from the boards.co.uk website- i pasted it because I could not figure
out how to link to it.
HiFly Free 266
The 266 is the second smallest of HiFly's new range of carbon
All-rounders for 2002. The range stretches from the 98L 259 to the
150L 279.
On The Water
Ride: It delivers a smooth ride with a relatively nose high attitude,
and a loose and quite exciting feel. It doesn't have the most secure
grip on the water and is therefore happier going beam or broad rather
than upwind. The unusual strap positions take a bit of getting used to
and weren't felt to be ideal for easy cruising.
Gybing: More of a wave board feel to it than a slalom gyber; you need
to work harder to maintain speed on exit but it goes round very
easily.
Wind range: Early planing performance is reasonable, but rather than
trying to get away with very big sails we found it comes into its own
with rigs of about 6.7m down. At the other end of the scale, while the
design itself is very comfy in rougher conditions, the rearward
placement and close spacing of the footstraps keeps you riding the
board on the tail, making it more difficult to maintain control.
Water states: Again, due to the strap configuration and nose high
attitude it gets knocked about a bit when blasting over nasty chop,
but it enjoys small to medium waves and swell.
Performance Style
Freeride: A bit lacking in range and comfort for true Freeride use,
but when the conditions are right for this board it's definitely good
fun to cruise around on.
Freestyle: It's not a sprightly low drag early planer and is quite low
in volume for non planing Freestyle, but it turns nicely and jumps
well, thus offering reasonable freestyle performance for carving and
aerial manoeuvres.
Wave: It's quite at home in the wave environment, since it jumps
nicely, and its more wave-board style of gybing is great for throwing
it around on swell and small to medium waves.
Orientation summary: A slightly wave biassed all-rounder.
Ability level: Probably best suited to later intermediate to advanced
sailors as it is slightly more technically demanding to sail in some
areas.
Praises / Grumbles
The odd strap placement does seem to limit the board by being
uncomfortably angled, too closely spaced, too close to the tail and
offering only an inboard front option. This almost certainly prevented
us from deriving the full performance that the design is capable of
offering.
Verdict: Other than the problem with the strap positioning it's a
pleasant board to sail. It has a friendly feel to it and everybody
quite liked it, although nobody could really say it was the ideal
board for their requirements. We see it as probably best suited to the
more competent sailor looking for a board primarily for coastal
sailing in medium winds.
Price: £799 with powerbox 34cm fin.
Post by TomOne thing about the Free is that it has a very funky, unique domed
deck at the tail of the board. After being told by a friend at a store
how much people loved the board, I got a Free 259 last year and then
returned it after one session, because I hated the way that raised
dome felt underneath my foot as I jibed. I still do hear people saying
they love the board. I guess I just like a flatter deck. That old
adage is true: try it before you buy it.