You DID read I classified the FireWave as specifically an onshore wave board.
The other ones are for side-on, side, and side off winds.
I am 75kgs. We get plenty of fairly light wavesailing conditions in QLD and northern NSW. 15-20knots.
I used to use a quatro tempo twin fin 92 for light wind wave riding. Quite a long and relatively narrow board. I was pretty happy in the bottom turn but struggled to get as vertical as I wanted, and obviously super loose in the top turn.
Then I got a severne nano 93. Much wider and shorter board in general (running as a quad). I can definitely get it more vertical, but I find in fast bottom turns on bigger waves its skipping out on me. Probably can't keep the weight on the rail enough. It has got a very wide tail compared to the tempo. Better upwind which is no surprise.
The other observation is that the tempo was much more forgiving in jumps. The wide tail of the severne means if you are even a bit flat in the landing every joint from your toe to your hip will feel it.
For stronger wind I have an 82l quatro thruster. Much better all round but no fun in 15 knots.
Just to stir LeeD up a bit..., if you search on youtube for "back loop frenzy" and "wreck rock wavesailing" you can make your own judgements about my ability.
I don't doubt lots of you have solid, advanced skills in wavesailing.
Most don't or haven't competed with a modicum of success....neither have I. I never advance in pro heats.
My bud who competed in 3 Pistol River events advanced thru 3 rounds each event, so he did better than me.
Mark keeps bringing up his lack of skill because he told me he hated the wide, 60+ wave boards.
Mark, this guy consistently advances thru multiple rounds in a major wave event. Yes, he can sail in the waves. The question is, can YOU sail well enough to make quarters in wave competitions with more than 45 other amateurs NOT in Senior class?
Mark, do you know the difference in board requirement between onshore wind wave riding and side off wind wave riding?
You don't seem to be aware there is a different need.
Select to expand quoteLeeD said..
I don't doubt lots of you have solid, advanced skills in wavesailing.
Most don't or haven't competed with a modicum of success....neither have I. I never advance in pro heats.
My bud who competed in 3 Pistol River events advanced thru 3 rounds each event, so he did better than me.
Mark keeps bringing up his lack of skill because he told me he hated the wide, 60+ wave boards.
Mark, this guy consistently advances thru multiple rounds in a major wave event. Yes, he can sail in the waves. The question is, can YOU sail well enough to make quarters in wave competitions with more than 45 other amateurs NOT in Senior class?
I imagine if you were in pro heats of talking absolute crap and blowing your own trumpet you'd advance through to the finals every time.
You'd be a world class pro.
Windsurfing comps, not so much
Agree with hoop about the shaping of boards makes a massive difference (I've had a 99 nude). The 99 cortex for me may sound small vs my weight but what Simmer has done with that board is amazing, The volume is all in the right spots and just works. It's like a freestyle board that just sails effortlessly with enough volume for me when to winds a bit dodgy but turns like a demon, As long as it's 5.0 condition the 99 is my board. We are all different and you just need to try and find something that works for you individually as there is no one perfect board for everyone.
You really need to play with fins on these bigger boards, Qty and length as it's been a game changer for every board I've ever owned. My 2 cents...There's the windsurfer vs the wave sailors, I think we are 2 different breeds under the same umbrella....It could just be me but I'd take 12-15knots Xoff any day over 25knot blasting. 
Slagging off ya mate & his kit always goes down well at comps... especially at the after party when the wide board amateur fatties have had a few bundy's.
Select to expand quoteLeeD said..
Just skip my posts, please.
I always do, they are so senseless.
Maybe i'm not alone.
....The shapers and teams of worldwide board brands don't want to develop boards for obese people...easy as that, perceived bad for their high performance image, f#ck knows why?
Select to expand quoteGestalt said..Basher said..
Board size is always an interesting topic and when we discussed big waveboards on another site recently it was clear that bigger guys were still trying to sail boards where the volume in litres matched their weight in kilos. Whereas the lighter guys were consistently reporting they were using excess float nowadays. So 100kgs sailors said they had 100litre boards, whereas 70kgs sailors said they often used 80litre boards.
