Quad Fin Review - Quatro 95L Starboard 92L
Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 9:48 pm
Ok so in case anyone is interested here is my day one review on the 2011 Quad. I'll add more as the next days pass. Although I don't have a lot of experience nor crazy mad skills like some of you folks, my naive-ness due to the fact I pretty much have only sailed one board probably makes this boards traits stand out way more, and therefore maybe this review offers some insight and value. Also hoping to demo the Quattro quad on Thursday to see if it performs differently.
First things first, the main difference I can tell between the 2011 Quads and the 2010's is the size of the fins. The 2011's carry fins around 20% smaller for comparable board sizes. Many of them also drop the swallow tail (as is the case with the 92L I tried today), otherwise they look pretty much the same near as I can tell. The graphics on both the 2010's and 2011's suck, though 2011 is considerably suckier in my opinion. This was made particularly obvious as I was derigging beside a guy with a new 83L Quattro KT Quad, which has some shreddin' cool graphics all over it, plus a slimy green finish (which on the water looks better than the Levi Siver beige ones imho). Standing on the board it looks about as wide as my RRD, but shorter and thicker. Beside a Quattro KT quad it looks like the Starboard carries more volume in the middle with a more symetrical shape front to back vs. the quattro having a more spoon-like shape with volume forward. FYI - The KT quad has a tail section that is nearly twice as thick (actual thickness not width) when compared to the Levi Siver version of the same volume, leading me to believe the Levi version carries even more of the volume forward. I should note I had the fins in the "onshore" setup, big fins in the front, small ones in the back. I was slightly underpowered to perfect power on a 5.3 all day. Wind was Side-On and at times really puffy.
On the water when you first step foot on this board it's twitchiness is immediately obvious. Apply pressure anywhere, or tip your sail forward or back and this thing responds fast, even slogging. Compared to my RRD it is way less directional, and it takes a while to sort out the twitches while slogging so you can actually point in one direction. The quad pointed upwind like a champ while slogging, better than my RRD, but probably a bit slower. While slogging the board feels well balanced and easier to control than my RRD despite not being used to it.
Compared to my RRD in marginal winds the Quad doesn't naturally let you know it can probably be planing. It sort of hit's this natural plateau of speed when slogging and then just stays there unless you pump the sail or the wind picks up a few notches. This was sort of surprising because even when it didn't seem possible, if you gave the sail a few good pumps the board would rise right up and you'd be blasting along. My RRD tends to progressively pick up speed and more "naturally" planes in marginal winds. Does that make sense?
Up and on a plane the twitchiness was amplified. Heading out this probably was not as fun for jumping as my single Fin RRD as it just doesn't seem to b-line at ramps the same way. Though as the hours wore on it got easier and more natural to keep the board driving straight into a ramp. On the wind chop you can lean hard into the rail and not once did I lose all 4 fins and spin out. That was pretty cool. Punching out felt about the same as the RRD, but it seemed shorter so it wasn't quite as easy to pop over waves, especially when it was just breaking down on you.
Gybing felt quicker than my RRD, but you have to be really careful not to attach the turn to hard, or the quad turns on a dime and leaves you pointing upwind with no speed. Take it easy and it felt smoother and faster than my RRD. That said it decelerates much quicker if you overdo the turn when compared to the single fin. Planing it points upwind just as well as my RRD, probably slower, and with a different feel. You definitely don't get the same "levering off the fin" feel, and the board seems to naturally stay flatter.
On a wave the turniness is awesome. This is where I can really see where the extra fins pay off. You know how there's that perfect point where you want to head down the line, a second later and you end up too high on the wave's face, a second earlier and the face might not be steep enough to keep your speed. Well the quad allows you to lead with the board when you want to. My RRD requires a heck of a lot more effort to turn it, either with rail pressure or using the sail. I could see this being really fun on smaller swells back home like at Kook or CB, and on the Oregon Coast it would just be amazing. Dropping in (especially if you were late and coming from a forming lip) on head high waves the board would hold on at the bottom, rather than spin out like I've experienced with the RRD, it is definitely more forgiving for someone with less refined wave skills. Overall, it just felt more forgiving than the RRD, it was hard to screw up on the wave and end up paying for it.
Synopsis:
This board is super fun, with a ultra super twitchy, skatey, loose feel. Although the board is the same volume as my RRD, it feels way smaller, it felt like riding a snowboard or skateboard, it was just soooo turny. In waves this is awesome, but for Nitinat conditions I think this board would suck. The extra turniness really just wouldn't serve much of a purpose at the lake and would probably just get annoying. Your straight line speed would suffer, and I don't feel like it would achieve the same jumps off marginal chop. I am beginning to think the best solution for our conditions back home plus the odd Oregon coast trip would be a ~80-90L quad for waves and a ~90-110L FS board for the lake and flatter days at Kook/Gordons/CB/PA/Nitinat.
