Board speed

For say a 175lb rider on the same model board, given the same boat speed, riding style, etc, which would be a faster board, a 136cm or a 142cm?

I could see the shorter board would have less area and less weight, but the longer board would have more flotation and therefore possibly less drag.

Can anyone answer this from experience, same board model, different board lengths, which is faster into the wake? Not how fast it turns, but how fast it accelerates and it's top end speed, given the same technique and riding style. Everything constant except the board length, which will generate more speed over the same distance?

Smaller sits deeper, thus pushes more water. Bigger will be faster.

Just get a TFD/3DS 136 and it'll be fast enough regardless.

I would think that you would only be going as fast as the boat can pull you regardless of the board length. The only difference would be the amount of work that the engine would have to do to pull you. The smaller the board the less surface area there will be and the hard the boat will have to work to keep you at that speed. Now in terms of maneuverability I think the larger board would be more responsive.

coffindancer, when you're cutting into the wake, you're going faster than the boat is. How fast you are actually going is in direct relation to your cut, the size of the board, and the shape of the board.

What Mark said.....

The bigger board will ride faster into the wake with less effort from the rider. It will also hold it's speed better on big landings which will help the rider stay on balance instead of getting thrown forward when the board slows on impact. It will also land softer. Edge to edge response should be faster on a smaller board, but this isn't a slalom course. Edge change isn't really a factor in wakeboarding. I'd say the 136 is too small for you.

In a way its simmilar to snowboarding, a longer board will allow to go faster, but a shorter allows for more maneuvarablitly (however you spell that) in the air such as spins because it takes less effort to control the board.

To your original question… I have ridden the 03 TFD in both the 142 and 136. I weigh 185-190. You could go either way at 175. Depends on how you ride… spins… inverts…. Switch…. Boat speed…. Etc.

At 22-24mph I did not feel either board felt faster than the other… granted the TFD is fast regardless. I did notice the larger board felt faster if I drop the boat speed down to around 20. So I guess it depends on what speed you ride at.

Add to the mix that with a larger board you can ride with a wider stance when you set your bindings all the way out. That was more noticeable to me in the feel of the board that the speed…. Especially when landing in the flats. Bigger size lands softer. I will also second the point that larger boards carry more speed on landings.

Not sure if I can put it into words to describe it… but there is a different feel as to how the 142 vs. 136 comes of the wake too…. You have to ride them back to back to see for yourself.

If your issue is regarding one board… just demo both sizes and see what rides best for you. The problem with generalizing big board vs. smaller board is that every board shape is different. My 141 Premier is way slower than my 136 TFD… and the old 144 Belmont lands way harder than my 136 TFD.

Re: snowboards…. It’s not jus the board size but also side cut radius, flex pattern, and effective edge. It’s not winter yet…. No more talking about snowboards.