Don's Lab Board Video, Bic Formula Board 4 Sale

I rode the "Don's Lab" home-built formula board for the first time today at Bonita Beach.

First Ride on "Don's Lab" Formula Board from James Douglass on Vimeo.

The wind was blowing side-offshore, mostly at single-digit speeds but with occasional spurts of about 10 knots. The board was easy to pump onto a plane in the wind spurts, and once planing it generated a lot of apparent wind in the sail and good lift from the fin. The board's upwind angle was good both when schlogging and when planing, so it was easy to get back to the beach when I was done. I don't think it planes vastly earlier than my older Bic formula board, but it's definitely a little easier to pump, and I think it goes upwind better and stays planing longer as the wind drops. With a larger sail like an 11.0 this board's light wind performance should pull further ahead of the Bic's. If I had more shed space I'd keep the Bic to use in the rougher 12+ knot conditions where it excels, but since the shed is getting crowded I'd like to sell the Bic. There are lots of pictures and videos of the Bic on my blog, and here's the info on it if you're interested:

Make: Bic
Model: Formula V 1.2
Year: 2001
Condition: Very Good
Length: 267 cm
Width: 87.5 cm
Weight: 8.5 kg
Stock Fin: 60 cm deep tuttle
Sail range: 7 - 11 m^2
Price: $300; pick-up only in Florida

Though the Don's Lab Formula's maiden voyage was definitely a success, I'll still do some minor tweaking with the board to get the most out of its speed and early planing potential. Here's what I'm thinking about doing:

1. Making sure the hull, which I spray-painted, is sanded and polished to be as frictionless as possible.

2. Possibly beveling / smoothing the tip of the fin where it was cut down from 85 to 70 cm.

3. Positioning the mast base slightly further back in the track so that more of the hull can "un-wet" when I'm planing.

4. Getting an 11.0 sail.