More to come tomorrow after some hopefully higher winds.
First things first, the main difference I can tell between the 2011 Quads and the 2010's is the size of the fins. The 2011's carry fins around 20% smaller for comparable board sizes. Many of them also drop the swallow tail (as is the case with the 92L I tried today), otherwise they look pretty much the same near as I can tell. The graphics on both the 2010's and 2011's suck, though 2011 is considerably suckier in my opinion. This was made particularly obvious as I was derigging beside a guy with a new 83L Quattro KT Quad, which has some shreddin' cool graphics all over it, plus a slimy green finish (which on the water looks better than the Levi Siver beige ones imho). Standing on the board it looks about as wide as my RRD, but shorter and thicker. Beside a Quattro KT quad it looks like the Starboard carries more volume in the middle with a more symetrical shape front to back vs. the quattro having a more spoon-like shape with volume forward. FYI - The KT quad has a tail section that is nearly twice as thick (actual thickness not width) when compared to the Levi Siver version of the same volume, leading me to believe the Levi version carries even more of the volume forward. I should note I had the fins in the "onshore" setup, big fins in the front, small ones in the back. I was slightly underpowered to perfect power on a 5.3 all day. Wind was Side-On and at times really puffy.
On the water when you first step foot on this board it's twitchiness is immediately obvious. Apply pressure anywhere, or tip your sail forward or back and this thing responds fast, even slogging. Compared to my RRD it is way less directional, and it takes a while to sort out the twitches while slogging so you can actually point in one direction. The quad pointed upwind like a champ while slogging, better than my RRD, but probably a bit slower. While slogging the board feels well balanced and easier to control than my RRD despite not being used to it.
Compared to my RRD in marginal winds the Quad doesn't naturally let you know it can probably be planing. It sort of hit's this natural plateau of speed when slogging and then just stays there unless you pump the sail or the wind picks up a few notches. This was sort of surprising because even when it didn't seem possible, if you gave the sail a few good pumps the board would rise right up and you'd be blasting along. My RRD tends to progressively pick up speed and more "naturally" planes in marginal winds. Does that make sense?
Up and on a plane the twitchiness was amplified. Heading out this probably was not as fun for jumping as my single Fin RRD as it just doesn't seem to b-line at ramps the same way. Though as the hours wore on it got easier and more natural to keep the board driving straight into a ramp. On the wind chop you can lean hard into the rail and not once did I lose all 4 fins and spin out. That was pretty cool. Punching out felt about the same as the RRD, but it seemed shorter so it wasn't quite as easy to pop over waves, especially when it was just breaking down on you.
Gybing felt quicker than my RRD, but you have to be really careful not to attach the turn to hard, or the quad turns on a dime and leaves you pointing upwind with no speed. Take it easy and it felt smoother and faster than my RRD. That said it decelerates much quicker if you overdo the turn when compared to the single fin. Planing it points upwind just as well as my RRD, probably slower, and with a different feel. You definitely don't get the same "levering off the fin" feel, and the board seems to naturally stay flatter.
On a wave the turniness is awesome. This is where I can really see where the extra fins pay off. You know how there's that perfect point where you want to head down the line, a second later and you end up too high on the wave's face, a second earlier and the face might not be steep enough to keep your speed. Well the quad allows you to lead with the board when you want to. My RRD requires a heck of a lot more effort to turn it, either with rail pressure or using the sail. I could see this being really fun on smaller swells back home like at Kook or CB, and on the Oregon Coast it would just be amazing. Dropping in (especially if you were late and coming from a forming lip) on head high waves the board would hold on at the bottom, rather than spin out like I've experienced with the RRD, it is definitely more forgiving for someone with less refined wave skills. Overall, it just felt more forgiving than the RRD, it was hard to screw up on the wave and end up paying for it.
Synopsis:
This board is super fun, with a ultra super twitchy, skatey, loose feel. Although the board is the same volume as my RRD, it feels way smaller, it felt like riding a snowboard or skateboard, it was just soooo turny. In waves this is awesome, but for Nitinat conditions I think this board would suck. The extra turniness really just wouldn't serve much of a purpose at the lake and would probably just get annoying. Your straight line speed would suffer, and I don't feel like it would achieve the same jumps off marginal chop. I am beginning to think the best solution for our conditions back home plus the odd Oregon coast trip would be a ~80-90L quad for waves and a ~90-110L FS board for the lake and flatter days at Kook/Gordons/CB/PA/Nitinat.
More to come tomorrow after some hopefully higher winds.