Before we start with Jesper’s comments, let’s go through a few things about the boards for those who don’t already know; starting with the names.

HWR = stands for Heavy Weight Racing
LWR = stands for Light Weight Racing

With the below specs of each board, you can quickly see that the LWR has a larger volume and a smaller tail width. Having a larger board for ‘lighter’ sailors essentially started the confusion as you would think, that a lighter sailor would need a smaller board right?

Some other things to note about the boards is their development pathways. Essentially, the previous 160 and 161 have been very popular boards with many top riders last season, even more so than the later 162 model. Starboard noted this and took the path of developing two very different boards which each show some important characteristics of their predecessors. Despite the new cutouts and tailshape and slightly different rockerline, it’s fair to say that the LWR is a development of the 160, with it’s ‘looser’ feel and smaller tail for blasting off the wind. As the 160 was popular in windier, choppier conditions, so too will the LWR be. The HWR, is a development of the 161 and 162, capturing a few great features of each board whilst making some certain improvements as Jesper will discuss.

So now to Jesper’s comments …

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

After some training in Sydney I may have some insight in to what board would be best for you to choose…

We have all seen that all the boards developed over the last four years are working really well even now. It’s really up to the racer to get the best out of it on the course. Many sailors quickly blame their gear for being slow, but hey, if you are stuck in the 2nd row on the startline – everything is pretty slow right?

I have been testing the HWR and LWR quite a lot in a variety of conditions. Mainly in flat to choppy water – which is pretty much like what the worlds in Argentina will be held in and also what we race in on the international circuit.

The HWR and LWR are two totally different boards, no question about that. The most fun board to ride is the LWR – it reminds me of a slalom board with a narrow tail, round nose and is really just easy to sail. Despite this, I am still choosing the HWR for racing at most events this season!

To put things in perspective I am 189cm tall and 89kg.

The LWR is as I said before, a great board. It will work really well for smaller guys 60-78kg. It rides a lot different than the HWR and depending on the size of the rider you probably want to look in to riding bigger fins in light winds. If the board get’s clear wind it really goes fast and keeps accelerating whilst still being easy. Downwind the board sits high and there is no chance that the nose will ever catch the chop, one can go super deep and fast. If I come to an event where it’s going to be windy each day, I would not make any doubt to register the LWR. The Grand-Prix in Fortaleza, Brazil for example would be the perfect place for that kind of board. Or Łeba, Poland with side/on shore 15-25 knots.

In bigger fleets however, lighter winds and being a bigger rider you definitely want to go for the HWR. Why?! Because this board you can really push to the max. When saying push I mean it really points upwind and you can push on the back leg and it just goes for more angle. If you are stuck in bad air/water there is always a chance where it will become a lot harder on the LWR as you need to go more for speed, especially being a bigger guy. Since everything is settled on the first upwind in most races – you don’t wanna be losing angle and going for speed. I have tried experimenting by getting myself into the worst situation and I can always comeback on the HWR. On the LWR I can too, but to a lesser extent as I need to go for more speed and I lose too much angle.

The HWR takes smaller fins. The tail is powerful compared to the LWR and I am still using 70cm fins on the board at all times. Being a lot wider the board planes really early and you don’t have to bear away too much when pumping onto the plane after tacking or starting.

To summarise:

• If you are +80kg go for the HWR.
• If you are <80kg and you usually sail in light winds, go for the HWR.
• If you live in a place where there is consistent medium winds, like in Sydney where the wind varies from 12-20 knots, go for the HWR.
• If you live in a windier place with swell and chop (like Fortaleza) go for the LWR.
• If you live in a light super wind place, like Florida, go for the HWR, regardless of your weight.

I will be using the HWR mostly this season, but for the windy events, I will be on the LWR.

Any questions, you can drop me a mail; find me on www.vesterstrom.com.

There were 8 boards registered with ISAF for use on the FW circuit. These included, the F2 FX-Z/FX-VI, Mike’s Lab L8, Starboard F162/Apollo, Gaastra Vapor, Lorch Thunderbird Formula F1 and the Exocet Warp Formula 100. We haven’t had access to all of these boards as some of them weren’t available in the countries we tested in or weren’t properly represented on the FW Pro Circuit during 2008, so for the purpose of this tuning guide we’ve only reviewed the more mainstream and widely available of the boards which included, Starboard F162, Gaastra Vapor, F2 FX-Z/FX-VI, Exocet Warp Formula 100.