And in my case, I can talk about float a lot, because i have several wave boards.
With my weight at 75kilos my 'go to' wave boards are 80-85 litres and then the differences between the three options I have in that volume range are as much about rocker lines as about their measured volume.
My 85 litre board is +10 in excess float for me, but it also has a fast rocker, meaning I get early planing in iffy winds or in white water conditions.
I also have a 95 litre wave board which is then +20 litres of excess float, and that float is so helpful on some of the rippy, messy, onshore wave days we get here. But the board still has a wave rocker, so it will turn well on a wave.
That same design comes in a 115litres version, so that would provide +10 litres of float for a 105kgs sailor. But he will also find that board has a flatter rocker than the 95 later version.
And, on topic, there lies the problem for board shapers and for the industry. When they produce a 115litre board is it for light wind blasting for average weight sailors, or is it for tight turns on the wave face for the heavier guys? if they produce a massive wave board with loads of rocker then the market for that would be limited. If it was tested against other boards of a similar volume it might also be damned as being slow to plane. And the chances are, that none of the 115litre boards being tested would get anywhere near a wave face.
i think basher what you've highlighted is an issue for heavy guys. because big guys don't need heavily rockered big volume boards. they want to plane in light winds and ride waves. they need boards with flatter rockers and a bit of extra width to get speed. because the rider is heavier they can still carve wider boards.
my personal take on it is for bigger guys short and wide wave boards with flatter rocker are the answer. sure they can be kept narrower with the volume redistributed into length but the length makes the swing weight to high and the top turns suffer.
Thanks guys!! The explanation from Gestalt and Basher makes a lot of sense, it appears once you get the to the 115 ltr range, the dynamics of the board need to change a bit to accommodate the larger wave riders. #$%^ this is one complicated sport!!! Been doing it for 19 years and I still have much to learn, maybe that's what keeps me in it. Thank you for the helpful input, all!
DC
Awesome thread! poor old fella tapping away in his nursing home, put a smile on my dial.
OK at 70 years of age he behaves like a 7 year old name calling, derogatory comments, you'd think at his age he would be able to reflect on his life and make a few positive changes, obviously a very unhappy insecure person with no, none, nil, nada insight into his flawed but entertaining personality. All the name dropping and boasting is just a reflection of how insecure he is.
This line cracked me up, just the irony of it..... "Hoop, are you in second grade? Read the title of this thtead!" most young kids know it's spelt "thread"
At 70 years of age with Covid19 rampant over there, stay safe old fella and say hi to nurse Betty for me when she's changing your man nappy
I'd hate to be soooooo nationalistic that I can't admit someone of my nationality never made a bad board and promoted it.
Everyone makes bad boards.
And they are blots in his resume', but life goes on.
I hope you are proud to embrace the Hypersonic and the Evo. You won't see modern copies of them again....for 20 years. History, even bad mistakes, tend to repeat themselves because we tend to forget our mistakes and are doomed to repeat them.
Please LeeD, show us some of the boards you've created that have been known and that people have enjoyed sailing?
I already mentioned everyone makes bad boards.
Ask Scott, and he will say the Evo did work as intended, but was not the shape for everyone, that he probably won't market another one, but they did sell a lot and he made some money.
Same with Hpypersonic, different shaper.
If Screamer and Astro-E Rocks were considered good boards, both Evo and Hyper were several classes below.
LeeD,
You still haven't shown us any of your own designs or creations. You have no credibility on any level.
Why do you think it's ok to bag out the designs and efforts of others when you have contributed nothing?
You are an antagonistic dickhead, please **** off .
Little girlie Hoop
You don't need to be a president to criticize Donald Trump.
You don't need to be a murderer to be a judge.
My surfboards have been hanging in 3 of San Francisco's surfshop for 30+ years now. On display. Were they good? No, I shaped them.
But nobody can dispute they didn't work really well in big, fast, and powerful waves.
Scott's Evo worked pretty well in small, slow, soft breaking surf. He recommended Evo for fast moving hollow waves. You Aussies always brag about how fast and powerful your waves are.
That misleads people.
Select to expand quoteLeeD said..
