|
Get Back Issues $8 each
includes shipping in U.S.
|
AMERICAN WINDSURFER MAGAZINE
|
|
BIC SAXO 264 FREE WAVE
|
|
|
SAXO 264 FREE WAVE
Length: 258.5cm Width: 54cm
Volume: 90 Weight: 18/8.2kg
Upwind: 4.20 Planing: 4.40
Speed: 4.20 Handling: 3.60
Jibe: 3.80 Overall: 4.04
Price: $1,499 Includes: Straps, Pads, Fin
|
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.
|
Return to Home Page:
|
|
|
