Windsurfing Magazine

kristin
2007-01-10 05:05:05 | 511 views | 0 Comments

Editor’s Pre-Test Notes:
- Second lightest board of fleet.
- Good thing its light, it’s got the narrowest tail and that could hurt planing.
- Fairly aggressively curved rocker line – good for carves, bad for planing.
- A big 28 cm fin – that should help planing.
- Curious about this one – interesting mix.

Test Team Comments:

Intermediate/Advanced Testers

Catherine Kurz, lightweight
Handles both overpowered and underpowered conditions well. Planes OK for me, and feels remarkably responsive for maneuvers. Had my biggest jump on this board and I stuck it! : ) Best suits people my size. Planing – on a lighter wind day, it wasn’t as good as others.

Antonia Maier, lightweight
Very smooth and great to handle. Great all-round performance. Great in choppy water. But it wasn’t the fastest board I rode today when underpowered

Ray Scott, middleweight
Pros – Volume well balanced for slogging. Great jibing board, handled chop well. Fun-o-meter 9 out of 10. Easy to adjust foot straps. Great bump and jumper – stayed trim when others flew around. But a bit slow to plane, and feels a bit more tuned for advanced and expert sailors.

Mac Barnes, middleweight
Generally an easy ride and turn n’ jump. A bigger fin may have helped this board. Jumps easily. But it needed more power to plane. I wouldn’t own it – didn’t wow me like Fanatic, JP, Starboard.

Josh Sampiero, heavyweight
Best described as “nimble” – very turny and loose. Incredibly lightweight, nice MFC foot straps. Nice jibe when powered. I bet it would rip in the waves – that is, if I could get out to them. Cons - See my “early-planing” rating…

Expert Testers

Giampaolo Cammarota, lightweight
Very responsive and maneuverable. Foot straps are too stiff for me.

Eddy Patricelli, middleweight
So controlled it’s easy to go fast when lit up. Lots of spark, blended with easy riding. Nott as stiff and high-strung as Fanatic, Naish and JP, and that’s OK. Light, lively and great speed. Insane jumper. Nice straps. Fin felt solid, good – well balanced – float. Liked riding it in the waves more than most. Planing OK for my weight and skill, but big question for heavyweights…

Dave Wissink, middleweight
Fast, lively, turny, it’s stable in transitions – tacking, jibing.
Just a little sticky to release onto a plane.

Dave Troup, heavyweight
Rails really bite in turns. Firm planing platform - didn’t get skittish in gusts. Great foot straps and fin. It was a little slower out of the hole than others – and feels smaller than indicated volume.