If you're an advanced or expert windsurfer who sails in windy places, or if you have the time to sail whenever the wind happens to blow hard, you focus on shortboards. Only a few sailors are lucky enough to have the wind or the job for that kind of existence. Everyone else needs boards that will work when the wind is light, but are still manageable in a big blow.
These boards might be called all-around boards. They range in price from the most to least expensive of all sailboards. Generally, they are about 13 feet long, and most have a centerboard, which enables the rider to float with stability and sail in virtually any direction.
Such boards have over 30 years of development behind them, and they continue to evolve. They incorporate features borrowed from both shortboards and sailboats. They’ve always been fairly wide; the original windsurfer was 26 inches wide and the Olympic One Design is 25 inches wide (only recently have shortboards gone to such widths). But, beginning a few years ago with the 31-inch-wide Hifly 335, greater width has been the direction. Board-makers are taking advantage of the benefits that width offers, in quick planing and sub-planing stability, while maintaining control at speed.
In the last issue we reported from Aruba on a number of new wide-style boards. We’re catching up here with notable new entries into this category: the Hifly Maxx and Hifly Magnum, at 27.5 and 28.7 inches; the F2 Phoenix 320 at 27.6 inches; and the Mistral Malibu 335 at 28.
The only board in this report that isn’t wider than its ancestors is the F2 Race 380. Whether more width would help a big race board like the 380 is an open question. For now, however, IYRU Funboard Class rules limit conforming boards to a maximum of just over 26 inches, which dictates the width of the Race 380.
Although all-around boards differ, there aren’t that many models on the market. Picking the right one is easier than picking the right shortboard—a field where there are a daunting number of options, meaning more chances to make a mistake. After you decide how much you want to invest in an all-around board, and choose a size based on your weight and/or intended use, you might have just one or two contenders. But maybe best of all, since they work in all conditions, you can demo them without waiting for just the right day and just the right wind. |
