custom (ASD) vs. production (Mistral)

From: Zeev_Gur@peoplesoft.com-DeleteThis
Date: Wed Sep 17 1997 - 10:43:30 PDT

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From: Zeev_Gur@peoplesoft.com-DeleteThis
To: wind_talk@jr.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis
Message-Id: <88256515.005EA86B.00@peoplesoft.com-DeleteThis>
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 10:43:30 -0700
Subject: custom (ASD) vs. production (Mistral)
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This topic seems to come up every other month, and always
provides lively debate. Picking a board is a very personal
thing - there are too many variables to say what is better.
Having just gone through the board purchase decision,
I feel that I can now add my $.02 to this discussion.

My wonderful Tempo, 4 years old (about 350 days), delamed
around the footsraps, with the plastic layer breaking and the
board becoming a log. Instead of fixing an old shape, i decided
to get a new board with more nose rocker, less volume up front, etc.

I was looking to replace a mid wind (5.7-4.8 sail size) B&J/wave
board that would work in the bay, river and the coast.

To me, a 200# person who sails in mid/high wind, jumps too high,
tries stupid things before he is ready for them, the following
are important factors in selecting a board:
Performance:
Speed upwind - gotta be able to get to those waves at Tuba ;-)
Speed on reaches/downwind
Ability to do tight/wide jibes easily
Control in the air
Ability to handle crazy chop/steep/thick waveswell
Good slogging - good volume distribution for those Crissy/3rd days
Uphaulable

Durability - I no longer bonk my gear on cars, fences and
rocks which opened up the world of epoxy boards. Custom
epoxy boards are not good with dings, but equal or better
then production boards when in comes to structural integrity.
I wanted to have a board that when (not if) it gets dinged, can
be repaired easily.

Price < $1400.

With all those factors in mind, I started to demo boards.

Mistral - tried both the screamer 278 and 268. Good boards,
easy to ride, perform well - not great, but acceptable,
EXPENSIVE. I also saw some ugly threads in rec.windsuring
about their durability. I wanted more nose scoop in my board.

Veloce 278 - very good board, planes great, goes upwind
well. Not quite loose enough for the waves. Great price.

F2 Axxix 272 - very nice board, loose, a lot of scoop in the
nose, did not plane up very well, did not feel fast. Pricy.

Tiga B&J 263 - great in chop, slow to plane, HEAVY.

Seatrend 8'9" - great ride, loose, fast, tons of nose scoop.
Not sure how fast I can get it fixed when I ding it. Had a
good sailing buddy who told me horror stories about
Seatrend. He missed a month of sailing due to warrantly
work - not acceptable.

ASD Mutant - fast, fast, fast. great in chop, not loose enough
for waves.

ASD Enduro - PERFECT! Light, fast to plane, handles all
chop with ease, slogs well, handles great in the air......

When I considered performance, price, ability to fix dings, oh
yes, and PERFORMANCE - to me there was no choice. Again,
as I said above, a board is a very personal choice and you
should try before you buy. There are a lot of very good production
and custom boards on the market and if you take the time to demo,
you will find the perfect board for you.

At the end of an epic session the only thing that matters is
wether you had fun.. If you stoked meter
is on "HIGH", who cares what board you used?

......have fun, sail hard!

Next message: Bilbo Innovations, Inc.: "Re: ASD vs Mistral"
Previous message: Booker Bense: "Re: ASD vs Mistral"
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