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NORTH SHORE MAUI 264 WAVE
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264 WAVE
Length: 262 cm Width: 58 cm
Volume: 90 ltrs Weight: 16/7.4kg
Upwind: 3.75 Planing: 4.00
Speed: 4.15 Handling: 4.29
Jibe: 4.29 Overall: 4.10
Price: $1,495
Includes: Straps, Pads, Fin
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Steve Gottleib, the distributor in Daytona Beach, says this board is the most popular wave board in Florida. It’s a bold shape, not because it’s particularly radical, but because it’s a Maui-bred board that reaches out to good wave sailors who may have below-Maui wave skills. In other words, it’s not elitist. It’s a noble and intelligent attempt to make wave sailing more accessible. It bridges the gap between inexperienced and expert, and there aren’t many wave boards like that. And most expert wave sailors won’t find the 264 beneath their ability.
It’s wide at 58 cm (widest of our four 8-8 wave boards), fairly flat with not a lot of rocker or nose kick, but a lot of vee. Floaty, with 90 or 95 liters, depending on which spec from North Shore Maui you believe. Easy planing, but not too easy. Still turny. Smooth riding. Sweet. Witness the scores in Handling and Jibe.
Plus, it looks nice in yellow. Even the blue flowered graphics aren’t bad, if you’re secure with your masculinity. And if you’re a woman wave sailor, actually, you probably won’t be on this board because of its width and volume.
SCORE: (14 ratings)
Upwind 3.75 Planing 4.0 Speed 4.15
Handling 4.29 Jibe 4.29 Overall 4.10
COMMENTS:
“I sailed it overpowered with a 4.7 and it should have been too big, but it wasn’t. It’s definitely got a lot of range, although it seemed a bit wide for comfort in the air. “
“Just the ticket for slightly onshore wind that gets light in the impact zone.”
“Excellent ride, but it doesn’t like tight turns,” said one woman.
“My size needs that wide tail,” said a 190-pounder.
One sailor did five wave boards in one day, and, in order of preference, it was: North Shore Maui 264, RRD Cult 250, Starboard Wave 88, Kinetic 8-6 and Sailboards Maui 8-4.
Finally, from a guy who was hard to please: “Excellent board. Light, snappy, responsive, user-friendly, stable. This was the best board of the day. Saved my ass in the big stuff.”
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RACE 67
Length: 279 cm Width: 67.5 cm
Volume: 135 ltrs Weight: 16/7.2kg
Upwind: N/A Planing: N/A
Speed: N/A Handling: N/A
Jibe: N/A Overall: N/A
Price: $1,595
Includes: Straps, Pads, Fin
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RACE 67
This is a course racer for bigger guys in medium wind, or smaller guys in light wind. But North Shore says it also handles well in higher winds, because it’s relatively thin; it’s fast and forgiving. But this board, too, weighed 2 pounds more for us than the manufacturer’s claims: 15.8 pounds vs. 13.8.
Mark Archer gave it straight 4’s, the same as he graded the Freerace 282. And his comment applied to both: “Excellent blend of balance, speed and control.”
One of our not-so-advanced intermediates took the board out early in the test, and, interestingly, he hated how it handled for him. “Very skittish,” he said. It was a clear—and, unfortunately, typical—case of mismatch. He simply wasn’t ready for this board. The board may indeed have been skittish, with him guiding it.
Mark Archer had made another comment on the Race 67: “great choice for a recreational sailor.” Don’t believe it. He’s not lying, it’s just that his definition of “recreational sailor” might not be universal.
This is the problem with board testing, and the trick to reading them. The moral to the story is simple: Listen to the tales and experiences, but don’t believe anybody else’s opinion. It’s all relative.
In other words, Know Thyself.
FREERACE 282
North Shore Maui has been around for about five years, mostly making custom boards for pros, painted in the graphics of the company the pro rode for. But two years ago North Shore ventured into the production board business, with their boards being built
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FREERACE 282
Length: 282 cm Width: 67 cm
Volume: 135 ltrs Weight: 16.5/7.6kg
Upwind: N/A Planing: N/A
Speed: N/A Handling: N/A
Jibe: N/A Overall: N/A
Price: $1,595
Includes: Straps, Pads, Fin
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to their specs by Kinetic in Taiwan. They dove right in, with a total of 12 boards. But unlike most other manufacturers, North Shore isn’t chasing numbers by compromising the shapes to suit a broader market. “The shapes aren’t detuned at all. They’re cutting edge. Designed for high-performance sailors,’’ says Steve Gottleib, the distributor in Daytona Beach.
The Freerace 282 was the best-selling North Shore board last year; Gottleib couldn’t keep them in stock, at all. “It’s every bit as fast on a reach as the race boards, but it turns much better because there’s more curve in the outline,” he says. North Shore’s specs list its weight as 14.5 pounds, but ours weighed in at 16.3 pounds, which baffled Gottleib. “The manufacturer is sometimes a little bit optimistic, but I’ve never seen one two pounds heavier before,” he said. However, North Shore admits its posted volume is incorrect; initially they advertised 125 liters, but now say it’s 135 or even 140.
Glenn Fuller sailed the 282 immediately after sailing the Kinetic Race 68, and he rated the 282’s quickness to plane just as highly. He made it sound as if planing was like flicking a toggle switch.
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