Board recommendation

Question
Hello!

I weigh 80 kg ( 170 lbs). I have been doing windsurfing for about 2 years . I am not a speed buff, I do windsurfing mostly in light-to moderate winds on lakes  and I am at the early planing/footstraps stage. My quiver of sails is an oldish 5.9 and a brand new Severne Focus 8.5, which I use with under 12 knts winds.  
Currently I surf on a Starboard Rio Medium( 180 lts), which I am overgrowing fairly rapidly.I find it a bit heavy and unresponsive.  I'd like to move to a lighter, lower volume, more performing board, but my concern in going down to a lower volume board is not to lose the stability required to uphaul comfortably.  

1. What is the maximum I can go down in volume, given my 80 kg weight,  without losing the capability to uphaul comfortably? Some say 130 lts would still be no problem. It seems too much to me. What do you think?

2. Would a 130-135 lts  constitute too much of an abrupt transition from my Starboard Rio, given my current skill level or would it rather be beneficial, in that it would help me  to speed up my learning curve ?


3.Can you recommend a few good intermediate boards in the    Freeride 145-130 lts range?

4. What about the Fanatic Shark, AHD Fast Forward, Starboard Futura,  JP Australia ? How do these brands compare among themselves in terms of quality and planing performance?  

(I have set my eyes on the Fanatic Shark, but there are so many boards out there that it is really confusing to make a choice!)

5.Is it true that the inevitable price we have to pay for lighter, more performing boards is their relative fragility ?  

6.Can you confirm that  the AHD Fast Forward, in particular,   is more fragile than others , even though it seems to be  very good in many other respects? ( in fact, it would be my 1st choice, especially for its  sleek design and its scooped up front end.

7. I have been unable to find on the Internet what model does JP Australia offer in the Freeride 130-145 lts intermediate range. Is there one?


Can you comment on all this, please?

Thank you so much

Franco V.

Answer
You should be able to uphaul a 125 liter board @ your current weight.  This would be a good size for you to get a feel for a smaller handling board.  It is not such and abrupt transition.   You should be able to handle this size if you have been sailing on a 180 for 2 years.  You may have to waterstart it in extreme conditions (more than 18 Knots)  but should be able to uphaul on normal choppy conditions.  As far as boards go I recommend buying used and buying by weight and volume.  Look up old reviews on Windsurfing magazine site.  Otherwise if you decide to buy new your best advice comes from the new board reviews.  I cannot give recommendations on the boards you are asking since I have not ridden them.  For JP boards go to their website.  All info is there.    http://www.jp-australia.com/2010/index.php

Lighter boards are definitely more fragile but faster and easier to sail.