The riders interviewed for this tuning guide include:

* right now, we haven’t been able to get access to any of the new F2 boards for measurement. If someone would like to supply these measurements, that would be great! Email them to Sean.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

We’ve supplied fin suggestions based on the fins the riders have previously tried with the boards. Its possibly that many different styles of fins will work with each board. We’re not suggesting you need have one of the suggested fins or you are wasting your time, merely that if you had already decided to buy a fin, here’s some helpful suggestions on model. We’ve tried to suggest a model from each brand but obviously not every fin was available to every rider. Consult your fin maker for more specifics before making a decision.

Mast-track settings and boom-height will change dramatically based on the fin you are using. We have given the settings as a ‘guide’ only. Start with our settings and then make adjustments to your own preferences and sailing styles.

Starboard F162 / FWOD

Starboard released two versions of their F162 board. The second version, released mid way through 2008, was an identical board given the graphics of FWOD (Formula Windsurfing One-Design, pictured left) as Starboard made a bid to create the new Olympic Windsurfing equipment for the 2012 Olympics. Although Starboard always maintained the shapes were identical, there was some speculation that the rocker lines were changed on the newer FWOD versions (weweren’t able to find this on the boards we measured however) to give them less flat towards the tail however, the main feature riders will notice is that the new F162′s or FWOD versions, sport a thicker grey paint and logo on the bottom of the board, either to stay with ISAF’s policies on Olympic equipment being difficult to modify by sanding or to help with early problems they had with the board with the veneer of the bottom of the boards weeping.

The F162 came under early criticism from the general public on the windsurfing forums that the board wasn’t performing well compared to its competitor’s boards, however, after a 12 months on the market it would appear now that it was just a case of sailors not realising how different this board was to its predecessors and not tuning the board correctly.

BOARD DESIGN / CHARACTERISTICS:

Compared to the F160/F161 Starboards, the new F162 is considerably wider in the tail and has a wider and thinner nose, with considerably less nose-rocker leading up to the front of the board. The concept behind the thinner and flatter nose, was to aid with the ‘sticking’ problems that the 160 and to some extent the 161 had downwind, whereby the big and bulky noses of these boards would catch each wave and slow the board down. This new nose has been quite successful in improving downwind speed on the F162 even with the wider tail, which although helps immensely with upwind ability, the wider the tail, the more wetted surface-area you are dragging downwind.

This board sails incredibly ‘flat’, meaning that the nose sticks to the water and the board feels very rigid and stiff under your feet.  Because of the flat nose-rocker, you need to be mindful of always trying to set up your gear to keep the nose clear of the water. Even with good rail pressure, without the nose lifting you can produce too much leeward rail engagement, which slows the board down. As a result, the best tuning settings are ones that free the nose and help to rail the board.

FINS:

No doubt, with the ‘flat’ characteristics this board has when it sails makes fin choice a lot more critical then previous Starboard boards. The F162 requires an extremely powerful fin to help rail the board and lift the nose to get the board to ‘free up’ and stop sticking to the water. Don’t mistake a powerful fin for simply just an ‘upright’ fin; these are two different things. What the board requires is a powerful fin and the best way to do this is to try fins with little to no ‘geometric twist’ and torsionally stiff. The best fins showing these characteristics are the Kashy XS/XXS, VMG Blades ‘K’ model and Hurricane FRB6 with ’0′ twist. During testing this board we found the Deboichet R20 not powerful enough to keep the nose of the board lifting.

The fins we recommended for this board are currently:
{column1}
Light Winds:

- Kashy 72/70 XS
- Ifju LWXS 70*
- VMG Blades K76/70
- Hurricane FRB6 ’680′ S- 72/70
{/column1}

{column2}
Strong Winds:

- Kashy 70cm XS
- Ifju LWXS 70
- VMG Blades K70
- Hurricane FRB6 ’680′ S- 70

{/column2}

*We hadn’t tried a cutdown Ifju at the time of testing. But presumably they would be as good as the 70.

In lightwinds, the tail width of this board will allow cutdown fins up to 72/76cm however most of the riders using this board used 72/74cm fins. The board requires a lot of power both from your fin and also from your sail, so it is recommended in light/medium winds to always use the biggest sail possible. Pro rider Jesper Vesterstrøm suggested he used his 11.8m sail up to 18 knots which is higher than other riders on other boards.  The extra power from your sail will help generate the lift the board needs to rail and also help power the bigger cutdown fins you are using.

