|
STARBOARD WAVE 72, WAVE 77, WAVE 88
They are sisters, same bones, same basic shapes, similar personalites, different features, three sizes.
Same tails. The split fishtail, also called a swallow tail. Been around a long time. What is the purpose, again? Why is it good? Don’t ask Rasmussen. All he knows is that his R&D sailor/designer Scott McKercher won the 1999 Wave Production Board World Championship in Spain on a 253 Wave with a fishtail, and he likes them. The 253 Wave was refined into the Wave 77 by thinning the rails a bit, ‘’to please the acquired taste” of McKercher.
But if you do ask Rasmussen about the fishtail, his candid answer will pop your eyeballs. “It’s supposed to allow the tail to dig in deeper in jibing and riding waves, but I don’t know if it’s better,” he says. “It’s just what we’ve been doing. I cannot explain you any more physics behind it. I can’t say why it’s there, or if it makes a difference.”
One thing seems certain; it doesn’t slow the board down. Even with its big rocker, the Wave 72 tied for the highest score in Speed, with the RRD 266 at 4.33. How can a wave board be rated so highly in Speed? Relativity. We asked our testers to consider the form, to factor in the expectation, although the request probably complicated things, because they did so inconsistently. But evidently the six sailors who rated the Wave 72 felt it was faster for a wave board than other boards were for what they are.
The names in the Wave line relate to the volumes, and are proportionally consistent with shapes: they would be size 1, 2 and 4. The 72 and 77 have more vee than the 88 (with more forward than aft, like other Starboards), while the 72 has the most tuck in the rails. Both the 72 and 88 have more rocker than any of our other 20 wave boards: 12 mm, compared to 9 mm on the 77 (two boards had 11 mm, one 10 mm, the rest 9 or less). Even with the rocker, all three boards scored well in Planing, but they lagged in Upwind with a combined average of 3.56. Furthermore, the boards got all Upwind 3’s in five staff ratings. The 88, in particular, got nailed with three Upwind 2’s in 10 guest-tester ratings—although, at the same time, it got the only Upwind 5, so go figure. Its outline narrows less than the others from the mast track to front feet, its rails are naturally fuller (though thinned from last year), and its fishtail is relatively wider and softer.
|
|
|
WAVE 72
Length: 244 cm Width: 52 cm
Volume: 72 ltrs Weight: 13.5/6.2kg
Upwind: 3.67 Planing: 4.00
Speed: 4.33 Handling: 4.50
Jibe: 4.33 Overall: 4.17
Price: $1,445
Includes: Straps, Pads, Fin
|
Our testers liked the smallest the most, the largest the least. Interestingly, the same thing happened with the three RRD wave sisters, so we suspect that might indicate more about testers than boards.
WAVE 72
SCORES: (6 ratings)
Upwind 3.67 Planing 4.0 Speed 4.33
Handling4.5 Jibe 4.33 Overall 4.17
COMMENTS:
“Crispy, responsive, new school.” [Alford]
“Footstraps are too big and too far apart for me. However the 21 cm fin worked well with the 4.0 Sailworks Revo. I had a blast, leaping off waves like I had wings.” That’s Jackie Butzen, the girl who never met a wave board she didn’t want to fly away on.
Small mystery here. “The Wave 77 and Wave 66 [sic] are really nice, in particular the Wave 66 which was in the proper wind range with a Gaastra 4.7 Grind. Very maneuverable and still fast!” We think this dealer must mean the Wave 72. [Quarles]
Strangely, no one commented on the speed.
STAFF:
Upwind 3.0, Planing 3.5, Speed 4.0,
Handling 4.5 Jibe5.0, Overall 4.0
|
|
|
WAVE 77
Length: 249 cm Width: 53.5 cm
Volume: 77 ltrs Weight: 15/6.8kg
Upwind: 3.55 Planing: 3.91
Speed: 3.82 Handling: 4.18
Jibe: 4.18 Overall: 3.93
Price: $1,445
Includes: Straps, Pads, Fin
|
WAVE 77
SCORES: (11 ratings)
Upwind 3.55 Planing 3.91 Speed 3.82 Handling 4.18 Jibe 4.18 Overall 3.93
COMMENTS:
“A fast, responsive, high-performance board, better for advanced sailors. Felt like a custom board.” [Taylor]
“Nice handling board in general, but a little squirrelly, very overpowered on a 4.2 Windwing. Also had a small spinout problem with the 22 cm fin, but I might have been overloading it. A great jumping board.” This dealer gave it a 3-plus in Speed and a 4 in Handling. Two days later, without commenting, he gave it a 2-plus in Speed and 3-minus in Handling, using a 4.7 Simmer. [Coach]
“In overpowering conditions, it bounced around in the chop.” [Butzen]
“With the Aerotech 4.75 Wave, it was my favorite complete rig. New school feeling.” [Alford]
“After moving the front straps forward, the board started performing a lot better, especially turning and going upwind.” [De Moraes]
“Excellent high-wind wave board. Wood construction seems very durable,” said a big guy. [Gottleib]
STAFF:
Upwind3.0, Planing 3.0, Speed3.0,
Handling 4.5 Jibe 4.5, Overall 3.6
COMMENTS:
 |
|
WAVE 88
Length: 253 cm Width: 56 cm
Volume: 88 ltrs Weight: 16.5/7.4kg
Upwind: 3.50 Planing: 3.80
Speed: 3.90 Handling: 3.90
Jibe: 3.70 Overall: 3.76
Price: $1,281
Includes: Straps, Pads, Fin
|
“An excellent wave board. The stronger the wind, the bigger the waves, the greater your skills, the better this board will perform,” said Mark Archer. He added that to improve the handling for his weight, he put on a larger fin. Did he put the stock fin back on when he was finished? Did testers continue to test and evaluate it with the oversize fin? Experience tells us… could go either way.
WAVE 88
SCORES: (10 ratings)
Upwind 3.50 Planing 3.80 Speed 3.90
Handling 3.90 Jibe 3.70 Overall 3.76
COMMENTS:
“Very stable and smooth in the turns, but a little sluggish and slow to plane. Big waves today. The board was good on wave faces.” [Coach]
“Nice and loose.” [Quarles]
STAFF:
Mark Archer gave it 3’s in Upwind, Planing and Speed, a 4 in Handling, and a 4 in Jibe entry, 3 in exit.
|
