Thursday, September 25, 2014

New Equipment from North and Severne and Reader Feedback

Hi

Sorry for the long break.  I have been working on a project and my mind has not been on windsurfing.

Severne, Gaastra, and Tabou all seem quite late in presenting their 2015 slalom stuff.  I'm not sure why I always get impatient around this time of year - its not as if these companies have inferior equipment in their current ranges but the thought of new stuff is just so appealing.

North have all of their 2015 merchandise loaded and their catalog is on site.  Of interest to me (apart from the sails already discussed in previous posts) are the super light Platinum Aero booms and Platinum Aero masts.  Not cheap but really nice pieces.  You will not find the weights on the site (the weights shown there are wrong) but they are in the catalog.

Severne's 2015 Reflex and Overdrive sails have been spotted around.  This is not a great photo but good enough to glean some details
It seems as if the new Reflex has only two reflex batten tensioners in place of the three in prior years. I am frankly more interested in the Overdrive behind the Reflex.  We can't see much unfortunately but it looks like a nice machine.  The reflex tensioners seem a bit more robust on the new models.


I mentioned Tectonics' new Fury fin a while ago and Kevin Do purchased one.  His feedback is not as good as I was expecting.  Kevin recons that the upwind capability of the fin is not as good as his VMax 2.  He says that the fin kept spinning out when pushed hard - it seems to be a bit soft for this type of use.  He also points out that the fin does not have the usual brass bolt plugs so one would need to be quite careful tightening the fin bolts.  This is all very surprising to me.  I would have bet money on this thing being something really special.
 


Anyway, our season is about to start and the wind is beginning to swing round.  We had two sails last week and the body has just about healed.  Very unfit!

Talk to you when the new Mantas are on the site.
Good winds
  

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Some 2015 Equipment Previews

Hi
Just a quick post with some new stuff from GA and Tabou.


 The new Phantom looks cool.  Sizes are the same as for 2014




 Here is a bigger picture of the new Manta.  Tabou hide the cut-outs in these photos as you are probably aware.  We will need to get one in the flesh to inspect the underside.




 The new Speedster.  I would like to try this board in 118/75cm (LTD of course).  This could be the sweet size for the heavier sailor who likes to push the envelope.



The Rocket adopting the new dress code.  Not too bad on the eye I suppose.


OK that is all for now.  I note that Fanatic have posted the new Falcons on the site.  The video is quite interesting where Pierre and Matteo comment on things like mast foot and strap positions.
Nice boards - I would like to give the 120/74cm a go.

Talk to you soon