IS Blue Lake vs. Yellow Loogey for 200+ pounders?

[IDBoating]

(mistakenly posted in Wakeboarding, properly reposted here)

I need a board that can handle my 200+ pound relatives. My current board, an IS Infectious, is absolutely great but struggles under the 200-220 pound load some of these guys carry around.

A neighbor has a Blue Lake and a Yellow Loogey for sale. I borrowed both and tried them last night. While I'm not the target market since I don't weigh 200+, I figured I could get a feel for how each behaves. I found the Blue Lake to be absolutely HUGE and hard to control at my 175 pounds. I found the Yellow Loogey to be much better, controllable and quite fun though not as much as the skimboard-style Infectious. The Yellow is still obviously much larger and more buoyant than the Infectious so I can easily believe it will handle the larger folks.

The current owners describe them as follows: "The Blue is easier for 200+ rank beginners to get up on, but is more limited in playfulness. The Yellow is harder to learn on but takes them farther once they're up."

They'll sell me either one, including a nice padded transport bag, for $300. They're in excellent condition. I'm leaning hard toward the Yellow but have read lots of positive comments about the Blue. What is the group consensus?

Thanks!

[Timmy!]

I paid $299 for my 2007.5 Yellow brand new...$300 seems high to me. I would NOT recommend the Yellow for 200+ riders. 200 is the max on that board. I'm 6'1" and 190/195 and the other guy that rides with me regularly is the same size and we are pushing the board to it's limits. Lighter riders get on the Yellow and it's super fast for them but not us. Still a very fun board and I ride it every weekend as it is my favorite of our 3 boards (CWB Ride, Ronix Cortez and the Loogey).

[IDBoating]

I paid $299 for my 2007.5 Yellow brand new...$300 seems high to me.

That's before haggling, and I'm sure they left themselves some wiggle room. Plus each board has the factory's carry bag (padded, zipper, handles, etc.) which I'm sure they're factoring into the price. Thanks for the pricing data, it will help with negotiation if it gets that far.

I would NOT recommend the Yellow for 200+ riders. 200 is the max on that board. I'm 6'1" and 190/195 and the other guy that rides with me regularly is the same size and we are pushing the board to it's limits. Lighter riders get on the Yellow and it's super fast for them but not us. Still a very fun board and I ride it every weekend as it is my favorite of our 3 boards (CWB Ride, Ronix Cortez and the Loogey).

Hmmm... thanks for that feedback. You are pushing it to its limits - but would it work just as a "learning" board for 200+ folks? I'm talking about family and friends that come to the lake perhaps a couple times per summer. They're not going to be throwing serious tricks, just wanting to learn and have a good time. If they can go ropeless they'll be thrilled. A good board for that application, or should I look elsewhere?

Thanks, I really appreciate your help!

[Timmy!]

Definitely not a good board for that application, I would probably go with the Blue for what you are describing. The reason I state that is because the Yellow is kind of a hybrid board, it's part skim, part surf and as such it rotates fairly easily and for a first timer, you don't really want that. It does ride down the line fairly straight but the foot position is not conducive to learning. I would almost recommend a "brand" board as your introductory to wakesurfing board if you don't go with the Blue. Lots of choices on those and most 200+ riders can free ride them fairly easily with a solid wave.

[IDBoating]

Definitely not a good board for that application, I would probably go with the Blue for what you are describing. The reason I state that is because the Yellow is kind of a hybrid board, it's part skim, part surf and as such it rotates fairly easily and for a first timer, you don't really want that.

Good points. I found it far easier to ride than the Blue, but I don't weigh 200+ and I can get up on almost anything. That's why I didn't think my experiences on these two boards were enough to make a choice.

I'll haggle with the seller and see if I can pick up the Blue at a decent price. Thanks again for the advice, it's sincerely appreciated!

[Timmy!]

You're welcome. Good luck!

[IDBoating]

Quick update: We kept both boards and had some BIG friends drop by for testing purposes. These are 250+ pounders with exactly zero surfing experience, though they do have some athletic prowess (track and field, football, etc.). Amazingly, every one preferred the Yellow over the Blue.

I'm starting to wonder if my friends have older/strange versions of these two boards. Your advice is so clear, yet the results here are so different. Their Blue is solid blue, while the Yellow is solid yellow except for the IS design on the bottom. In other words, the grip surface is the same color as the board itself. I've seen other versions of IS boards where they use contrasting colors. Also, the Yellow has little notches on either side of the front tip (as opposed to most boards that have smooth edges). Does this identify these boards? I'm baffled as to why people are reacting to them so differently from what you have described.

Thanks for any additional insight...!

[Timmy!]

Oh, ok. That's the original version of the Yellow. I guess I have the 2007.5 version which later became the Green Loogey. The newer one has a pointy tip and gray traction. Maybe it will work for them. Were they able to free ride either one? Such a short board for that weight range though. I think they are only 4'8" or 4'10".

[Timmy!]

The yellow that I have looks like the Green from 2008 in this picture.

[chpthril]

Im 2 bills and have riden both. No trouble getting up and free riding at all. But, im just a rec surfer, so no hard-care stunts were tried. I think the most i did was pop a beer and drink it

[IDBoating]

The one we're considering looks like the Yellow Loogey in the 2006 and 2007 photos. Blunt nose with notches on either side. I was able to freerope it with no problem. The "big boys" weren't but they had zero experience so asking them to freerope was unreasonable no matter what they were riding. They were able to get up on both but felt more in control on the Yellow, which was exactly how I felt though they outweigh me by easily 75 pounds.

The seller has dropped the price to $225 without the carry bag, which we don't need.

[Timmy!]

$175...it's a 5 or 6 year old board!

[Fiveflat]

Less than that even. There's a ton of technology that's gone into surfboards in the last 4 or 5 years. Those are pretty outdated IMO.

[IDBoating]

Closed the deal yesterday. $225, but got a Hyperlite wakeboard with bindings as part of the deal to add to the quiver. Both in like-new condition. And I've made some new friends on our lake. A win-win.

Thanks for all the advice, and happy surfing!

[ragboy]

There is a big problem with the yellow looneys with the blunt nose. There is a reason they went to a new version halfway through the 2007 model year, and then the same new shape in 2008 with the pointed nose. The blunt nose was a nose diver, a shovel, basically. It really likes to pearl. Take the same board with the updated pointy nose, and completely different story, keeps the nose up. The blunt nose had this like nose concave on the bottom that just sucked the board under. We actually talked to Jeff Page about it in 2007 and he told us he was aware of the issue and they were fixing it with a new nose.

FYI. Sorry I missed the first post.