Emile:
I always air on the side of scepticism when new technologies appear that are ‘guaranteed’ to improve your sailing. I have to admit to hanging on to a single fin Fanatic while everyone around me was buying new multi-finned offerings just because I felt that it suited the way I sailed (mainly jumping) a lot better.
This week, I tried the new RRD Wave Cult Quads and I have to say that I am very very impressed.
Jumping on, the first thing I noticed is a surprisingly sure-footed feeling as the board accelerates onto the plane. They don’t feel skatey, like the twin fins or some monoconcave single fins do. The boards are maybe ever so slightly slower to get going than an early planing single fin, but not annoyingly so.
Once up and going, they feel incredibly smooth and the nose seems to sit fairly low in the water. This was especially noticeable because I had been overpowered and spinning out a lot on a single fin just before and the 75 that I jumped straight onto (with the same sail) was suddenly easily controllable and very composed in the water.
The sure footed feeling seems very useful when boosting airs and backlooping (my personal obsession). You can setup to jump exactly when and where you want to – easily absorbing the waves that you don’t want to jump off without any fear of spin out (there is nothing more annoying than spinning out into a perfect, steep ramp!)
In the gybe, the rail seems to have an endless bite and drive that you can set as tight as you like and still plane out! (very impressive)
On the way in, I found once on a wave, you can point stupidly high upwind and still keep going – useful in strong tides. The bottom turn, like the gybe is full of bite and drive and you can alter it as needed to make sure you hit where you want to… The top turn is really where the magic happens. Out with the slide and in with the gouge is what I say! The tail no longer seems to break free like a twinser or a stubby waveboard, it just hooks in and throws spray, much to my delight!
Another very useful feature is that you only seem to need a few inches of water in which to gybe the board on the inside!
I tried the 75 and 83. They both feel fairly similar. The 83 does give you that extra bit of float for gusty wind or heavier sailors and possibly gets going slightly earlier than the 75. The 75 feels like it is impossible to be overpowered and I can’t see many people needing smaller!
So there you are, I am very impressed! I must point out that I am not sponsored to have this opinion, I am just stoked on windsurfing like a little boy again!
Emile
