Freerace vs Transport vs Sector

[Flyboy]

When it comes to a "freeride" board, the smaller it is, the greater range it will have. With a small board, what you give up is a small amount at the extreme low end, what you gain is a much bigger top end.

Three years ago I bought, on a whim, a small directional board built by veteran Canadian shaper Lee Brittain. It is 4'10" x 18", tri-fin & 3 strap, thin with a pretty flat rocker. Since I bought it, I grew to like it so much, it has been the only board I have been riding - the ultimate in rider simplicity!

It is (just) rideable in 10 knots & in 12 knots can be ridden comfortably upwind (180 lbs). It's top end is pretty much "unlimited". So, it planes pretty early, is very fast, tracks upwind well, carves a beautiful jibe, & with it's small size, is great for jumping. It works well for smaller surf, but when the waves get larger - over 5 or 6 feet - it is a bit fast & squirrely for optimal wave riding. It is, IMO, the perfect "all-round" board.

In my experience, 3 straps makes more sense than 2 straps - it allows you to ride comfortably & trim the board for more power, control & speed, & it is more comfortable for jumping. For this reason, I am very dubious about 2 strap designs like the North Nugget.

I think people need to be realistic that if you are getting a raceboard, or even a larger free-ride board, you are going to gain perhaps 2 - 4 knots on the low end, & better upwind tracking, but you're going to have a board that is definitely less fun to ride as the wind picks up. That is the dilemma - the more extreme the low end, the more you are going to sacrifice at the higher end - which really means anything over 15 knots.

I have been contemplating getting a larger freeride board for low wind "touring", but it's going to be tough to give up the simplicity of a one board quiver, & I'm pretty sure that when I'm out riding, as soon as the wind picks up to 13 or 14 knots, I'm going to want to switch to the smaller board.

[knot_moving]

So I hope I can ride my sector above 15kts
I think it would be pretty good in chop, but am just learning to ride it

[Westozzy]

Well I have the sector 54 had it for a couple of months now and it took a little getting used to, but now I am loving it more and more. I'm getting to the stage I can do most not all mind you but most of my limited freestyle hooked in stuff, which is fun in lighter winds. The race fins do take some getting used to. Also riding it (kind of) in the waves, I'm no surfing genius, but it is very functional down the line with the occasional back hand slash ( kind of) lol. But for all your rolls and loops etc and carves its really fun. What id like to do is try some smaller surf fins on it. Does anyone know how I'd find some of these that would fit??

Also can anyone recommend the best surfs traps they have ever used. I find the Airush straps no matter what I try sit a little to high in the arc. Good for when real light and you setup with two fronts and switch gybe on the rail but when there is a little more wind I go one strap front as it rides much better on the toes. Need to tight but loose enough so you can pull foot out and switch gybe if ya need that little more on an upwind tack before a wave. And yet when its on and enough wind toeside works awesome and their is no point switching.

[g0nz0]

Well I have the sector 54... ...What id like to do is try some smaller surf fins on it. Does anyone know how I'd find some of these that would fit??

I have some of these Naish G10 mini tuttle surf fins in stock. They are asymmetrical & supplied in pairs (originally for the old mutant style boards) so you could use two sets & go for a quad fin setup on your 54.

Dan

[Flyboy]

The new Naish Bullet seems like it was design as a "freeride" board.

http://www.naishkites.com/2013/bullet/#!prettyPhoto

Too bad it doesn't come with the option to mount 3 straps - a board that wide with only centerline straps does not make sense to me.

[davesails7]

The new Naish Bullet seems like it was design as a "freeride" board.

http://www.naishkites.com/2013/bullet/#!prettyPhoto

Too bad it doesn't come with the option to mount 3 straps - a board that wide with only centerline straps does not make sense to me.

The bullet does have the option for 3 straps. It's at 1:40 in the Naish 2013 promo video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOAT79OcZCk

If you're going to ride it in the waves though, the 3 straps don't work wo well toe-side do they?

[windyway]

As IMO it makes absolutely no sense to ride the raceboard or freeraceboard strapless
You will almost not gain anything in low end at all without straps, and the downsides are HUGE with these boards, compared to something a little more "wavelike" but big sized/wide and flat rocker.
Whereas with straps, you can go in way less wind than strapless, and way more upwind, in marginal conditions ........ No advantages at all strapless, like on waveboards.

I agree that strapless with pointer fins is of no particular advantage.

The Sector is really three boards:

Strapped with pointer fins- Maximum performance in every category.

Strapped with surf fins- Soft easy turns, but loss of upwind advantage.

Strapless with surf fins- Allows you to ride toeside so much better.
This is my choice for very small surf very light wind.
With straps, toeside is very unbalanced due to the board width and fixed front foot position.

WW

[Flyboy]

The bullet does have the option for 3 straps. It's at 1:40 in the Naish 2013 promo video.

I see that. The ad I referenced most definitely does not show multiple insert options.

If you're going to ride it in the waves though, the 3 straps don't work well toe-side do they?

The angled position of the front straps doesn't present a problem, but having the straps positioned a long way from the centre-line does. Either way, having straps cluttering the deck does not help when it comes to wave-riding, as it makes moving your feet around much more awkward.

I agree that strapless with pointer fins is of no particular advantage.

The Sector is really three boards:

Strapped with pointer fins- Maximum performance in every category.

Strapped with surf fins- Soft easy turns, but loss of upwind advantage.

Strapless with surf fins- Allows you to ride toeside so much better.
This is my choice for very small surf very light wind.
With straps, toeside is very unbalanced due to the board width and fixed front foot position.

Agreed - no board or configuration offers the best of everything - it's always something of a compromise. The Naish Bullet seems to be the next step down in size from the smallest Sector, but strangely is a quad-fin, rather than a tri-fin set-up. It also (according to the video) shows the straps further from the centre-line, which would seem to me to make more sense when it comes to upwind performance & tracking speed.

I come back to the question: is all that volume & bulk really necessary? My board is MUCH smaller & still planes up in about 10 - 12 knots & would probably plane earlier with bigger pointer fins.

[Peter_Frank]

The new Naish Bullet seems like it was design as a "freeride" board.

http://www.naishkites.com/2013/bullet/#!prettyPhoto

Too bad it doesn't come with the option to mount 3 straps - a board that wide with only centerline straps does not make sense to me.

The bullet does have the option for 3 straps. It's at 1:40 in the Naish 2013 promo video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOAT79OcZCk

If you're going to ride it in the waves though, the 3 straps don't work well toe-side do they?

I cant see it matters, as you dont normally ride toeside in waves on these (unless you are handicapped and can only ride one side of course)
Not even if you go fully vertical 90 degree up and down - it is still a fluid motion where you DONT ride toeside at all.

Down The Line waveriding means rail-to-rail transitions, yes, but not riding toeside - VERY big difference IMO

Actually your feet switch will be even faster with 3 straps - so on these "in between" boards I think it could work - but I dont know on these specific boards...
It works on my small raceboard though - 3 straps and waves (if the board/fins could ride waves well that is)

Peter

[davesails7]

I come back to the question: is all that volume & bulk really necessary? My board is MUCH smaller & still planes up in about 10 - 12 knots & would probably plane earlier with bigger pointer fins.

It is if you live in a lightwind area! In the summer here, every afternoon, the wind picks up to 8-10 knots. That's all you get. Getting a raceboard and big kite lowered my low end from 12 knots to 8. This more than tripled the sessions I could get in the summer months.