The following freerace boards are included in the test:
Board Guide: Freerace Boards
For relaxed cruising, good speed without stress, and power jibes with lane-keeping assist, there’s the harmoniously balanced freeride class. The ‘Race’ in this freerace group is much more than just a marketing term, and this is evident at first glance from its standout features. Thick, wide tails and footstraps positioned far outwards dominate the design – much like wide mudguards and padded harness belts in tuned sports cars – but with road legality. After all, comfort is no less important. For long sessions – and to get the most out of the board’s performance. The extra horsepower under the pads is of little use if you can no longer keep the boom steady in choppy water.
Shorter, wider, faster – that’s the secret to the success of freerace boards. Compared to classic freeride boards, the shapers are pursuing specific objectives: the shorter length reduces the swing weight at the nose, the wind-exposed surface area, and the planing and contact surfaces, which increases speed. The greater width improves planing through lulls in the wind and creates a longer lever arm thanks to footstraps positioned further out, allowing for better control of greater sail and fin forces and enabling more sail power to be harnessed. However, these shape concepts also have disadvantages when it comes to passive planing. A long, flat bottom curve allows for an early, smooth plane onto the water, but on shorter boards this curve is steeper at the front, which is why you should lean back slightly whilst planing in order to get off to a really good start – as with the Tabou Rocket+ or at the Starboard Futura. In contrast, longer boards such as the Severne Fox or JP Super Ride, they plane more easily.
Unlike freeride boards, where the volume is concentrated between the front footstraps and the mast track, on freerace boards it is mainly located at the rear, beneath the footstraps in the ‘power zone’. This results in thicker, boxier rails, which allow for greater lateral pressure. However, this reduces the volume in the nose – which is usually tapered – meaning that the board reacts more sensitively to weight shifts when planing and tripping up the sail, and stepping back into the footstraps early can often be helpful. That's when boards such as the Starboard Futura really get going – with your front foot just behind the mast base, it feels as though you’re being held back, but as soon as you move your foot back, the board accelerates as if you’d released the handbrake whilst the engine is revving.
Loop details
Full performance (only) for experienced riders
The speed advantage over freeriders is 2–4 km/h, but this requires you to make full use of the board’s potential. This is because the board only delivers its full performance when the footstraps are fitted right on the outside. This makes threading the straps more challenging, and the board is more easily thrown off balance.
A short checklist can help you assess whether this board class is right for you:
- Can I still surf steadily even when the wind is very strong?
- Are the footstraps already positioned on the outside of my current board, and can I get on it easily?
- Is your success rate for power jibes (not necessarily gliding all the way through, but staying dry) at least 80 per cent?
Because these boards don’t usually offer automatic jibing – the exceptions among the ‘free racers’ with very stable, smooth jibing characteristics are the Duotone Blitz, Patrik F-Race or JP Super Sport. The JP Super Ride and the Severne Fox can also jibe smoothly and safely, but are generally best classified as high-performance freeride boards.
With three exceptions, they are all specialists
So this is where specialists gather, to be ridden ideally with Freerace sails (with or without camber), because that’s the only way to really experience the theoretical performance advantage. The JP Super Ride has been selected as the benchmark board from the freeride class for this test. Whilst the board cannot quite keep up in terms of top speed, it offers significantly easier handling characteristics that can be fully utilised even by riders with intermediate skills.
The ratings for the Freeraceboards
Freeraceboards are all designed with a clear focus on performance. Consequently, the performance comparison is a close one, unlike, for example, with Freemoveboards, where the shapers sometimes prioritise different aspects, such as ease of surfing, manoeuvrability and performance. Top speed can often be improved by changing the fins, as the standard fins range from 40 to 44 centimetres.
How suitable are freerace boards for foiling?
The wide tails and predominantly compact outlines of the freerace shapes provide the ideal conditions for occasional foiling. The test runs on light-wind days using a 900 Starboard Racefoil were very impressive. In short, these boards fly all the better the wider the tail, the shorter the length and the further apart the rear footstraps are. This concept was implemented perfectly in the Tabou Fifty – with just a few minor compromises when it came to fin surfing. The rather long JP Super Ride would be least inclined to recommend, and Severne has deliberately omitted a suitable foil attachment from the 2.49-metre-long Fox, opting instead to fit a powerbox.
Although they’re not quite as good as dedicated foilboards, you can still enjoy flying on some freerace boards from as little as 10 to 12 knots.” (Stephan Gölnitz, surf tester)
surf recommendation: freerace boards
- For the true freeracer Goya Bolt, Future Fly White Tiger, Starboard Futura and both Tabou boards Fifty and Rocket+ perhaps offer the purest racing experience, but also involve the fewest compromises.
- As a racer with comfort Duotone Blitz, JP Super Sport, Patrik F-Race and the Severne Fox stand out from the crowd. With stable planing performance, even more comfortable damping and, on top of that, very easy launch characteristics, they are particularly recommended in this selection for smooth power jibes. They offer the easiest transition to the highest amateur level.
- Freerider with a kick is the JP Super Ride. Essentially a fast freeride board, which, in this test, serves as a benchmark to show, on the one hand, that the ‘true’ freeracers are consistently a touch faster in a speed comparison. On the other hand, the Super Ride also serves to underline once again the superior planing characteristics and manoeuvrability of the freeride class.
The freerace boards in the individual reviews
Click to read the review articles