Last weekend Ken and I had a chance to take advantage of some warm SW. The NE swell that Sam and I surfed the previous weekend was fading and some SE was moving in. Here is a little combo video showing some wave sailing with Ken on the Fanatic Prowave Quad 8'10 and bump n jump on a WindNC demo Tabou Dacurve Quad 85L. I can't believe these things are street legal.
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The Tabou was the first and only quad windsurf board I've ridden. I can't compare to others but I can say it was a blast in puffy NE wind with a 4.7. Lots of times while wave sailing I want to give up zero ground while jibing so you'll notice I was trying to see how tight you can crank them. The answer is the board can pivot like a merry go round and out carve the sail rotation. I had to adjust my sail handling to catch back up to the tighter carves so be ready. Sure it is loose. In a good way.. You're not springing off the center fin when you jump a ramp- it is better to Ollie. This seems to be a good compliment to a lighter wind freestyle board. I could not cavitate this board. You can slide when you push but it is a controlled drift. The benefit is that once you get used to driving the board with the weight off your feet and from the front foot the board is very tolerant to poor landings with too much pressure on the back foot. This also keeps the board feeling well controlled when overpowered in the gusts. Demo one for yourself if you've never tried one. No pressure to buy but you just have to try it to understand what companies are going for with these new designs. I would love to hear some comments from folks who have tried them or have questions.
**Update. I missed this a year ago when Andy posted on Windsurf Mag. Based on my sound side experience this is absolutely not a sales pitch! Andy was spot on with his description of the boards personality. Check out a much improved description of first wave sail on the Tabou '11 team edition DaCurve 85L
Ken with Bill on a smaller set.
10/27 With Leah at Belews
Sometimes... well, you know.
