Sunday, June 03, 2007

Test riding a prototype part 2.

Getting wave time on the new perimeter stringer quad long board is continuing. This week we’ve gotten into some better waves with a little more juice. Head high reef and point waves in good to excellent conditions.

My test rider spent at least 4 days this week putting the board to test and finding how the board is working in turns and nose rides. As well said he was beginning to feel the boards flex characteristics in the waves that had enough energy.

So I asked him how the board compared to the high performance long board he rides from a well known label. His comment …..

The P.S.Q nose rides as good as the well known label but the turning aspects of the P.S.Q. are much better.

I myself surfed the board on 4 occasions too. The best day for me was just yesterday late afternoon. The Point had some head high sets with a very light crowd… actually it was one of those rare days when hardly any one was out, half dozen people at the most. So I got plenty waves.

My test riders has yet to have the fins break free on him. I’ve gotten them to break free twice. The second time being yesterday on my second wave. I was standing on the tip for a few seconds through a speedy little section when the fins let go. I was unable to keep my balance and fell. The first time the fins let go I was able to get them to reset and continued down the wave.

Yesterday I found the flex. After setting your edge on a nice steep wall coming out of your turn when the board unloads and springs back you get a very smooth extension out of the turns past what the fins provide. And the big surprise is how well the turn back and redirects flow with this board. The best I’ve ever gotten. With a 2 + 1 fin set up when your redirect after a cut back forward movement is lost and the board usually will need a second to step up to speed again. With the quad the redirects are seamless, with no noticeable loss in speed. Very fluid.

To be continued.

D.R.


First go out testing by Travis Riley

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