Hi
I want to say a few words about the slalom boards which are on
my radar right now and give some commentary.
The three brands occupying my interest are Patrik, Starboard
and Goya.
Patrik
To me, Patrik Diethelm is probably the leading expert when
it comes to cut-outs. He has spent such
a huge amount of time developing, thinking and testing over the years and this,
together with his drive and supreme personal talent as a fast windsurfer has
produced some wonderful slalom shapes with the most effective cut-outs.
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| Very elegant |
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| I like the two strap screw hole arrays - if you want a slightly different angle for the front foot |
This year I note that Patrik has registered his standard
slalom range with the PWA but also his hollow boards. Very cool and I look forward to watching the
Patrik team go.
I know that his Air Inside boards are not made in the Cobra
factory and this leads me to worry about the ability of the other facility to
produce volumes of the hollow boards.
Will they only go to team members - I wonder (?).
Starboard
Starboard has to be at the very top of the pile with its
current slalom range. The ultra core reflex
carbon versions are impossibly light and the effortless speed these things
achieve over the water is awesome.
Louis, a new local sailor has bought a few of the new iSonics and just
blasts and blasts. You can’t catch him
and can’t get him off the water (+Severne Reflex-8 sails + Zulu fins).
One very small niggle I have with the new iSonics is the
number of sailors complaining about the front foot feeling light on some of the
sizes (can’t keep front foot in strap).
The problem is probably not that big a deal and I’m sure that swapping
fins, releasing outhaul, lowering boom etc can all be tried to remedy the
problem.
Goya
Goya is a company which has never been of interest to me,
catering as they did, mainly to wave and freestyle guys.
Not so long ago however, they began quietly moving into the free-ride
and free-race areas of our sport. Now, with
the new Proton Pro slalom board they have ended up with a formidable board and
sail range.
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| Proton Pro |
Being wave guys, they have adopted a slightly left field
approach (no cammed sails, 6 batten maximum in their fastest Mark sail, extra
long free-ride board shapes etc) and I have to say I’m a total convert.
Read the reviews on their Bolt free-race
board – light fast comfortable and beautifully built. The new Proton slalom boards also tick all
the boxes but in addition have re-inforced skeg boxes suitable for
foiling. How intelligent is that!
(Severne - take note - the big Fox should have one of these!)
(Severne - take note - the big Fox should have one of these!)
Incidentally, when you look at their other kit you understand
that these guys are serious:
Ultra light masts – tick
Ultralight, carbon booms – tick
Ultra slim carbon booms – tick
Proper mast extensions - tick
Proper mast extensions - tick
etc
They have (at the time of this post) only one slalom racer
in the PWA this year and I will be watching him and the Protons with interest.
That’s all for now. I will write about foiling in the next post.
