Changes to my Board Quiver

My biggest board has become a bit redundant. It is only a couple of centimetres wider than my Starboard Kode which means it can only be used in a tiny bit less wind, and takes pretty much the same sails that I have at the moment. My local shop has a Starboard Isonic 135 from the same year of production which I can do a direct swap for, as they will more likely sell the Carve133 a lot quicker due to its popularity as an intermediates/improvers board.

This is now waiting for the wind to be around 10-14knots for a demo to see if it will get me going in a bit less wind than the Carve it is destined to replace. It will not be as easy to sail, but at least it will get me out on the water in more summer breezes, and keep me on the water doing more miles as the summer sea breezes drop as the sun gets lower in the sky.

Now for the addition to my little family of boards. My current smallest board is still too small for me to use more than once per year in perfect flat water conditions with 30+knots of wind. This means I have no speed board to use when the wind gets too much for my Mistral slalom 95l. So I was waiting for an opportunity to get a cheap second hand board. I bidded on a few on ebay but did not want to go over £250 due to lack of finances and the fact it will not get used very often. My dream board, the Tabou Manta 54cm (74l) appeared on GPS Speedsurfing with a link to the sale on ebay. I missed out by a fiver so I posted on the GPS site that if the winning bidder dropped out to let me know. They dropped out and I picked up the board today.

It is in near perfect condition, with a light speckling of rust discolouration due to being left on a beach with a certain type of rock. This obviously will no affect the speed of the board or its handling so not a problem at all. I cannot wait to try it out, I will need at least 25knots at first to get used to the lack of volume in it, but am sure it will be fine after a few sessions. I have read and heard great things about these boards, being great in less than perfect conditions, maintaining acceleration over chop and easy to gybe.

Roll on the spring gales! 35knots here I come.