Thursday, January 15, 2015

GA Matrix, New GA Team Members and the Conversion of a 3S 116

Hi
I rode Karel's 2015 Matrix 6.0m and it was every bit as good as he described.  This has to be on the short list of anyone looking for a fast, easy, camless sail.  Very, very nice.  Peter's sails have a characteristic linear power delivery which gives you the confidence to push hard and continue accelerating without the usual wide eyes and white knuckles.  Every year this feature of his sails seems to improve.  My ideal small sail quiver now comprises 3 Matrixes (matrices??) - 5.5, 6.5, and 7.0.  I will enlarge on the logic for this selection in a future post.

Speaking of GA sails, I note that Taty Frans, Ludo Jossin and Antoine Questel have all joined the GA team.  These are all pretty impressive sailors so watch out for more Vapors kicking ass in 2015 slalom heats. Taty moves from Maui Sails and the other two racers move from Loft.  Interesting. Those of you who watch the PWA race videos will recall Taty (a freestyle guy) coming in with a huge jump in one of the heats and rounding the bouy with a duck gybe in another.  Awesome!

One thing which concerns me is the Tabou team.  None of the above guys is moving to Tabou.  This team has not seen new talent for ages and even though Ben has been riding the boards, he is not included as a team member.  What is going on?

On the subject of Tabou, regular readers may recall my only complaint with my Tabou 3S 116 - the lack of proper outboard strap positions for fast blasting.  I made up some aluminium plates which enable me to temporarily re-position the straps so that I could test whether outboard positions would work.
















I only changed one side to get a feel.  The placement works perfectly and allows me to control and exert pressure on the fin.  Much faster!  I will consider making the plates in carbon fiber during our off-season.  My aluminium protos above will serve as good templates.  I would cover the final plates with rubber deckpad material.

No news yet on the new Select Rhino slalom fin.  Come on Select we need visuals!

Talk to you soon

Phil    

4 comments:

  1. I saw that select released a G-10 version of the S-1. Maybe this is the Rhino?

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  2. Hi Kev
    I'm pretty sure that the S1 Hi-Wind is a separate fin.
    They tell us in the Rhino description that it will be a high end carbon foil.

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  3. Hi Phil, interesting what you have done to the 3S ang glad it has worked for you but why don't you get new plugs inserted into the board? My local board repair shop said it would be a simple job to do,

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    1. Hi Martin
      I needed to establish exact positions for the strap bolts. I am happy with my positions and can now decide if I want to have plugs inserted or just make up a smart, light set of plates. The board is new so I'm not sure if I want our guy to be cutting into the deck, glassing over, replacing pads etc. I may also just keep the board as it is. I own several very fast boards - why screw with this one? An interesting exercise none-the-less
      Phil

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