Hi
A lot of 2018 kit has appeared on the various sites. Here is commentary on some of the interesting
developments:
North/Fanatic
- The new Warp looks quite tasty. I like the scrim batten pockets – very cool.
- The 2018 Falcons look the part once again with the bigger sizes now being foil-ready.
- Their new Blasts come with a Textreme option and fin-boxes are now Tuttle across the range. Makes sense.
Starboard
- Starboard has merged their old Carve and AtomIQ
shapes to give us the CarveIQ. This
should be a relaxed but fast ride, given the strengths of the outgoing shapes. All sizes come with Tuttle boxes, some foil
ready.
- The new ISonics look great as always and foil boxes are in all the big sizes (117 litres and up).
- Starboard are making a good effort to reduce the carbon footprint of all of their boards through clever material selection and innovative construction methods. Nice to see.
Naish
- Naish are re-positioning their focus in the water sports market. They seem to have dropped a whole slew of board models leaving just two wave shapes as their total serious windsurf board range for 2018. They may have more stuff coming – I’m not sure. All they show right now is the two wave models and a beginner board.
- They may see foiling, SUP and kiting as being more viable markets going forward. (?)
- If they leave our market space, I for one, will miss them.
Severne
- Severne’s new race sail is not on the site yet but I have discovered it here and there around the Internet. It is to be named the Mach 1 and seems simpler than the outgoing Reflexes. The fiddly, secondary reflex batten tensioners are gone. Good plan!
- All they need to do now is drop one batten from each size and remove the final bit of overhang above boom end. Almost there guys!
Here is an attractive array of colours for the new year. No specs yet but easy on the eye.
Good winds
