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BIC
The entries in our test from Bic seemed sort of miscellaneous. The Techno 283 is in its own “one-design” class and the new Techno 273 also proved to have its own category with its substantial width, roundness, volume, weight and construction, not to mention the deep vee hull, when compared to the other 9-foot freeride boards such as the RRD 276, French 9-2 (the 8-11 more closely matches the 273 length, but forget any comparison) and HiFly 272. The Saxo 270 Freeride was lonely and forgotten, because the much lighter, brighter and faster Saxo 270 Robert Teritehau Fullride was so popular. And the solid, modest Saxo 264 Free Wave was undiscovered in the face of the flashy field of wave boards.
SAXO 264 FREE WAVE
The board says Free Wave on it, while Bic’s own brief on the board calls it a freeride, and never uses the word “wave.” But if Bic can’t make up its mind about what the board is supposed to be, how can sailors make up their minds whether or not they want to buy it? Our best guess is that after the board was designated and painted (last year), Bic realized it was more of a freeride than a wave board, so stopped promoting it as a wave board, despite its markings. But that’s only a guess, because the Bic distributor didn’t respond to our email requesting some clarification. It’s a good board, for its weight and construction. If it doesn’t sell, it’s not the board’s fault that people won’t know how to consider it. Had it been approached by testers as the freeride board that it more truly is, it might have been enjoyed by more people. Maybe not the “grand slam home run” that Ken Winner pronounced it in American Windsurfer’s ’99 test, but better appreciated, at least. Its shape is somewhere in between wave and freeride, and a 30 cm “free foil” fin is recommended. Which, according to existing thought, would probably make it a bump-and-jump board. But whatever. “Shows many different characters,” says Bic’s brief. “As fast as a slalom board in hard conditions but much easier to control due to its slalom scoop and vee hull. In the jibes or in surf, its thin rails make it easy to push in the water for tight maneuvers.”
SCORE: (5 ratings)
Upwind 4.20 Planing 4.40 Speed 4.20 Handling 3.60 Jibe 3.80 Overall 4.04
COMMENTS:
“The ‘Free Wave’ should be called a ‘Free Ride.’ It’s not a wave board.”
“It had a slalom fin, but otherwise was very much a wave board for small to medium surf. Very easy to sail.”
“Notably heavy.” Try 18 pounds.
Later, after the Bic rep on Maui finally came around and responded to our pleas to make sure the boards had the correct or appropriate fins, and shuffled some, we got this comment. “It’s great all around. Dig the rail on jibes as hard as you can, it will not grab a rail. You can screw up jibes and still make them.” Still the tester put “(fin)” in the margin. All we know is that the rep approved the fin on the board.
SAXO 270 FULLRIDE
This board was left to die on the vine. Even Bic must not be interested in it any more, because the distributor never sent us any information on it—unless you count the quo.tes in the Fullride RT material, taken from last year’s tests in foreign magazines, which said the Freeride was wonderful. Not that we count those quotes.
Its dimensions match the 270 RT, except for slightly more vee in the bottom, which is tunneled, less tuck in the rails, and a little less nose kick. There’s also no rearward footstrap location. But most of all, at 19.5 pounds it’s a whopping 5 pounds heavier than the RT. Despite the durable construction, it wasn’t that much more resistant to dings, although it looked like you could throw it off a truck. And given its forgettable color, as if colored by a flesh-tone crayon, you kind of wanted to. Our guess is that it was supposed to be a peachy hue, but the paint mixer went postal that day.
It got only two ratings. One sailor gave it three 5’s, a 4 and a 3, and said it was a great bump-and-jump board, too fast for the waves. The other, a non-Bic dealer, gave it all 2’s with one 3. His ratings might have been cruel, but his conclusion was fair. “Save your money and buy the custom RT,” he said.
SCORE: (2 ratings)
Upwind 4.00 Planing 3.50 Speed 3.50 Handling 2.50 Jibe 3.00 Overall 3.30
SAXO 270 ROBERT TERIITEHAU
“I love this board!” shouted more than one tester. Sailors of all ability levels found its delivery of high performance wonderfully smooth and simple. Some wondered where this board had been all their lives. The 270 RT was almost too popular, as sailors kept returning to it because it was so
comfortable, instead of their trying new things.
The RT is proof that the revolution in windsurfing, the march toward new board shapes, is merely an expansion of possibilities, not a replacement of old virtues. It received the highest overall rating of any board in the test. There’s nothing new in the shape, but the combination of elements, including the 14.5-pound double sandwich epoxy construction, makes this bright yellow board with red flower graphics work like a charm and a champ. Fabien Vollenweider does indeed know what he’s doing.
Ironically, amusingly, Robert Teriitehau, the charismatic Bic-sponsored pro from New Caledonia who lives on Maui, dropped by our test site a couple of times. (His beautiful French girlfriend, just learning to sail, was there more often, and when guys saw Robert’s Hummer in the parking area they started looking around for her, just for the pleasure of the gaze.) We asked him if the shape was truly his, or if Bic just borrowed his name. He answered the question with a sly grin and a roll of his eyes.
But no matter. Who’ll twist their tongue to say their board is a row-BEAR TEAR-a-tuh-hoe special anyhow? It’s so much more fun to say, “Fabienvollenveeder.”
