New Toys! Starboard isonic 121 & RS Slalom MKIII 8.6

Maarten — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 07:52:06 +0000

Finally I have the boards and sails that I always wanted. I went to BOOT (the boat show in Düsseldorf) and was lucky to find a Starboard isonic 121. A new one but then the 2010 model. I usually don’t buy new boards because buying them second hand can save you a lot of money. A few months back I bought an isonic 101 (2008) for 550 euros with 2 Drake fins. Not bad at all.

I was also looking for an older second hand model, mainly because that would have saved me a some money. But the deal I got on BOOT was to good to walk away from. So I took the isonic 121 home. Let’s hope I made the right choice because other people would have swapped the 121 for a 131.

The most important reason for having two boards is to maximize my time on the water. I always had 1 board and this was always a board around 105 liters. Great for mid wind but not in high or low winds. And since I gained some weight lately I wasn’t able to stay afloat anymore (i’m currently 107 KG) . With this new purchase I have a fantastic board for lighter winds and from mid to strong winds I can use the 101.

Why go for Starboard and not another brand? Starboard has a great reputation since they are winning a lot of races and a lot of heavy windsurfers are really happy with the isonics. I also heard and read that they can have a lot of back foot pressure. That’s good since I like to give a lot of back foot pressure without worrying to much about a spin out. Also Neilpryde racing sails tend to make people give a bit more back foot pressure. So stylistically that would be a good combo. Besides that, I have owned a hypersonic for several years now and I have always been happy with the performance.

My new sail, the Neilpryde RS Slalom MKIII 8.6, is meant for light wind sessions. I chose this sail because I have already have 2 RS Slaloms and I like them. The X6 490 mast can be used in the 8.6 which means I don’t have to buy a new mast, great! (although a X9 is recommended).

Sometimes my equipment was limiting my possibilities to go windsurf but that’s not the case anymore. Spring has begun and I’m stoked to get on the water and improve my GPS Speeds.

To summarize my equipment for this season (and probably the next seasons):

Sails
Neilpryde RS Slalom MKIII 8.6
Neilpryde RS Slalom 7.8 – by far my most used sail size.
Neilpryde RS Slalom MII 6.7
Neilpryde V8 6.0

Boards
Starboard Isonic wood 121 (2010)
Starboard Isonic wood 101 (2008)

What will be in your quiver for 2011?

p.s. This also means that I’m selling my Starboard Hypersonic 105. If you are interested, contact me here.

p.p.s. Are you wondering what kind of equipment a pro windsurfer has? Take look Robby Swift’s his van and you will get an impression.

This is a post from: Mad Windsurfing. A windsurf blog with tips, news, and how-to's.

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The Neilpryde RS Racing and RS Slalom MKIII campaign online!

Maarten — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 15:26:26 +0000

On the Neilpryde website you can find fresh information about their ultimate racing machines. The RS Racing EVOII and the RS Slalom MKIII are updated with a some new features which makes them even better then last year. (According all the marketing info ).

RS Racing EVOII
The Dynamic Clew Concept is the biggest changes this year. Last year you had a similar cutouts, in 2009 these cutouts has become larger. The cutouts will improve the handling of the sail but it will also improve the range of the sail.

Because of the change in range, less sizes are needed to cover the complete range from Formula to high wind slalom racing. The main reason for developing sails with a bigger range has all to do with the new slalom rules for the new PWA World Tour. The new slalom format is called Slalom 63. Each windsurfer can choose 3 boards and 6 sails which he has to use the whole PWA Slalom season. This is completely different from last year where you could use 2 boards and 4 sails for each PWA event! A big difference which makes some people happy and some people very angry.

Check out this great video-ad to promote the sail:

RS Slalom MKIII
The RS Slalom is always derived from the RS Racing. So you will also find the Dynamic Clew Concept on these sail and the reduced the amount of sizes that will be produced for this year. The mast sleeve has been narrowed even more to improve the handling during water starts.

I haven’t found the prices for these sails but expect them to be expensive. Really question yourself if the RS Racing is the way to go. The RS Slalom will be a sail that is almost as fast and good as the RS Racing but for less money. This is mainly because you can use a different mast in it. The RS Racing will perform the best with a X9 mast, the X6 mast will be great in the RS Slalom. And there is a big price difference between those masts.

When you buy a new sail, check the requirements on the sail because such a high-end sails as the RS Racing (or any sails for that matter) will not perform to the max if you buy the wrong mast with it.

Have you been on the other with one of these sails? Let us know in the comments!

Checkout the Neilpryde website over here

This is a post from: Mad Windsurfing. A windsurf blog with tips, news, and how-to's.

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Mad Windsurfing » rs slalom mkIII archives – Mad about windsurfing

New Toys! Starboard isonic 121 & RS Slalom MKIII 8.6

The Neilpryde RS Racing and RS Slalom MKIII campaign online!