MAST-TRACK and STRAP POSITIONS:

This board sails very flat, so to counteract this characteristic you need to get all the power and leverage towards the back of the board. Start with the mast-track all the way in the back (with your plate covering the serial number even) and straps in the back holes (front and back straps). Your boom height will depend on your style, however it is recommended to use as higher boom height as possible to help lift the nose of the board. Using larger cutdown fins, may cause the nose to sit lower in the water due to the amount of vertical-lift they produce; having a high boom, straps and mast-track back will help to counteract the fin and the boards insitence to keep sailing flat.

In stronger winds, the mast-track can be moved forward to aid with control, however it is not recommended to go much further than the middle of the track, even in hurricane conditions.

Overall, this is a very comfortable board to sail and the specified weights of the boards we measured were all within tolerances. It may require a little bit more tuning than other boards if you have been riding the previous Starboard FW boards as the F162 is a very different animal to its predecessors.

Gaastra Vapor Racing

Gaastra entered the Formula Board market quite late, with the Vapor Racing 2008 board their first ever FW board. Shaped by Tabou shaper Fabien Vollenweider and developed by Steve Allen (AUS-0) and Hubert Mokrzycki (POL-25), Gaastra were pretty quick to snag a good market share of the FW boards sold in 2008, even if it took them 10 months to acknowledge the board even existed on their website!

BOARD DESIGN / CHARACTERISTICS:

We’ve written a more in depth review of the Gaastra board which you can read here, however, the fins have changed immensely since that article was published and we recommend using the settings mentioned below rather than in the previous review.

The general characteristics of the Vapor board are that its got a nice amount of scoop-rocker, a very wide tail, similar (which we like!) cutouts to the F162 and a very well designed nose which has just the right amount of vee/concave and thin outline built in to it to make this board a real performer downwind, even in strong winds.

The board arguably feels similar under the feet to a Starboard F160, however, with the wider tail, the board feels much more ‘free’ even in light winds. It is a very ‘aggressive’ board, meaning that the nose rides high in the water and the board feels very twitchy and responsive under your feet. Although, there will be no problems with control, even in high winds, with this board, the general ride characteristics are that the board is extremely loose and ‘flighty’ with the nose being lifted easily and fin/rail pressure being generated easily. All the tuning settings for this board are to keep the nose tracking straight without bobbing up and down which is can do with the wrong mast-track position. This is one of the few boards that is not very fin specific, almost any fin will work and feel comfortable with the board, which is a great attribut to its design.

FINS:

As we mentioned, this board works well with almost any from an old Deboichet R13 up to the latest Kashy/VMG etc super soft fins. With the very forgiving feeling this board has in high winds and the safety the nose of this board creates when sailing downwind in big swell, it will be possible to use much larger fins in higher winds with the Vapor board. We found the best fins suited to this board are the newer, much softer, swept-back fins such as Kashy, VMG Blades, Deboichet R20 and Hurricane FRB6 as these fins create a bit of vertical lift under the board which helps to keep the nose down a little and under control.

Different to the Starboard F162, you don’t need as much power from the fin to generate rail pressure with this board, so we recommend getting fins with maximum amount of twist in the tip which will help depower and settle the board down when the fin loads up in high winds and will also allow a much more comfortable and smooth ride downwind at deeper angles.

The fins we recommended for this board are currently:
{column1}
Light Winds:

- Kashy 74/70 XS
- Ifju LWXS
- VMG Blades K76/70 (Gaastra model)
- Hurricane FRB6 ’682′ S- 72/70
- Deboichet R20
{/column1}

{column2}

Strong Winds:

- Kashy 70cm XS
- Ifju LWXS
- VMG Blades K73 or K70 (Gaastra model)
- Hurricane FRB6 ’682′ S- 70
- Deboichet R20
{/column2}

MAST-TRACK and STRAP POSITIONS:

With a 12m sail, the mast-track should sit in the middle of the track. Any further back and you begin to stall the board as it does not require the track so far back to lift the nose, the shape of the board does this automatically. As it is quite an aggressive board, when the wind gets up you need to move the track forward to keep control of the nose. With the track 2-3cm further forward than centre, the board comes in to its own in strong winds, with a very comfortable and easy ride, despite how responsive the board feels under your feet. It might be possible to stay in the outside straps in strong winds much longer on this board compared with any other, due to its nose shape and wide tail. Straps should always be in the back holes on this board and boom height needs to be as high as comfortable.