SCORE: (13 ratings)
Upwind 4.31 Planing 4.23 Speed 4.15 Handling 4.46 Jibe 4.33 Overall 4.30
COMMENTS:
On our one day of wicked, erratic Kona offshore winds—“a day for experts and idiots,” said Mark Archer—only a few sailors ventured out, and only one stayed out: Dealer-tester Randy Johnson, owner of The House in St. Paul, Minnesota. He chose the 270 RT with a Neil Pryde 5.0 NR sail, and gave both straight 5’s. “It’s truly a testament to this amazing equipment to handle such brutal, disorganized wind,” he said. “Just a few years ago it would have been impossible.” In more stable conditions, he gave the RT straight 5’s a second time.
“Got me upwind quickly,” said one woman. Another said, “A sweet ride. It’s fun, and easy to control even when overpowered. It wasn’t fast enough for great loft on jumps, but it did fly.”
“Good upwind, fast, easy to turn, user friendly,” said one guy, and another echoed, “Light and lively, very user friendly.”
This user-friendly quality was confirmed by the experience of the next sailor, who said, “It was my first time on the water in months, and my first day in breaking waves in 10 years. Jumping was great, and the speed reaches were fun. A great freeride board. With a Sailworks 5.2 Revo, this combo rocked!”
STAFF:
Upwind 4.0, Planing 4.0, Speed 4.0 Handling 4.0,
Jibe 4.5, Overall 4.1
We had some light-wind boards and sails over 7 meters in the test, despite the fact that Maui is by no means the best place to test them. But we had to be prepared for light wind. Had we known that it was going to blow 6.5 or better for 30 of 35 days (and all but a couple of those days were probably 5.7 or better), we might have been able to leave the big stuff home. As it was, we should have requested 4.0 meter sails. A few times our best women got blown off the water, although we were quickly saved by 3.7s from Windwing, Hot Sails Maui and Simmer, and 4.0s from Windwing and Gaastra.
In addition, there's a unique problem on Maui. Mornings are the time of light wind and relatively flat water, but there's no windsurfing allowed before 11 a.m., for the safety of divers and snorkelers. But in the final week of the test, the wind did lose some of its kick. We gathered all the big stuff up, and for a couple of days Mark Archer, Glenn Fuller and John Chao hit the water at 11 a.m. and raced to get some testing in, maybe an hour's worth inside the reef, before they were blown sky-high. Nevin Sayre got on a couple of the big boards, too.
TECHNO 273
Quite logically and naturally, this board follows last year’s highly successful 283. More of the same, only less—and more, too. The user-friendliness of the 283 might have been predicted, but its speed and control in high wind was surprising, at least to sailors, if not Fabien Vollenweider, its shaper. Vollenweider apparently figured he could build additional performance into a more compact package with the 273, thus Bic would be able to reach more advanced or aggressive sailors who sail in higher wind and chop.
Bic’s claim for this 125-liter board is range: 11 to 30 knots, with sail sizes of 5.5 to 8.0 meters.
SCORE: (7 ratings)
Upwind 4.29 Planing 4.29 Speed 3.57 Handling 3.57 Jibe 3.50 Overall 3.85
COMMENTS:
“Strong points are range and easy jibing. Works well in any radius jibe, at any speed. The speed is pretty decent as well. This board is consumer friendly.” This dealer-tester said the footstraps were mounted too far back. Sometimes testers did their own tuning without telling us. Sometimes we let things slip between the cracks. Sometimes those cracks were so big it was like having joists without floorboards.
On a rough day, a sailor struggling with waterstarts and thus insecure with smaller boards, went from a 6.0 to 5.0 to 4.3, searching for a rig he could control. “The Techno wasn’t quite as comfortable for me as the Starboard Carve 140 in these conditions,” he said. Probably because the straps were too far back.
“I blew several jibes on the 273,” said a sailor who doesn’t miss many jibes.
Maybe because the straps were too far back.
“This is a big ole board!” said a sailor who apparently had never sailed the 283. “Very good upwind, and I was surprised that it was pretty fast for how wide it is. Stable, user-friendly in light wind. But the footstraps may be too far back for beginners.” Six days later, a sailor said, “This board is so easy! Even overpowered on a 6.0 it was easy to jibe and held speed beautifully in a wide arc jibe.”
Then he laid some flooring for us by moving the straps. After that, he said, “But with the footstraps all the way forward, the board was a whole lot less maneuverable and less responsive. Top speed, jibe entry and speed were all compromised.”
Maybe so, but the next guy, not nearly so good a sailor, was happy. “Easy to get on a plane and get in the footstraps, and easy to jibe. I made all my jibes in the session. Unheard-of for me.”
Moral to the story: To test any board properly, you have to test it in every state of tune. For the umpteenth time, we’re making no claims to the technical validity of the performance pronouncements you read in this test, only to the validity of our testers’ experiences.
TECHNO 283
This is a board that has been hugely popular since it came on the market, a best-seller, and has been well-tested. Because the 2000 model wasn't supplied to our test with the correct fin, and the rep on Maui apparently couldn't get the correct fin, and the board's early scoring showed uncharacteristic 2’s in Handling and Jibe, we turned it over to Stein Gabrielsen to use for teaching. It immediately became a favorite for Stein and his students, almost all of them women, who loved its stability for learning waterstarting and sailing away.
Bic calls this board a course racing board, but don’t let that scare you. It wouldn’t be so popular if it weren’t user friendly. With 150 liters in its 9’3”, and a wide, nicely rounded tail, it planes early, keeps planing through lulls, and turns easily. It’s also very stable, even in rough water and winds that call for sails smaller than the ideal minimum of 6.5 meters.
We also had a Tiga 281, a technical twin to the Bic Techno 283, except it's not called a race board, and it's yellow with a fully padded red deck. It had the correct fin. It was sailed once and got straight 4’s.
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