New large wave board recommendation - quad

[socalsailor]

i[*]Quatro - very planted / low in water i understand....so less than ideal as a float and ride?

I have the 2012 LS quad 95. I weigh 85-ish kg and I use it as an allround board that includes a lot of slog and ride. It is great as long as there is a wiff of wind, but if the conditions are so light that even pumping like crazy won't get it onto the wave, then I switch to a 105 L FSW. The 95 L quad is light years better at waveriding than the best FSW (duh) so it is worth it for me to keep trying to sail it in lighter wind. It pairs particluarly well with the HSM Firelight 6.0 for slog and ride.

[hmsgeoff]

My tuppence worth.
Recently demoed a Quatro LS 110 quad and a Goya Custom Wave 104.
Conditions: 4.2 down the line Rhossy. Me 105kg.
Liked the Goya so much, I may well drop a wedge on a new one.

[jemhall.com]

i m 92 kilos and for what it is worth i ride the wave cult quad 100 from RRD on my 5.7, 5.3 and 5.0 ezzy elites. Planes early, and boht jumps and rides well and it floats me in 10 knots - I love it!

Whitey @ 110 kilos loves his 100 quad too from 5.8 down to 4.2.

The 100 and 83 quads were my most used wave boards of last year

enjoy

[dr masse]

I've now had some boards in this size, both twin and quad - RRD Twin 90, Fanatic Twin 93, Tabou DC quad 91 and most recently a Simmer Flywave quad 85. I’ve also sailed the Simmer Quantum 85 for a week in Ireland and given a few other twin/tri/quad boards a spin (Fanatic 86, RRD 82, Starboard 86 (?), JP 83, Witchies 77 and 89). My weight is 78 kgs, ability is average but experienced I'd say.

I’ll try to keep Ireland and Portugal in mind when writing this, since that is what I expect resembles SW Wales the most.

- will be my biggest board - 90-100 liters (i weigh about 85kg), which i reckon i use 75% or more of the time in SW Wales

Yes, but keep an eye on other aspects of the board. My Simmer Flywave 85 has managed to more or less completely replace my Tabou DaCurve 91, which I honestly did not expect even if Ola said that it might well do so. Quite impressive considering the difference in width and volume (Simmer 56.4 and 85 litres vs. Tabou 59 and 91 litres). Why? It is just so much more efficient for its size. The Tabou felt small for its size, and I would expect something like the Quatros to be of similar experience.

The main reason for why I sold my Fanatic Twin 93, an otherwise very nice board, was that it actually felt a bit to big going into the bottom turns. I must admit to being a bit more on the ‘Ola H.’ bandwagon here – avoid getting a larger waveboard than you need. Why carry more mass into your riding than you need? It has also showed me how much I’ve missed having a board in that ‘perfect’ size for your local break. For me, with a 4.7 or 5.3, this clearly is an 85-88 litre board that is 56 to 58 wide.

- needs to excel in DTL cross to cross off, as thats the riding i love the most, and get to do quite a bit in Fresh and Newgale etc (think kinda Gwithian if you have never been down here)

This would again steer me away a bit from the largest end of the spectrum you are looking at. A good friend of mine at 85 kgs is very efficient on his Fanatic quad 87 and we both had this discussion about board size the other day. Our conclusion was that he (and I) would have to go up a fair bit in size to really gain any benefit, 100 litres or more, and it would still only give a true advantage in a pretty slim window. Towards side or cross-off, you do not need much wind to get out, if riding is your thing. My solution to this is to bring my freestyle board out or use my SUP (yeah, I know…) when it is less than 10-12 knots of wind or so.

- be good / work in cross on as well pls
Here, I think you have to decide what is most important. Cross-on? Faster board, a bit more size is always nice. Cross-off? Well, we both know the answer to that one… This is actually the main reason why I went for the Flywave 85 instead of the Quantum 85. I realized how much I like a board that really gives a good turn and am prepared to sacrifice a bit to get there. For cross-on, the Quantum would be nothing but great (likely to be a candidate for best quad out there when it comes to cross-on). But as soon as it gets a bit more towards side, Flywave is my choice for sure.

I personally think that a good twin can be very fun in cross-on, I just loved my RRD Twin for this and used to sail my Tabou set up as a twin more and more. But a good quad is also very nice.

- i love the playfulness of my twinny, but wouldnt mind some more "security" in the btm turn....i guess they all do this, right?

Yes. But I can promise that there is a twin-fin out there that can feel very solid in a btm turn as well… All of the quads I’ve owned or borrowed for longer periods have all felt very secure in the bottom turn, though. Of the quads that I’ve tried or owned (not that many, admittedly), the one that has kept this ‘playfulness’ most is the Flywave.

- im thinking that the extra drive (i think) Quads give would be useful as i sail majority in 5-6m conditions - agree?

I don’t know about this thing they call drive. Sure, a quad feels more solid under foot (is that drive), but can at the same time feel more sticky to get going and less agile. One thing I do love about quads, though, is the upwind capability. This is nice.

- early planing as per the reason above - its my big main board - do they plan earlier than my twin?

Depends a lot more on board shape than number of fins, I’d say. The Fanatic Twin 93 was clearly easier to get going than my Tabou Quad 91. My experience is that the number of fins does not impact early planning _that_ much, whereas shape always will. But of course, if you change a lousy set of fins to some crispier ones, you will gain some benefit.

If you are happy with you current Mistral 92 twinny from a size-perspective, I actually think that you currently have a board that sails pretty ‘small’. So, a good, fast quad of under 90 litres might well be able to replace it…

To exemplify a bit more clearly – give boards such as the Fanatic 87, the Starboard 87 (it is 59.5 wide, after all…), Quatro LS 90 (13) and Simmer Quantum 85 a good look before taking your decision. Or, as suggested, go Moo…

But, as Ola knows..., I really think that Simmer is missing a 58-59 wide Flywave 89-91 in their line-up for a 80-90 kg sailor to be used in the conditions you describe... :wink:

Came out a bit long, hopefully of some help.

[tooold2dance]

OT sorry:

OLA or other helper : Some one posted a USDealer/Canada for Simmer boards, an internet search did not turn them up, someone on this forum posted the site.

having a moment and can't find it.........??

[Bullroarer Took]

OT sorry:

OLA or other helper : Some one posted a USDealer/Canada for Simmer boards, an internet search did not turn them up, someone on this forum posted the site.

having a moment and can't find it.........??

It should still be in your PMs.

http://www.loopeewindsurfing.com/

At some point I will post my review of the Freewave 95.

[tooold2dance]

Appreciate it.

Looking forward to the review. How was the purchase experience with them ?