We recommend running a higher boom and mast-track further forward to keep the nose at the optimum control level. If you were to move your mast-track further back than middle (to help lift the nose) and then run your boom lower to compensate, the board seems to ‘stall’ a little and be slower to get planing.

Overall, Gaastra have done a very good job providing one of the few boards this season that is as fast as it is easy to sail and tune. Any fin, any sail and any sized rider will suit this board.

Exocet Warp Formula 100

It was said that Exocet’s Patrice Belbeoch developed the Warp Formula 100 entirely on his own without testing against another rider or another board brand. Whether that is true or not, Patrice certainly came up with a very different board for the 2008 season, turning away from trends or copying other designs and creating one of the most talked about boards in 2008. With its slick carbon look and black paint, the new Exocet, aka the “Black Machine” turned a few heads this year when Argentinian rider Gonzalo Costa-Hoevel ended his long-term deal with F2 to ride the new Exocet.

BOARD DESIGN / CHARACTERISTICS:

The first thing to notice about this board is the weight. At its ISAF registered weight, the Warp Formula is nearly 1kg lighter than than any other board on the market and we’ve found by weighing a number of different boards the gap could even be more than 1kg.

Much like the F162, the Exocet sails extremely flat, with the nose sticking to the water, however this characteristic is due much more to the underside of the board’s shape. There is very little rocker and concave in this board and very little nose-rocker towards the front. Exocet have widened the tail of this board immensely and the Exocet has become the widest tailed board behind the new F2′s, with an extra 1cm over the F162 and 2cm over the Vapor at the 30cm off mark.

The board has a similar sailing feeling to the F162 upwind in that the board sails incredibly ‘flat’ with the nose sticking to the water, however it feels a lot more stiff and rigid under your feet than the F162, probably due to the wider tail and flatter rockerline. With the super light weight, the board planes up considerably earlier than other boards with an 11m sail and has extremely good upwind angles in lightwind with its flat bottom shape. The nose appears to stick a little downwind in stronger breezes however this can be fine-tuned with the right fins and setup.

FINS:

Much like the Vapor board, the Exocet’s strengths are that it appears to suit a variety of fins. Everything from older R13 fins up to the latest Kashy/VMG etc super soft fins. The extra width in the tail allows the rider to use a big fin in stronger breezes however the fin must be working to help lift the nose of the board otherwise it could be counter-productive. Different fins give this board a different riding style. Using more traditional fins such as the R13, the board feels incredibly stiff under your feet and generates a lot of lift and speed upwind. As the R13 is a fin that generates a lot of ‘railing’ very easily downwind, we found this fin to give almost the best performance downwind in a variety of windstrengths as it helped rail the board which could clear the ‘sucking’ nose of swells and also reduce the wetted surface area of the board downwind; decreasing drag.

Despite what fin you decide to use, the fin needs to have considerably less rake than other board models. A fin that is less upright will help to lift the nose of the board and may also generate a little more geometric twist in the fin which can help with speed downwind and giving the board a more comfortable ride downwind.

The fins we recommended for this board are currently:
{column1}
Light Winds:

- Kashy 72/70 XS (rake 4.5 deg)
- VMG Blades K73/70 (rake 5 deg)
- Deboichet R13 S– 70 (rake +4)
- Deboichet R20 70 (rake +4)
{/column1}

{column2}

Strong Winds:

- Kashy 72/70 XS (rake 4.5 deg)
- VMG Blades K70 or K68 (rake 5 deg)
- Deboichet R13 S– 70 (rake +4)
- Deboichet R20 70 (rake +4)
{/column2}

MAST-TRACK and STRAP POSITIONS:

The mast-track on this board needs to be run as far back as possible at all times; even in strong winds. The same goes for the footstraps. The reason being, upwind you need to release the nose of the board and having your setup all in the back with maximum pressure on your fin will help to generate the rail pressure needed to lift the nose of the board. Downwind, this board is susceptible to the nose catching waves and slowing down. To counteract this you must get your weight centralised over the back of the board and aggresively rail the board with your feet. Hitting the swell at an angle, whilst the board is extremely railed, will help reduce drag and improve your speed downwind. Fin choice will help with this and one of the main reasons we’ve included the R13 fin with this board is that it is arguably the best fin to generate the rail pressure needed to rail this board downwind and ‘fly the fin’.

