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AMERICAN WINDSURFER MAGAZINE
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HI-FLY FREE 282
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FREE 282
Length: 277cm Width: 68.5 cm
Volume: 145 ltrs Weight: 19/8.6kg
Upwind: 4.00 Planing: 4.50
Speed: 3.88 Handling: 3.75
Jibe: 3.88 Overall: 4.00
Price: $1,398 Includes: Straps, Pads, Fin
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Like the 272, the Free 282 lies between its Bic Techno 283 and RRD Freeride 286 counterparts. But it leans much more in the Bic direction, intended for sailors of lesser skills or more mellow intent than those who would go for the especially racy RRD 286. However, like the Bic it’s certainly capable of high performance. In fact, its shape is extremely similar: a bit more tuck in the rails, less rocker, and less vee in the bottom. Other than that, including a volume of 147 liters, it might appear as if the Free 282 was inspired by the success of the Techno 283. The apparent idea was to make it lighter and faster by using carbon sandwich construction.
Our scale (admittedly not precise enough, as it rounded to the nearest half pound) indicated a discrepancy in the weights of both the 272 and 282. HiFly publishes 16.5 pounds for the 272 and 17.2 pounds for the 282; we weighed the 272 slightly lighter at 16.0 pounds, and the 282 considerably heavier at 19.0. Such inconsistencies are not that unusual in pre-production boards, as these might have been. Even after the line gets rolling, resin is still applied by humans, who have good days and bad days—some mornings you pour too much cream in your coffee, too. The excess baggage in the 282 doubtless slowed the board down a bit, although it still recorded an excellent rating in Planing. One can only guess at how quickly the fit 282s will plane.
Maybe the next board will have lost those couple of pounds. No problem, if it matters to you, just weigh it before you buy it.
We left the long-as-your-arm 44 cm fin on this board, by the way. Which meant it was only sailed at high tide.
SCORE: (8 ratings)
Upwind 4.0 Planing 4.5 Speed 3.88 Handling 3.75 Jibe 3.88 Overall 4.0
COMMENTS:
“A reasonable purchase for a 300-pound lake sailor,” said a 178-pound tester who used a three-cam 6.7 Windwing Catalyst. He thought the board was slow and handled poorly, although he gave it a 5 in Planing. “Why would anyone want to work so hard to turn a board? I’d give up early planing for better handling.’’ He may not have to, with the second fin that will come with the board. [Hirshberg]
“Extremely easy turning for my weight,” contradicted a guy who weighs 180. Makes you wonder how well it turns for a 179-pounder. This sailor used the 7.9 Sailworks XT Race sail. He added that the rig was “very forgiving, awesome.” [R Johnson]
“This board feels very similar to the Techno 283, though more alive. Extremely user friendly. Moderate outboard footstrap positions make sailing easy.” [Stone]
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