Sunday, May 31, 2009

New waveboard - When will it get wet?

I went up to Cocoa Beach on Sunday for a "board meeting" of the windsurfing magazine volunteer test riders. We were wrapping up our findings on a batch of light-wind shortboards for a review that will come out in the next issue. There were some AWESOME boards in the test, and it was cool to see how we mostly agreed in what we thought about them.

The day was also exciting because the magazine editor delivered the high wind board that I bought from a guy in Saint Petersburg. It's a 2006 Starboard Evo 83, designed to be ultra-maneuverable and exciting in rough water and waves.

Photobucket

I have no idea how long I'll have to wait until it's windy enough to ride it. It might be this week in a strong sea breeze, it might be later this summer in a near-miss hurricane, or it might not be until the first frontal system of fall. You can make your bet in the poll in the sidebar.

7 comments:

Johnny Douglass said...

Well, whenever it is, remember to wear your helmet and sail with a buddy. And remember to always eat a good breakfast before you go to work in the morning.
Dad

Scott said...

Ya know, I use my 84l JP Freestyle Wave, not much different from that Evo, any time the wind is over about 20 knots. It works great from 4.2 to 5.3 conditions for me. So if you're well powered on 5.3, get that sucka wet.

(Quite honestly, except when I'm in waves that are more than shoulder high, the only boards I use now are my 100l Freestyle board and the 83l FSW. Makes it easy to decide what to bring.)

Andy said...

Yeah, you'll use that a lot more than you think. I'd suggest up to a 5.7 on it, or schlog with a 5.0ish if there's any sort of decent wave to ride and sideshore wind in the 15mph range. Nice! Time to tear it up!

James Douglass said...

Dad- Sure thing!

Scott- Yeah, I figure as soon as I can get powered on my 5.5 I'll give it a try. March and April had several 5.5 or less days, but May had ZERO, which doesn't bode well for June. Florida is just not a windy place in late spring and summer. There hasn't even been enough for kiting.

The plus side is that the water clarity near shore is great now. Longboard windsurfing on a light day you can see the sand ripples on the bottom, and fish swimming around the rocky reefs that form the outside break. I gotta go diving soon!

James Douglass said...

Andy- Yeah, I won't wait for a super-powered day. 15 should give me enough to waterstart and stay upwind. Then I can at least see how the board feels on a wave.

Frank said...

Hi James, I know this is off the subject but do you anything about the flesh eating bacteria that occurs in the Texas gulf coast. There are cases around here(Magnolia beach, Port O'Connor)every year. A couple of people a year die from it. Wade fishermen seem more susceptible. A kayaking friend of mine has it know and is recovering thanks to early detection.

PeconicPuffin said...

well at least you're getting excellent conditions to practice light wind freestyle, which will most definitely help you in high winds, wave sailing, et set er ah!

I've owned 14 boards over the years. Only one got suitable conditions shortly after I bought it. We suffer for our sport!