Bic Nova vs. Go 165/180 for early planing?
Kirk Robertson
board for earlier planing. I have a Retro 9.5 and weigh 185lbs and would
like to plane in 8-10 kts. I would love to get the Bic Nova so the kids
and wife could try the sport. It is also a lot cheaper than the Go
165/180. Would the Nova or Go's work for light wind performance or are
they only suitable for higher winds and beginners? Would I be better off
getting the Techno Formula or Free Formula style boards?
Thanks for any advice. Kirk.
Bill Kline
Udoubtedly, there will be many opinions on which to get. While our designer,
Curtis designed the first fin series for the GO board with Jim Drake, the good
thing is that you will end up with a good family board.
Boards in this family help families and friends learn to sail and sail
together.
But the biggest factor in early planing before rig discussion is fins.
Selection of the right aftermarket fin design and fin quiver will get you the
most range.
If one is run with stock fins and the other with the RIGHT fin for conditions
and learning. The board with the right fin and fin quiver will thrive.
We have done much research on the water with beginners and all skill levels.
The research has been check by my own presence at events around the world, many
of which are designed to interest new sailors to learn.
With regard to your question of early planing, the right fin will make it easy
to step up and go for you and the kids.
We have also seen circumstance where a large fin can allow a teen at 110 lbs to
size the sail from 6.0 or so to 4.5 in subplaning conditions. Thus more fin
power can allow less sail power for learning.
Best wishes to you whichever board you select.
Bill Kline
Gorge Sport USA
Curtis Performance Fins, Orca Fins, Orca Kite Fins
Hood River, OR USA
www.gsport.com
ph/541 387 2649 fax/541 386 1715
sailquik (Roger Jackson)
The GO 165/180 are wider than the Nova and will give better early planing due
to the width.
Getting a big fin will also help with early planing.
The Nova is a nice board, but what weight are you.
Your weight, and your expected 8-10 knot planing threshold will be the
critical factors here.
The GO 180 will be a little big for the wife and kids, but not while they are
learning.
Later on, they might enjoy the Nova, or the smaller GO 150 more, but at the
outset they need stability. So, the GO 180 would be by far the most stable
and earliest planing in this group.
Not far behind would be the GO 165 and Nova.
The GO 150 won't give you the greatest early planing, if you weigh over
160-170 lbs. so, as I said, your weight and your expected planing threshold
are going to be the most significant.
The Free Formula and Formula boards would be nice and perhaps plane earlier
than the GO 165,
for you, but probably not alot earlier than the GO 180. However these boards
have no provision for the Starbilizer side fins, which will really help with
keeping your wife and kids upwind as they are learning. The Nova has a small
center fin, plus a plug to handle the same thing.
Hope this helps,
Roger
Joe Blanchard
Kirk,
I can only speak of my experience on the Bic Nova. I purchased it for
my wife so she could plane easily and also learn foot strap use.
We've used the Nova in sails of 4.4 up to 7.2 depending on wind speed
and really love how it handles these sails and the compared
conditions, with ease!
Just goofing off, I jumped on it with a 7.2 NP Diablo and was very
surprised how quickly it planed up with the stock, included fin, and I
weight 195lbs. From what I understand it the same dimensions as the
Bic Formula, but with the added weight of the soft deck and smaller
stock fin.
After she gets more comfortable, we plan on moving the straps to the
outboard position to give her more stability at speed.
She loves it and it really maximizes her time on the water.
Joe
in Kansas