From: jaime@netcom.com (Jaime Cordera)
Subject: Re: Transition Board or Short Board???
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 92 03:06:03 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Distribution: usa

>>>>>I'm a beginning windsurfer with a 12' beginner's board.  I've
>>>>>become pretty comfortable with it and am looking for my next
>>>>>board purchase to learn more advanced skills, such as waterstarts,
>>>>>high wind proficiency, etc.  Some friends have suggested boards
>>>>>as short as 9'4", and as long as 10'6" (usually *their* old boards ;-)
>>>>>
>>>For those of you who have been reading this thread and don't have unlimited
>>>wind, I would vote for the transition board.  I have a course board, a
>>>transition board, and a grand slalom (9' 4"?).  The course board gets used
>>>about 40 times per year, the transition board about 25 times and the giant   h
>>>slalom about 6 times.  I can use up to a 7.4 on the transition board, and in
>>
>>My recommendation is to go to a giant slalom (9'9" or so, with 130 to 135L
>>volume).  This amount of floation is plenty to uphaul and sail in low
>Seatrend has big floaty giant slalom board something like 9'9" and 150l which I'd
>be taking a good look at if I was buying a new board for 'marginally planing'
>conditions.
>
Generally, I recommend aiming for a "2 board strategy" and planning it so you
don't have a garage full of underutilized equipment. In this thread, the 
original posters headers were stripped off, so I can't tell where you are 
posting from, so I'll make some guesses.

If you live in a place where there are normally planing conditions, such as
the SF Bay Area, then I recommend a 2 board strategy: a floating board, and
a high wind board. Go for the floating board first and skip the transition
board, because it will just sit in your garage.

If you can get a transition board to plan, then you can get a floating 
shortboard board to plan, and probably go faster to boot.

If you have enough wind to plane regularly, it's really important to fit
the board to your body weight. Notice I didn't say "giant slalom" board: 
I said "floating" board. The first shortboard you get should be "floating
board", so you can uphaul it etc. Also, it should be a just floating board:
don't get a larger board than will just float you on the theory that more
is better, because it isn't. As you get into higher winds, you will find that 
excessively floaty board will cause massive control problems, without giving
you that much extra performance at the lighter winds.

For the standard 5'10" 150lb male, a 9'0" to 9'2" slalom board with about 
100liters volume would be about right. For me, at 200lbs, that is a sinker, 
and I need a 9'4" board at about 125liters to float me. For a lighter person,
such as my girlfriend, at about 120lbs, the 9'2" slalom board she got at first
was a real monster: it floated her alright, but it beat her to a pulp in any
kind of chop, and it was so floaty she could get any feel for the board 
dynamics. She is much happier on her 8'6" ASD.

So, go try 'em out: borrow your buddies board, or demo a few to get the
feel. If you live in the SF Bay area, check out Spinnaker sailing for the
demos. I don't necessarily recommend that you *BUY* from them, but they have 
the demo boards right on the shore, so if you don't like one, you can just 
switch boards till you find one that sinks, then move to the next size bigger.

A note on giant slalom boards: the industry tends to design things for the 
standard 5'10" 150lb male making $50k/year. If you don't fit into that
category, be careful. Many giant slalom boards are designed for the first time 
shortboarder and oftentimes, performance is ignored in favor of such things as
"stability", i.e. lack of responsiveness. The manufacturer assumes that, like 
the transition board, you will "outgrow" it. If you are heavier, and are looking
for a performance light air board, carefully avoid these models.

On the flip side of that, some of the "giant" giant slalom boards, such as 
the 9'9" 150l Seatrend, are designed not for lighter winds, but for people
who put a little too much overtime at the dinner table over the winter
(we know who we are :-)). These boards are more heavily reinforced, have
footstraps farthur apart for larger people, etc. So be careful on that end too.
These *CAN* be good, but make sure they fit *YOU*. For the medium size person
(~150lbs), I don't think a 9'9" board gives you much over a floaty 9'0-9'2".

Good luck and have fun !!

Jaime