, that was a comprehensive answer, cleared my doubts.

[Jus]

i like this topic. how come no one post anything on this any more? quick leh, someone say something. boss where r u?

surf shark, u shld check out the topic Nick Teo posted on '2nd hand freestyle board wanted' or something like that in the second hand forum.

looks like no one in Singapore is interested in this freestyle/wave topic. i guess there's hardly enough wing here for that. aiyah, time to join the rest & take up formulae, or shld i resist the temptation to conform to realism. nothing against formulae & other aircraft carrier class boards (i do borrow my wife's 155 carve), they have their own niche and their own fans. but hey, i prefer a different poison even though its unrealistic. even though i am a newbie nothing beats the feeling of riding a small board & rig in rough conditions. i feel thats the heart of windsurfing.

anyway, i am looking for some kakis to go wave sailing with during the NE, that is if i have enough money to get myself a waveboard & rig & figure a way to get it to desaru or bintan. but if u r interested i'll drop u a line if i can get anything organise.

[Jus]

surf shark, i say, be a rebel get a waveboard, it may be damn impractical but it looks much more sexy and is a real chick magnet. hahahahahaa. kidding lah.

[sukhdev]

no one interested? guys these are my favorite category of boards.

actually my belief is that a good onshore board should also be a reasonable freestyle board, thats why i loved the fish so much.

hope its windy enough soon to really try out the evo, i'm guessing that the evo with a more powerful fin might be an ideal bump'n'jump ..especially if you like slashy sailing.

[SurfShark]

Hi Jus!

I am in the process of selling off my formula and would be going small any moment already, so can that really make me a rebellious babe magnet??     My plan is to get accustom to the handling of small board & sail and hopefully when the monsoon hits, i will be ready for the wind! i am also looking forward to short trips to manamana or kuantan and have already rally some khakis of my gang. Maybe we can go together and have fun doing some small wave riding!    I am trying to squeeze out excess $$$ from my piggy bank to get a decent rig for myself and hopefully not before long, i will get my war machine all assembled and ready to hit the chops and swells!

p.s. Anybody who got any wave/freestyle experience or advice to share, please dun feel shy ... post!!

Wave Sharkie Wannabe

[b_mouz]

One advice if you wanna start freestyling, is to start off on a soft sail on a long board, beginner board and start learning heli tacks, backwind sailing,etc, etc on a light day. You might feel stupid or frustrated at first. But once you get the hang of it, it's quite fun and addictive. Once confident, try it on a shortboard and with a monofilm sail or on a formula sail and board.

All the above helps build up the neccessary skill needed for advance tricks like spocks, vulcan, etc. But too bad in SG, there's just not enough good wind days to practice the above.

I'm no guru when it comes to freestyling, basically got all my knowledge by mimicking TC:D. Monkey see monkey do....heh heh!

[Jus]

wah liao eh. u really going to extremes man! looks like u r the don't settle for less kind, either strong wind or no wind at all kind. heh heh. i really admire that. for me i still have an old 130 freeride & a 8.5 i use for weekends, which i won't give up yet. also sorta semi own (long story) a very old 89litre f2 axis (its in bintan) and a set of old 6.0 & 6.5 sails. i know its not so suitable but might use that for wave sailing first then upgrade to a new starboard evo & rig when i have the money.

any way, i do abit of traditional surfing at desaru, & know some great spots where its possible to windsurf. seen some 20+knot wind there a few times before & waist to shoulder high breakers. le camara hotel is great for learning as  the waves there are slower, but need vehicle to get there. it also has good grassy patch for rigging. golden beach is a beach break with steeper and faster waves, mostly dumpers. can break alil dangerously shallow at certain tides.

bintan gets some good swell too. love the ppl there. good vibes. haven't tried kuantan, but would love to go!

any way, thanks for da invite, let me know if u r going. i'd love to join u guys. by the way, my sailing still sucks. so hope u guys won't mind a total kook.

by the way there is a typhoon off phillipines now. its got a cute name...Maemi, but it might generate some mean wind. if u can drop ur stuff u maybe able to get some good sailin the next two days if it blows hard enuf.

[hiwindjunkie]

did someone call me?  damn jus!  i thought u were busy working!

i was just wondering something.  i think i have the same bias towards pop & "slashiness" (with a LOT more emphasis on pop!) as sukhdev.  i also noticed how flat the pure freestyle boards are getting (look @ the new freesexes for goodness sake!).  unless you're really into PURE freestyle i'd tend towards boards with slightly more comfort when cruising.  i know your feelings towards 'freeride' sticks, sukdev ... but in our conditions most people would want a board that can cruise ok right?

right now, i'm still on a 2000 sb carve 99 that i use in the breaks when i'm in manamana.  really like it ... until i can find enough money to upgrade that!  spending my money now on the lightwind side of the sport since that's where most of my time is spent!

i also agree FULLY with b_mouz!  go out there & nail your lightwind freeride skills.  it really helps!  got into it on my wife's old go & a 6-odd m2 sail.  now i go out on a carve 140 & a 7.2m2 when it's sub-formula.

just wondering.  i'm surprised the trance hasn't got the exposure the evo's getting.  think it'd be a pretty good alternative to the evo for the conditions around here.

oops, here comes the boss...gotta work!  aloha!

[sukhdev]

huang,

a good wave board should glide, last thing you want is something that clatters around on a wave face. most people who've not sailed them get suprised at how silky smooth they are. freeride boards vary wildly in their bias so its hard to generalise. The freestyle shapes are getting really good at light air stuff, especially when coupled with a light freestyle sail. horses for courses...me i either like raw raw speed or something that turns on a dime and pops.

[hiwindjunkie]

heh ... is my lack of wave sailing experience THAT obvious!      i guess it's just that when i see waves all i see is one BIG ramp going out ... never really thought about what to do on the way back in.

cheers all!

[sukhdev]

a few more thoughts..was pondering..

its unrealistic to have a one board freestyle board or onshore wave board in singapore. even if its something like a 70is cm freestyle its not going to be enough in the lightest days. i'm inclined towards something like the turbo75 for most of our "fun" sailing. The hyper is race oriented and not turny enough, but basically you need at least one hull that will carry 7.x to 9.x otherwise you are going to only look cool on shore.

why? cos i dont buy the stuff about doing sail flips in light air, you can do that till the cows come home .. sure your balance will improve but its not the same as being able to pop your fin clear in even totally flat water, to do that you must plane.

a 2nd hull can then be something much smaller. for me for example a 2 hull "fun" quiver (no racing) would probably be the turbo75 and the evo. 9.3, 7.5 on the t75, and 6.2 on the evo, though it can take a 6.9 too.

common problem here is sailors with big boards that are too small for light air, and small boards that are too big..105 liters is "big" in strong winds.

[SurfShark]

I have actually tried to mimic some basic tricks on the formula; heli-tacks, clew-first sailing, tail-first sailing. Some little tricks to satisfy my desire to perform!    But i think i look more like a biker trying to do wheelies on a harley    Nevertheless i guess they really do help in my handling of the sail and board.

Jus, if i got any plans (to travel) i will keep u informed. Dun worry abt the skill level, me and most of my friends are still pretty goofy in the handling of small boards    Guess we will be doing more wave tumbling than riding on our first few tries .. haha

[SurfShark]

i want to jump too!! ... air time air time!! ..