On another note, there has been mixed responses as to whether this smaller, lighter board can handle a 12m. The Exocet feels lower on volume than other boards on the market (even though on paper, it is even bigger than some of the other baords) because the overall thickness of the board is less at the the tail and the flatter rockline makes the board appear to sit lower in the water. Although, Gonzalo has been using 12m successfully in light winds in the early part of this season, some heavier riders might find this board a little harder to get planing with the bigger rigs because the board will stall when the nose is pushed down during pumping.

Overall, Exocet have done a great job with this board and provided an interesting competitor to the F162, Vapor and F2 boards. This board, might have more advantages for lighter riders as it ‘may’ have more potential for early planing used with an 11m sail in lighter winds. It is a very easy board to sail/trim upwind however might require a bit more tuning downwind to get the best speed out of the board.

F2 FX-Z

F2 did something unusual in response to the IFWC’s two-year board design lock; they registered two boards, with the FX-VI being produced early on for the 2008 season and the FX-Z only being made available to the ‘general’ consumer much later in the 2008 season. Although the boards share some common characteristics, they are two different boards, with F2 shaper Patrik Diethelm working with Gonzalo Costa-Hoevel on the boards before Gonzalo switched to the Exocet team halfway through 2008. The boards appear to have followed two completely different development paths, each following on from the 2006 and the 2007 F2 boards, which were very different in concept.

For the purpose of describing the general characteristics, we will describe both the FX-Z and FX-VI at once.

BOARD DESIGN / CHARACTERISTICS:

Compared to the other boards on the market, the major design feature of the F2′s is their incredibly wide tails, with the Z being slightly wider than the VI and both being almost 5cm wider than any other board at the one foot off mark. Both boards sport a very rounded outline in their tail and a lower overall scoop-rocker than previous F2 boards which allows them to have good early planing ability despite the drag of the extra tail width.

Looking at both the boards, they appear very square as the tail is almost the width of the nose, but on the water is where they show their abilities. Both boards have a very ‘aggressive’ sailing style which is a little bit more technical to sail comfortably than other boards on the market. The F2 boards are easily railed with their flat vee section in the tail and very sharp rails in the middle however this can also make the boards feel very ‘flighty’ in stronger winds and chop and more mast-track forward pressure is needed to keep the nose down.

It is probably a fair comment that these are both ‘lightwind’ specialist boards. With the added tail width, it’s possible to run fins bigger than ever before (Pro Rider Dennis Littel used an 83cm cutdown Kashy fin in light winds with the FX-Z in 2008) as the added leverage from the board’s tail width allows greater control. The majority of riders will be using much larger cutdown fins in 2009 as large (+76cm) cutdowns are still relatively new on the market. To some extent, the F2 boards have helped drive the need for bigger cutdown fins in other boards on the market.

In stronger winds these boards can become a little more difficult to sail as they require a taller and heavier rider who can use their height to leverage over the board to keep control and stop the board from flying the nose; especially downwind. Of course, the wider the tail the more leverage you get against the fin but also more drag you get whilst sailing. It is a tough comprimise with these F2 boards as they definitely have the best lightwind abilities of any board on the market this year but at the expense of being more difficult in stronger winds and a little more technical to keep the speed up downwind as the tail seems to suck a little on the downwind legs.

F2 recommends the VI as the choice for lighter sailors and the Z for heavier/taller sailors. This is a good recommendation as generally speaking, most of the taller, heavier riders on the tour used the Z versus the smaller guys using the VI when they had both to choose from.

BOOSTER PIPES / CUTOUT PLATES:

As usual, the F2′s sport the booster pipes and adjustable cutout plates to help with the tuning difficulties downwind. The concept behind the booster pipes and cutout plates have always generated a lot of discussion in the FW world and many theories are out there as to their effectiveness. Originally, when the pipes were brought in to their FW and slalom range in 2006, F2 stated that the pipes were to eliminate the vacuum created in the large tail cutouts while travelling at speed. From testing the boards in the past seasons that have used the pipes, its been more apparent that the pipes play a better role in reducing the vacuum at low speeds especially when trying to pump on to the plane. The same can be said for the current boards, as the tail width does have the propencity to ‘suck’ to the water whilst trying to initiate planing.

