Thursday, September 4, 2014

Support your local board builder - Update Report

This is a followup on my original article... It took 2 months to get the board done, from final specs to the finish;; Alex (Tillo-International/Ifju fins) was busy making slalom fins, SUPs and couple of other windsurfing boards at the same time. The goal of the project was to design light wind machine with great wind range, easy, soft ride, ability to go on the reach and jibe like a slalom board, but not loosing much in upwind/downwind angle to Formulas. Also, board had to be less power hungry, so it could be used with smaller fins/sails. And finally, tuned for someone at 140 lbs. Specs were: 222 cm L, 92 cm W,tail 78 cm W, Volume 118 L, special cut outs, single concave in the tail. Great attention was paid to all the details: redesigned air valve, fin screw holes, foot pads/straps positions, rails, ultra light layup utilizing new high end carbon cloth and of course custom graphics. Final result is a 15.5 lbs beauty, board is light, responsive, stiff and strong. Over the last 3 months Alex and I took it through the paces. Oh... yup, mission accomplished!!!