Little girlie Hoop
You don't need to be a president to criticize Donald Trump.
You don't need to be a murderer to be a judge.
My surfboards have been hanging in 3 of San Francisco's surfshop for 30+ years now. On display. Were they good? No, I shaped them.
But nobody can dispute they didn't work really well in big, fast, and powerful waves.
Scott's Evo worked pretty well in small, slow, soft breaking surf. He recommended Evo for fast moving hollow waves. You Aussies always brag about how fast and powerful your waves are.
That misleads people.
The Evo was sold as a "Real World" waveboard. It was probably the most successful waveboard line ever. That's because people liked it. Most people don't get to sail fast moving hollow waves. That said the Evo obviously worked for those too - many Starboard riders like Boujmaa who could have chosen other boards like the Acids loved their Evos. The EVO was not a board for everyone, I personally didn't like any of the ones I sailed, but I was in the minority. The boards was no "Lemon" definitely no "blot" on Scotty's resume. If anything it was genius that it appealed so much to so many people - shows it's versatility.... You are simply wrong. FACT.
Wrong or right has little bearing.
The fact NOBODY copies the Evo design or the Hypersonic design says it all.
A great thread thanks Mr Charlton, with some great insights from shaper's and riders from all over the world. Owned and enjoyed riding an Evo as big wave board for many years and was the start of widening the window for more wave sailing opportunities here on the East Coast of Oz for a lot of sailors. Still feel for the bigger guys as Hoops mentioned the economics make it tough, demand drives supply. Something I love about this sport that you can get information from the best in the business and even get the opportunity people to sail with them, both pro and local riders as there are some insanely talented locals out there that are always inspiring me and my kids.
As for LeeD I think these boys from Bathurst have heard about you
Select to expand quoteLeeD said..
Wrong or right has little bearing.
The fact NOBODY copies the Evo design or the Hypersonic design says it all.
Bingo... you have been absolutely forthright in how right you are and how wrong others are. I guess you are going full circle and negating not just others but your own opinions.
BTW Creatives, whether in art or industry, deplore copying and in particular master pieces. Its called plagiarism and is the lowest act of an individual or group incapable of original thought or development. When something is not copied at all it is because it is an aberration or represents the peak of a particular idea or movement. London underground map, Dark Side of the Moon and Jackson Pollack's art are examples, nobody in their right mind would dare copy the Mona Lisa. They all break the mould & set a bar so high when the mention of a word or term is announced, people understand the term of reference. In wave sailing EVO is such a term as is witnessed by the weight of public opinion here.
Well done Scotty for creating an internationally acclaimed classic, one of many crowning glories in a stellar career.
Right or wrong has little bearing LeeD? One of your first statements in this thread was about how you were right and Scott was wrong? then we see a video of boujmaa tearing waves apart on an evo -totally contradicting your "I'm right Scott's wrong" statement.
are you going too look back at other successful early boards an say the designers got them wrong because nobody copies those boards these days?
Get nurse Betty to take your hand off your mast extension while she's changing the nappy
Select to expand quoteLeeD said..
Wrong or right has little bearing.
The fact NOBODY copies the Evo design or the Hypersonic design says it all.
Only if you care about respect.
www.instagram.com/tv/B-W_0EzoJB1/?igshid=100198f33d5cz
That's a link to TomTraversa on IG discussing how his boards were influenced by the Evo. It's a post from last week. The French are probably not as nationalistic as us one eyed Aussies.
I still have an Evo 66 in the shed and I get it on the water occasionally and it's still fun to sail but doesn't have the range that a modern quad has imho. For me that's a Nano 78 which is a lot bigger than the Evo despite the fact that I am a few kilos lighter.
I rode my Evo 76 quad last year twice. It planed well, went upwind very well, and controllable to the extreme.
I rode my Evo 76 quad last year twice. It planed well, went upwind very well, and controllable to the extreme.
Show us some of your own work ?
You seem to know a lot. You're keen to criticise the work of others.
What have you contributed to windsurf design ?
So you're not going to show us any of the work you've done or the contributions you've made to windsurf design ?
You're just going to hurl abuse ?