The cutout plates, give the rider four options (with plastic ringed spacers allowing the adjustments) by either using no plates, or putting 1-3 rings in between them to make the cutout depth smaller. All of our test riders found the board performed best with 2 rings in on both boards; in either strong or light winds, upwind or downwind.

FINS:

No doubt, with the insane tail width of these boards, it’s possible to use bigger fins than ever before. We had tested a smaller amount of fins out with these boards so there may be many more options available, but for tuning purposes, fins that work with the VI will work in the Z. Softer tipped and fins with a little bit more ‘geometric twist’ are a must with these boards to help release the board a little bit from the water and help it to rail. The fins need to be fast to generate the best lift but also to be powerful to help rail the board downwind. The best fins showing these characteristics are the Kashy XS/XXS, VMG Blades ‘K’ and ‘B’ models, the R20 and Ifju LW models.

The fins we recommended for this board are currently:
{column1}
Light Winds:

- Kashy 78-80/70 XS
- Ifju LWXS 70*
- VMG Blades K78/70, B78/70
- Deboichet R20
{/column1}

{column2}
Strong Winds:

- Kashy 70cm XS
- Ifju LWXS 70
- VMG Blades K70
- Deboichet R20

{/column2}

F2 FX-Z

F2 FX-VI

We hope you are able to use this guide to better tune your boards in 2009. CarbonSugar would like to stress that it is actually a ‘guide’ and not a definitive tuning methodology. Everyone is different and we only sampled a small number of fins, so please our recommendations as a basis to begin tuning and try your own settings to see if they are faster.

Feel free to post your comments/suggestions and personal experiences about the boards in the comments so the discussion can be built on.

Background Development

Arriving in Poland in August 2007 to train before the Allegro Cup in Leba, I caught up with Steve Allen and his Polish training partner Hubert Mokrzycki (POL-25). I had heard whispers of Tabou bringing out a formula board for 2008 but I was still suprised to find Steve and Hubert with 2 prototypes of the new board out on the beach. Despite the Tabou footstraps, it was completely blank of graphics and from first view looked a lot like a Starboard 160. The cutouts being the only visual difference; one board with the Starboard cutouts and the other with some deep F2 looking cutouts.

Steve had been riding the Starboard 160 for most of the season (see here why he used the 160 and not a 161) and had wanted to make some improvements beginning with modifying the nose shape and also a slight difference in the bottom shape. Suprisingly enough, from what I could gather there were only these 2 prototypes made, which is a stark contrast to Starboard who usually boast an incredible amount of prototypes tested to come up with their new boards. They tried both cutout shapes but found the Starboard ones to be better than the F2 type. Also note that Steve and Hubert did the entire development on this board (Ross Williams wasn’t included in the development it seems).

From what I was told, Steve’s first use of the production version was during the FW World Championships in Brazil. Hubert informed me earlier that month in Poland that they had decided to brand it as a Gaastra board, to offer a full racing rig/board package and also a racing board as such didn’t fit with the brand-persona of Tabou.

Sailing with Steve earlier this week in Australia he tells me that in early testing with the new board in Brazil, it was faster on all points than the 160. He also volunteered that others who were testing the new 2008 162 had found it to be no faster than their 160′s. Take that with a grain of salt I should think…

Shape

Here are some measurements of the Gaastra Vapor, compared with a Starboard 161.

Gaastra Vapor:

• 30cm off (1ft off) – 5mm vee; 7mm concave
• 90cm off – 11.5mm vee; 5mm concave
• 120cm off – 13mm vee; 7mm concave
• 40cm from front – 14mm vee; 9mm concave

• Width at 30cm off – 813mm
• Mast-track (from back) – 1260mm
• Mast-track length – 170mm
• Finbox (from back) – 90mm
• Flat (from back) – 600mm
• Cutouts 14mm at centre

Starboard 161:

• 30cm off (1ft off) – 0mm vee; 1.5mm concave
• 90cm off – 4mm vee; 4.5mm concave
• 120cm off – 19mm vee; 4mm concave
• 40cm from front – 14mm vee; 1.5mm concave

• Width at 30cm off – 807mm
• Mast-track (from back) – 1267mm
• Mast-track length – 170mm
• Finbox (from back) – 90mm
• Cutouts 10mm at centre

So you can see quickly that the Vapor board is slightly wider in the tail and has a little more vee and concave towards the front – actually the concaves continue right into the nose of the board. The Vapor also has a little more rocker (about 10mm vs 7mm in the 161). The mast-tracks and fin position are exactly the same however.

