Slowest wakeboard?

I was curious, what is the slowest (good) board out there right now?

Hyperlite Premier

def not a premier

most likely the original helix

The Hyperlite Byerly..02, 03...don't know about the 04

and the O'brien Player

The Parks is pretty slow and grippy - slower than the Premier for sure.
Any board with a lot of rocker is generally slow as well.

the Byerly is by far the slowest board I have ever ridden.
the Parks is slow, but not the slowest.
CWB prodigy is really slow as well, unlike the Absolute.

O'Brien Phatty. Any year.

just drive slower!

Parks? Slow? Wow, I thought that board hauled into the wake! I guess it's just personal preference.

Get a Belmont/Motive. Super Slooooow but great pop. The Parks is the fastest board I've ever rode. Byerly is pretty fast too. The Premier is a little slower, but not as slow as the Belmont. Why do you want a slow board? I'd say that if you're afraid of speed, a Premire is a good bet. If the Premier is too fast, notch your boat speed down 1-2 mph.

(Message edited by depswa on September 20, 2003)

the PHATTY!!!!! Haven't heard of those in a while, we've got one on a bench right now

the parks is very slow, the byerly is a little faster but not much. look at the designs and and demensions of the board you want and you'll be able to get a good idea of which ones are faster than others. laws of physics dont lie.

Slow reacting or slow accelerating?

Accelerating - Hyperlite Byerly or Parks. The Parks is slightly faster due to the extra fins.

Reacting - Blindside Five-0

Look in the 2003 Hyperlite catalog...there is a "personality" chart that ranks their boards based on Feel (Quick-Smooth/Mellow) and Pop (Abrupt-Smooth/Consistent). Since I have rode most of those boards, I'd say it's pretty accurate.

That chart(And I agree 100%) shows the Parks and the TFD as the fastest (My Parks is SO Fast into the wake...Even Faster than my 2002 Project which was a bat out-of-hell!)) of all the Hyperlite boards. Byerly is second just above the Premier, and the Belmont is the slowest.

Parks has the most Pop, Byerly Second, Then Premier, Then TFD, then Belmont.

If you think the Parks is slow...what are you riding...a torpedo?


(Message edited by depswa on September 20, 2003)

That chart refers to how the board reacts, not how it accelerates. A two fin, three-stage board (Parks) is not going to accelerate as fast as a three fin, continuous rocker board (Belmont).

I've heard a lot of mixed reviews on how fast the Parks is. I think this has to do with how you ride. If you're back on the board it feels fast. If you're centered or a bit heavy on the front (like me) the three stage plows more.

Yea, I guess you may be right. My board is REALLY fast into the wake, but maybe that's just how I ride it. I rode a Premier and it was a dog. Same with the older Motive/Belmont. I haven't tried the 2003 Belmont. I guess fast is subjective.

I was just curious. Everybody always talks about fast boards, but never about slower boards. Thought it would be interesting to know.

imo.cwb-absolute

I ride an 03 belmont 136, and I'd have to say, it feels ridiculously slow, I like a board thats fast and agressive but, that defenitly isn't the belmont. It does have pretty good pop though, but sometimes it feels like I'm riding in mud. I don't have much experience with other boards so I don't think I can give it a fair overview. I'm not raggin on the belmont though, it is a great board and if you want a mellow board, this is the one for you.

Fuel, I thought you meant slow like just riding and not on edge. A board with more rocker generally sits deeper in the water and has more drag and therefore is slower...
If you meant slow into the wake and when on edge than yeah the Parks is not and what Dan said is true.
No, I don't ride a torpedo Dan ;->
I ride the Parks with 1.1's.
Your right about the Belmont Bess, it's pretty slow into the wake. Just a different style. I rode an 02' Belmont for a while last year.

I rode the Premier a lot, basically all last year. I now ride the Belmont. The Belmont rides quite a bit higher in the water and feels much faster and releases from the water much quicker than the premier. The Premier takes a lot more effort to get a fast cut. The premier does have a good pop, but definatley has a slower feel than the Belmont. Also, the TFD is supposedly one of the fastest hyperlite boards. It takes virtually no effort to build speed during a cut - by no means it a 'slow' board.

I rate the speed of the board by how much effort is needed to generate a decent cut into the wake. I also take into consideration how much the board drags when riding outside of the wake. I ride 23 mph @ 75 feet.

I think the term "SPEED" needs to be better defined.

David D is correct about boards with more rocker ride slower in a straight line and on edge. Its simple hydrodynamics. The steep bend in the front of the board causes drag. This produces a slower board.

If you are asking which board is the hardest too build-up speed with, then that has several variables (riders weight, fin size, how well you can load the line).

Obviously boards that allows you cut really hard with minimal effort (TFD, Byerly, Parks) will feel faster to the wake, but not necessarily be fast while traveling parallel with the boat.

The boards with the 4 fin configuration make more sense to me because you can cut harder with minimal effort. The only draw back is that they take slightly more time to initiate turns.

I ride the Parks, which is slow board, but it allows me to cut hard to the wake. Harder than any board i have ever ridden. I will accredit this to the fin configuration. The Byerly rides the same way, but takes even longer to initiate the turn.

I only wish CWB would make a Absolute Platinum with the 4 fin configuration.

Toolfan. 'I hear' CWB added cupped rails to the new Absolute. This should add the axtra edge you're looking for.

I rode the 04 Absolute. I use to have the 04 Prodigy, which is slow as hell. They are really similar except that the Absolute has bigger fins which does speed it up cutting to the wake.

Don't forget to take into consideration riding styles. Some styles make so called slower boards faster, and faster boards slower. Experience and the number of boards you've ridden will also affect your opinion. I've heard from many riders that the parks is fast but overall a poor ride, and others love it.

Then there's the good board statement, well that's arguable in itself. Some professional riders ride boards that are classified by companies as beginner boards.

The board that I've found to be the slowest ride is a LF Search.

I think its safe to say that in conclusion everyone rides differently and has different opinions and therefore the only way to truly know is, as we all know, to demo, demo, demo.

Bess, that may be a safe conclusion but it doesn't help anyone. Some boards are slower than others, no doubt about it. It's not necessarily a matter of opinion but a mater of consistent judgement/measurment. Like toolfan said, "the term speed needs to be better defined."

This a topic is a matter of opinion until speed is defined.