Text and numbers below are largely from "1999
Board Reviews - By Ken Winner"
Mistral One
Design (years 1989-2005 with big improvements in 1996)
The Olympic board features a design so old you'd think it would start lying
about its age. It's not surprising then that it's not too impressive when it
comes to overall speed, weight and quickness to plane. On beam reaches and in
the turns, this board is competitive, but upwind it's way off the pace. The
centerboard well provides a sloppy fit with the centerboard, and the
centerboard itself is on the small side. Does any of that matter? Not in the
least. The key to this board's popularity is the fun, camaraderie and
challenging competition of class racing.
L:372 | B:64 | V:235 | 15,0 Kg ; Power Box (after 1996);
Mistral Equipe II XR (years 1992-1999 with slight
modifications)
The Equipe II used to be the board to beat in
open-class racing in light to moderate winds, but the competition is tougher
now. Still, the Equipe II is competitive upwind in a
breeze and on a reach. Moreover, its wide tail makes it arguably the best at
getting onto a plane and at sailing a broad reach in marginal planing conditions. Last year's track wasn't working very
well with huge rigs - 10.0, 11.0 - so Mistral has returned to an earlier,
smoother working track.
L:375 | B:66 | V:258 | 12,9 Kg ; Power box
; (in 1995 CHS 12,9 Kg and XR 12,5 Kg )
Mistral Superlight II (years 96-99 ? ) is similar to EquipeII (but cheaper & heavier CHS construction)
The Superlight II comes from the same mold as
Mistral's Equipe II race board and therefore has
great performance potential. Fully equipped with a full-size centerboard,
big-blade fin and foot straps, the Superlight II can
keep close to all but the lightest, most modern course-racing boards. Simply
equipped with no foot straps and a small fin, it's a floaty,
stable platform for beginners and a versatile board for more advanced casual
users. Given this board's top-notch components, performance that'll please
everyone from novice to Olympic-level sailor and an incredibly low price, it
has to rate as one of the best bargains on the market.
Mistral Pan Am
(years 2000-2003) is similar to EquipeII
L:375 | B:66 | V:258 | 13,0 Kg ; Power box ;
Fanatic Mega
Cat 380 (1999)
In a clever move aimed to improve an already good design, Fanatic engineers
gave the venerable Mega Cat a face lift - or really, a deck lift. They made it
thicker, which gave it more volume (from 250 to 280L), a key to going upwind
well. Other strong points are the mast track, which works smoothly under all
loads, and a fin and centerboard that are well-shaped and sized. The result is
a Mega Cat that's competitive with the AHD Pro Race 380 in overall performance:
Exceptional upwind and reaching, and nearly the best in quickness to plane.
L:380 | B:67 | V:280 | 13,2 Kg ; Power Box ;
AHD Pro Race
380 (years 1997-1999 ?)
Like an NFL linebacker, the Pro Race 380 is big, fast and a bit of a bully. It
definitely kicked some butt at the '97 Nationals. Most impressive are its high,
boxy rails and huge centerboard. The big centerboard gets the board to rail up
easily, and the thick rails give it a long, slim waterline for slicing upwind.
The mast track slides smoothly no matter what size sail is on it, and unlike
some tracks, it allows the mast to slide way back - good for fast reaching. You
can over-fin this board, so stick with something in the 40- to 42-cm
range.
L:380 | B:67 | V:288 | 12,9 Kg ; Tuttle box
;
F2 Race 380
(years 1998-2000 ?)
L:380 | B:68 | V:290 | 13,9 Kg ; Power Box ;
F2 Lightning
(years 1992-1995 ?)
L:377 | B:64 | V:249 | 13,2 Kg ; Euro Box ;
============
Although all weights are
highly suspect (dry/wet ?, with what equipment ?, etc)
Nevertheless here is a very rough
look at which raceboards are light for their size :
|
BRAND |
MODEL |
MODEL
YEAR |
YEAR
REGISTERED |
KGS |
LTH |
WTH |
LTRS |
weight
per vol |
|
AHD |
380 |
1996 |
1996 |
12.9 |
3780 |
680 |
288 |
4.5 |
|
LECHNER |
L-380 |
1993 |
1993 |
12.0 |
3790 |
650 |
259 |
4.6 |
|
MISTRAL |
Equipe II XR |
1994 |
1994 |
12.2 |
3750 |
660 |
258 |
4.7 |
|
F2 |
Race
380 |
1998 |
1998 |
13.9 |
3800 |
675 |
290 |
4.8 |
|
FANATIC |
Mega
Cat 380 HCS |
1998 |
1997 |
13.2 |
3800 |
670 |
270 |
4.9 |
|
FANATIC |
Mega
Cat 380 |
1996 |
1995 |
12.5 |
3800 |
670 |
250 |
5.0 |
|
FANATIC |
Mega
Cat 380 CCS |
1997 |
1997 |
13.7 |
3800 |
670 |
270 |
5.1 |
|
MISTRAL |
Equipe II CHS |
1994 |
1994 |
13.5 |
3750 |
660 |
258 |
5.2 |
|
F2 |
Lightning |
1995 |
1994 |
13.2 |
3770 |
640 |
249 |
5.3 |
|
EXOCET |
Pacer
300 |
2005 |
2005 |
14.9 |
3330 |
801 |
270 |
5.5 |
|
MISTRAL |
Prodigy |
2002 |
2002 |
14.8 |
2946 |
877 |
255 |
5.8 |
|
STARBOARD |
Z-Class |
2005 |
2004 |
12.0 |
2729 |
1001 |
206 |
5.8 |
|
MISTRAL |
One-Design |
1994 |
1997 |
15.5 |
3720 |
640 |
235 |
6.6 |
|
NEIL PRYDE |
RS:X |
2005 |
2005 |
15.5 |
2860 |
930 |
220 |
7.0 |
|
ALPHA |
RACE
375 |
1995 |
1995 |
15.0 |
3750 |
650 |
210 |
7.1 |