Ride

This board is a very similar ride to the two previous Starboards (160, 161) in the sense that you can just jump on it, put any fin in, put the track anywhere and just go sailing. I always felt the F2 boards required a little more finesse in your trimming and technique which made them a more technical ride (although still very fast). This board is very “point and shoot” and doesn’t require constant rail pressure or footing off for speed to keep it trucking upwind; making it very easy to tune!

Initially, the new thinned out nose was something I was interested in really testing out when I sailed it for the first time in windy conditions (+25 knots) at Redcliffe, QLD. For those who don’t know where Redcliffe is, it is by far one of the most gnarliest spots I have ever sailed formula at and happens to be my home spot. Think 3-4m swells that are extremely close together and steep as well as few turtles, sharks, dolphins and crab-pots make this an interesting place to test gear – however it boasts some of the most consistent winds (direction/strength) on this side of Australia. I’m not a fan of chicken straps (as you’ll see below) so I took the board out on this particular day to try and see if I could catch the nose downwind!

About 7 waves in a row I lifted my back foot and kicked the board downwind off the top of a swell to try and dig it in (don’t try this at home kids!). I’ve done this a few times on a 161 and subsequently broken booms, fractured elbows and have had a NP boom logo imprinted into my shoulder as a result of catching its nose in +30 knot winds with big seas! The Vapor doesn’t even look like catching…

On the 8th wave I did manage to aggressively sink the nose under a swell but the board’s shallow entry and ‘boat-like’ V shape all the way to the bow allowed the board to pop out of the water very quickly and lose minimal speed. Downwind, I found the board railing very easily which allowed me to ‘fly-the-fin’ (thank Sam Ireland’s Pro Secrets DVD for that term) downwind keeping the speed and forgetting about the swells in front of me. I believe this board’s strength is its downwind controllability (that’s probably not a word!) and speed downwind.

My only negative in the ride of the board was the rail shape under the footstraps. It is a quite boxy board under your feet and as a result I had sore arches in my feet after 2 hours of hard sailing. Something to get used to I guess, but I never had this problem with the Starboards.

Tuning

I have been running my footstraps in the second back hole and mast-track in the middle or 1cm back for 90% of conditions. I don’t like to move my footstraps depending on wind conditions, but on other boards you can get away with raking your fins further upright by moving your footstraps 1-2 holes further forward to get your weight more centralised over the fin.

• TIP: If you are raking your fin excessively forward (nearly upright etc), don’t move your mast-track forward too early. Despite what you might think, raking your fin more upright actually helps to keep the nose of your board down as it creates more vertical lift at the tail.

This board likes power and I felt comfortable using my 12m Gaastra Vapor up to 12-15 knots (although I would normally be on my 11m in 12 knots in racing conditions) and has a wide, powerful tail which allows you to really drive from your back foot upwind, instead of railing the board by pointing the toes of your front foot in the strap. In windy conditions you can keep the track back (still in the middle) if you have the control as the nose shape does not catch on the swells and rides nice and high downwind, allowing you to pick your lines through the swells and go for speed – rather than dodging the deep swells that look a little scary!

I also noticed upwind, the board kept flat in choppy conditions allowing you to really keep the power on the fin. This might mean there’s more potential to spin-out a fin in choppy conditions if you are not too careful, so the board might require a little more finesse in your sheeting/breathing technique over the swells. In flat water (we don’t have flat water where I live) the board should track nicely upwind.

I’ll deal with fins in a moment, but for tuning purposes the secret to getting the board to fly is to make sure to get the nose free and lifting upwind. Mast-track, boom-height and fin make a difference in this sense. Use a combination of mast-track back, boom higher (try one or the other first) to make sure you are getting the nose out of the water and you will notice the board feels lighter under your feet and more responsive. When using a new-style softer-tip fin (see below for what I am talking about), you will need to run the mast-track further back (1-2cm from middle) to keep the nose free as these fins generate more lift under the tail and seem to keep the nose down – which is slow!

