ST-115 or ST126 for race sails 7.3

[windsurfer_ua]

Hello, i'm 82 kg. I planning to use s-type for slalom race on national level. Which boards will be beter for race sails 7,3 - ST115 or st 126? The conditions is flat to choppy water.
Regards, Igor

[Erich]

Hi Igor,

both boards will carry a 7.3 Race sail pretty good (the iSonic boards nearly demand race sails or at leasr freerace sails) but the iSonic will perform much better in slalom races. So if you seriously want to participate in slalom races I strongly recommend the iSonic instead of the S-Type (by the way I sail an iSonic 115 with a North Daytona 7.3 FreeRace sail. A great board although I ride it just for fun (it really complements my Starboard F-Type 138 which I sail with a NeilPryde V8 8.5qm).

Erich

[Egor]

I'd say the isonic 111 would be a better option with the 7.3 Plenty of volume for your 82kg It would be faster in flat and choppy water for racing

[sukhdev]

I spent a fair amount of time on the 115 when it first came out 2 years ago and I'm about 85kg. I sailed the board in windy vietnam with 2 race sails, neutron 6.3 and 7.6. The fins used were the stock drake 32, vector canefire 34 and a select elite 36h. The board will easily take the 7.3.

Its a superb board, perhaps one of the best allrounders I've ever sailed in that size. You may lose out a little to the dedicated slalom boards in the straights but in the turns the stype shines and shines. There are boards and moments on them that stick in your mind; for me one such moment was the second ever gybe i did on the S-type. Coming in between swells at Mui Ne bay vietnam, the board went through the gybe in a silky controlled way that I can still clearly remember. The 126 felt completely different, more bulk of course, but also it was not as communicative or as lively as the 115. I would stick to the 115, my use of it was with sails ranging from 5.x to 7.x.

As an aside on those 2 10 day very windy trips the other boards I used were the Sonic 100, Thommen RS60, Kombat and the Stype in 2 sizes with the Stype 115 being my preferred choice for sheer sailing pleasure.

As for fins I did a write up of my test findings on our site and if you are interested you might want to read it at this link : S-Type - 3 fins and a board

hope this helps..

regards

sukhdev