Volar vs Blast: Which freeride board should I choose?

[Zest-Is-Best]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice on choosing my first freeride board and would really appreciate input from more experienced riders. I’m currently considering:

Goya Volar 130L
Duotone/Fanatic Blast 130L

Which should I choose? (I've already got a range of sails from 4.0-7.5)

I’m a 75 kg rider in Victoria. Last season I did a few sessions on a beginner board and got comfortable with basic tacks and jibes, but I haven’t reached planing or waterstarting yet. I’d consider myself a fairly quick learner, but still very much in the progression phase.

I’m looking for something more modern and progression-friendly that will:

Be stable and confidence-inspiring in chop and lighter wind
Help me progress into planing, harness use, and straps
Still perform really well in both light and high wind conditions once I improve (so I don’t outgrow it too quickly)

My main dilemma is balancing early stability and ease of learning with long-term performance. I want something that won’t feel like a limiting beginner board too soon, but also doesn’t make the learning phase so hard that it becomes a loss of time.

Would love to hear opinions from anyone who has ridden these boards or been in a similar stage.

Thanks !

[more force 4]

Any newer board about that size sounds perfect for where you are at. You will soon be planing and in the straps given the right match of wind and sail size and you can work on waterstarts at the same time, but not have to rely on them. I wouldn't go smaller than 130 if you want to use the 7.5 as you'll need a stable platform to uphaul the beast.

Probably best if you can loan or rent this size board for a while as you'll quickly outgrow it (unless you want to keep it as your light wind board matched with the big sail). A 130 will still work with a 4.0 but it won't be very happy with the big board once planing in 25 knots wind or more (for that sail). As soon as the waterstarts are dialed then you can step down to 90-100 L freeride (but realistically no bigger than about 5 to 6 m sail), or for big days smaller yet, 80 L ish.

Someone like Kus or Grant can maybe answer the specific question, I haven't sailed either of them that I remember.

[grantmac]

Get something used.

What are your end goals for windsurfing? Waves, freestyle?

[KUS]

Yep. There’s good advice here.

Reason is no one board satisfies all your criteria, everyone would love that. And once you progress to the next level your needs or expectations change dramatically. For example that sparkly new 130 will likely collect dust soon unless you are happy mowing the lawn at a low wind spot at your lake….but it will be easy to uphaul….which you will never want to do again once you know how to waterstart.
If you have tons of money just buy away, no really bad products out there. Don’t use stuff older than you. IMHO most windsurf sail gear serious advances plateaued around 2000, boards around 2010.

But this is likely another one of the solicitation one and done posts….