You can trim this board by feel with a bit of practice. Go sailing and try and get your weight back towards the fin with mast-track/boom-height settings and when you feel the board is lighter under your feet and more responsive – that is the fast setting you are looking for (this could probably be said of ALL formula boards, but it was more noticeable to me on the Vapor). Try it. Go for a run with your track in the middle. Move it back 1cm and try again. Try 1cm more downhaul and boom up 2cm… I think you’ll notice the difference… try to keep the mast-track towards the middle even in windy conditions if you can handle it (the board needs the nose high to trim correctly).

Fins

The original prototypes were tested with Hubert’s R13 70 S and R19 70 S– fins and one would assume Steve would have tried his Kashy XXS which he had been using most of the year on the formula tour. I was a little disappointed to hear that the R19 was working well in the board as Hubert’s R19 is an early proto which of course was super-sweet and very soft whereas myself and (probably) everyone else in the world couldn’t get their R19′s to work. However, having a board that works perfectly with an R13 70 S is a great asset as this is by far the most popular fin on the market and one of the easiest to tune. So far I have tested the board with:

• R13 70 S
• R19 70 S-
• Select R07 S (2008 prototype – sorry!)
• Select R07 S- (2008 prototype)
• R13 66 S
• R13 73/70 M

Unfortunately for the point of this review, the Select fins were by far the best in this board. These fins aren’t available to the general public for a few months (my French friends tell me that these fins are now available to order from Select – thanks guys!) however the way these fins work is a good understanding of how this board works…

These Select fins are basically a copy of the Kashy fin’s concept in the sense that they are extremely soft in the middle/tip sections whilst having incredible tortional stiffness (no twisting) to create speed. I’m not entirely sure exactly how these fins work in relation to a standard Deb foil like an R13 (I have some ideas, and might write an article about it another day), however they seem to settle the board on the water a lot more than the standard Deb R13 does and help keep the board trimming nicely downwind. By “settle”, I mean that it keeps the board trimming nicely and prevents the side-to-side cantering that can happen with these modern boards that boast double-concaves. I remember Boogie used to talk about the Starboard boards tilting from side-to-side and that softer fins could help with this phenomenon.

So to summarise with the fins: this is another fantastically adaptable board that should be able to be tuned and get good speed/height out of a variety of fins. My recommendations would be that the best performance will be got out of the newer, softer-tip style fins such as Kashy’s, the new Deb R20 and the new Selects etc. Trimming is the key to getting this board to go fast and a powerful, soft fin will help keep the board railing and combined with a higher boom/track further back will help to lift the nose and reduce the wetted-surface area to go for maximum speed.

In higher winds, I still believe these new-style softer fins work far better and would suggest getting off big fins earlier, maybe down to a 68-66cm (depending on your weight) as this board creates rail pressure very easily and with the wide tail you can easily handle the power of these new fins without too much trouble. An R13 70 S/M will still be a great option in higher winds but I have found I can get better angle out of my R13 66 S in +20 knots as I can keep the mast-track towards the back with this smaller fin and keep the power on it at all times. A 95kg guy would probably do better justice with a 70cm fin in the board in high winds (I am 82kg at the moment).

OVERALL SUMMARY

Positives

• Easy to tune/trim
• Fast and safe downwind (probably due to the new nose and slightly deeper cutouts)
• Powerful tail shape allows use of more sail area and bigger fins in higher winds
• Quality construction and materials (although I’ve only owned the board for 3 weeks! – touch wood!)
• Rails easily upwind and trims very straight (no pitching or side-to-side cantering) with the correct settings used
• Gybes very easily

Negatives

• Full carbon might not be as resistant to heel/foot dents as the pine-wood on Starboard boards
• The name is the SAME as the Gaastra sails (c’mon guys, think of something NEW!)
• Slightly more sharp deck rails than the Starboards – may be a little harsher on your feet on the first ride
• Could’ve been slightly lighter considering the full-carbon construction

Overall I give the board 9/10 and (despite not actually being contracted to ride it whatsoever) it will be my board of choice this season for Formula racing. I’m excited to finally see another option on the market that’s a viable competitor to the Starboard as the F2 boards have not been readily available in Australia the past few seasons and it was starting to become a Starboard one-design class down here!