Does anyone know the difference for people like me who enjoy jumping, try duck gybes and want 360's but are never going to get anywhere near willy skippers and the like. Is the freeride carve the more sensible for the lake (but straight lines get boring) or is the freestyle going to give me more fun. IE I CAN'T DECIDE WHICH TO BUY!

Fantastic question - I must say I'm in exactly the same situation.



I got a shock when I went to the various company websites and saw how many different boards there were to choose from ! I can remember the days when you only really had a choice of about three/four decent boards in the market (mind you they were the days when most people had custom boards..).



I think I'm right in saying Freeride boards are like the wave/slaloms of old - a bit of a cross over good for blasting but not as pointy as a full on slalom etc

whereas Freestyle boards are more akin to a wave board that doesn't drop off the plane quite so easily ??

Or is at all just down to what the manufacturers are calling them ?



Can anybody shed some light on this for us....

Its each to there own, although I would say having sailed freestyle boards on flat and lumpy water, they are plenty fast enough and who knows you may find these seemingly impossible moves a doddle on the right kit! We have all gone fast on the slalom boards of yesteryear. You will improve your sailing on a freestyle board whereas on a 'freeride' you will carry on doing boring carve gybes and...not much else. Jumping is easier on a freestyle board aswell, they have more 'pop'. If you get one that will support your weight they are even fun in light winds just doing the stuff we all should have learnt on long boards but were in too much of a hurry to get on to short boards to be bothered about. Its a bit gay aswell 'freeride' if you ask me.

Boards have become very specialised of late and frankly the difference between boards that are adjacent to each other on a manufacturers scale have very little between them. For most of us a freeride board is as good as a freestyle board and has the added advantage of being quicker. If however you’re serious about Freestyle…and I mean Spocks/Vulcans…etc you will find a dedicated Freestyle board allows you to push the limits a little more…although I’ll betcha Josh Stone can pull most moves off on a slalom board or a wave board.



Volume also come into it. A small ‘FreestyleWave’ board is probably more ‘wavey’ that a big wave board in large waves. Conversely a big FreestyleWave that I once owned was almost as quick as some slalom boards in a real blow.



Put basically it’s a mine field. I too am after a bigger board – Windy John from D-Spot is sick to the back teeth of my deliberations on the subject. I’m after a board that I can rig big sails on, take out in waves on light wind days…also rig smaller sails and try some ‘basic’ freestyle on flat water, but also if the mood grabs me have some fairly quick runs down the wall at West Kirby and give Bert a run for his money. Porky Pig, you’re cleared for take off…….

I got a bit bemused by it all myself a while back. However allthough the boundaries between the different categories are "grey & fussy" I 'd say itgoes something like this



Wave - full on manouverability, so small & low volume, not so quick on the plane due to soft rails.



Freeride - designed for sailors who like going fast but without the compromises in manouverability inherent in a full on race board. Sharp rails mean the board is fast and probably fairly quick on the plane. Great for jumps and carving manourves. Great for balsting and doing carve manouvers at West Kirby!



Freestyle - designed for doing tricks. So is wide around 58-65cm for stability, but is short and has softish & boxy rails to get planing early and be manourveable. The early planing is important so that in comps they can get as many tricks in as possible in a short time in unpredictable winds. The board will also have some channels in the front to help the board track in a strainght line when doing slidiy backwards tricks like willy skippers & spocks.



My thoughts are......

Definatley don't buy a freestyle wave board for down the line wave riding. But do consider one for bump & jump sailing eg on the tide and cruising about on the lake in stronger winds.

If you like going fast, get a freeride board. If you like going fast and want to try some tricks get a style/ride board eg RRD Avantstyle.

If you want to do tricks more than blasting get a freestyle board, they aren't as fast, but fast enough and they get planing dead early.



If you're still not sure, try sailing a few boards and see which one you like. Have a go on my Exocet Compact Move or Ian (Kay's!) RRD twintip, Windy Johns Starboard looks like a nice board too. They're so forgiving to sail and make progression that much easier.

Dave



I understand a lot of people on the lake stagnate and don't improve for long periods of time due to many things.(time on the water?correct kit for correct day)

Everyone must be able to improve and as unattainable as the Willy skipper was it seems like a fair few people can now pull them off. I personally suggest a clinic with John Skye in Ireland. I think a lot more people who are this standard will not seek help. Why do you think Team MPG sail together all the time. It means there friends can help and point out mistakes.

If all else fails and you don't want to attend work on a monday like a criple after 25 willy skipper attempts look up and old ian boyd vid in fuerte and there is some really cool old school freestyle. One footers, duck takcs, no handed jumps.



It took robby swift 2 months to pull off a spock and that was sailing every day in maui and trying on both tacks for one hour at the start of the session and one hour and the end.