2012 Buyers' Guide Freestyle Boards

Jan 14, 2012

For 2012 windsport.com will be posting individual Buyers' Guides for each category of board and sail to help you find the best board for you. We are putting each category together in one place that includes info from the manufacturers along with videos and advice to get you started. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to either 'post a comment' at the bottom of the article or e-mail it to us at info@windsport.com. —Pete DeKay, editor

Are you into throwing tricks? Well, these boards can do so much more... from helping intermediates get into the footstraps in windy places to landing Spocks and Kabikuchis.

FREESTYLE BOARDS:

EXOCET I-STYLE

Light and luxurious the I-Style III low end grunt and lightening fast rocker line get you fired up and instantly into action. Featherweight control and response, and the unique rail bevels create loads of power. This pure freestyle concept takes the rough with the smooth.

Features:

• Fast planning outline
• DDSA: Double Density Shock Absorber
• E.U.R: Exocet Unique Ride
• QC: Quality Construction
• Unique rail featuring a new flat section tucked
• Fast rocker line issued from our Slalom line

FANATIC SKATE

4 World Titles and countless won tests prove the pedigree of our Freestyle program. But as bigger moves are busted in the intense PWA Arena, the demands on a blockbuster board are off the scale. 3 all-new shorter outlines with wider round noses and thinner tails supply the vital easy handling needed to win. A reverse length concept sees the bigger sizes shorter than the smallest, with all models boosted by the power V form and ultra-slide bottom shape. For 2012 we’ve CAD-formed a double-curved tail deck design for super grip and arch comfort in both air and sliding maneuvers. The fuller nose rails catch less and smoothly blend air moves into sliding tricks for extra flow and style points. Sebastian and the team also thinned the rails between the feet for mid-stance carving control and sweated over a million minor details in the name of victory. The 99 and 109 models come in either Biax Glass Sandwich Light or ultimate Carbon Kevlar Light Team Edition (TE) and the Skate 89 weapon will be available in TE only.

Key Features:
- Reverse Length Concept – short shapes for easy ride and control
- Round Noses for soft reception and smoother sliding
- Thin Mid Rail carving section
- Smart Foot Arch Deck Contours for comfort and grip
- Power V and Slide Bottom for combo trick flow and style

Gollito Estredo (V-01), 4 times PWA Freestyle World Champion (2006, 2008, 2009 & 2010):
“The new Skate is a great progression forwards, I like a fast, early planing board for my aggressive style, the new shorter length and rail shapes are perfect for double moves and new tricks. I´m looking forward to defending my title on these shapes, as well as pushing the limits even further in Freestyle windsurfing!”

GOYA AIR

This airborne Freestyle board, is exclusively designed for the generation of freestyle moves that we now see on the water and aspire ourselves. These boards are not just tested but used and abused daily by professional Freestyle riders on Maui and around the globe.

The all new short shape combines extreme power and pop for air moves while keeping full rail carving capabilities. The rocker with a longer flat section is only surpassed by our Freerace line, focussing on early planning and top end speed. The gradual nose rocker has been reduced for control and ease when switching from tail to nose glides.

The Air PRO features generous carbon patching from in front of the mast track all the way into the tail, as well as beneath and around the padded areas.

Further design features include an increased tail volume and bevel for reverse sliding tricks as well as Freestyle insert positions with double screws on the back strap.

Features: Gradual curved deck under the foot strap area and customized Freestyle insert positions with double screws on the back strap.

JP-AUSTRALIA FREESTYLE

The Freestyle range has received an overhaul to match the performance levels of today and tomorrow, after seeing an opportunity for progression with some new dimensions. To create the spectacular, the power and pop has to come from within. The new board now has the potential to blast its way into every possible angle of rotation, driving the discipline into the future.

SHAPE
We compressed the total length of the board (for example the FS99 to 225cm) and shifted the volume distribution slightly backwards, which pushed the centre of gravity slightly behind the widest point. The board remains stable and balanced with the bonus of being short. All this contributes to accelerating the rotation of the board for more radical stunts whilst sliding or in the air.

The short length combined with the added volume in the tail, gives the rider the opportunity to push himself and his equipment off the surface of the water instantly. When landing, the board does not sink, as the volume pushes back and keeps you afloat. Added volume allows us to keep the tail width at a narrow comfortable size, with an ergonomic dome deck under the back foot strap. This results in a comfortable stance for sailing regular or switch, with a body position for superior balance during sliding maneuvers.

The tail is rather narrow so the rider can get more radical in moves and push harder on the back foot. Around the front foot strap the rail became fuller to avoid tripping and to guarantee good lift for maximum acceleration. The ergo deck remains on board (only for the front strap positions) for ultimate comfort. From the mast base forward we use bevels and extra Vee just before the tuck line in order to prevent the rail from catching. The scoop rocker line is kept rather flat for a smooth and early transition from sub to max planing and a little tail kick to make the board fast and maneuverable.

SUMMARY: The new generation boards are radical Freestyle tools to mould dreams into reality. Contrary to many other competition Freestyle boards these toys are still fun to just sail around.

TECHNOLOGY: PRO = PRO EDITION in Carbon Kevlar Technology

 NAISH FREESTYLE

Target: Freestylers wanting the ultimate trick board for competition and flatwater maneuvers.

Designed with a unique outline to decrease tail area, the Freestyle features early planing, incredible acceleration and a deck geometry that is ideal for modern skate-style maneuvers.

Construction: Carbon/Kevlar sandwich deck with carbon sandwich bottom

Accessories:

• G-10 CNC fin
• Eco boardbag to reduce packaging by 85%

RRD TWIN-TIP

As the level of freestyle performance is redefining the word “windsurfing”, our R&D custom factory as committed to redesigning two new progressive shapes that would represent this change. Modern, compact, lightweight, easy to plane and to be jumped out of the water with an eyeblink, the new TwinTips V2 are simply a new tool to express your desire to write a new page in freestyling.

Shorter outlines on both boards compared to the previous versions, the 90 features a much narrower width compared to 88 lts V1. This reduced lengths allows the boards to be easier to be jumped our of the water and to be thrown around for double manouvers. Much thicker in the tail, the new twintips V2 are easier to plane and reach top speeds, an essential key point for new school manouvers. The new deck shape with highly recessed area allows a better grip and control of the board while riding on choppy water.

Technology: Custom Made Herex 100 sandwich to and bottom with Carbon Kevlar® deck custom made lamination.

TWIN-TIP TWINZER: A new addition to an already explosive line of pure freestyle boards. The twin fin set up allows these freestyle boards to be even looser and improve the potential for multiple executions of manouvers.

We introduced a new hull design that has slightly more V throughout the all length, and little bit flatter rocker in the back, in order to increase the planing capacity. At the same time we have changed also the outline, which is slightly narrower in the tail as well as in the front, to have a more compact board with basically more volume in the tail and the nose area. We now have more middle point flatness in the deck to achieve better floatation and better volume distribution, since especially for double manouvers the board needs to pivot around the mast track area. The deck also features a new deep recess from the front foot towards the back foot, which allows the front foot to be little more in an angle so can press a little bit better on the rail of the board. TwinTip boards will feature US box in all the sizes, since we have felt that is very important for high performance racers to be able to move the fin back of forward in order to improve the planing capacity or to improve the grip and slow down the planing capacity, so the US box is the only systems that allows to do that properly.

STARBOARD FLARE

The Flares are Starboard's dedicated pro-level freestyle boards, designed and backed by the world's best freestyle team.

Freestyle boards require an interesting blend of riding characteristics: they need to be very quick to accelerate and feel compact in both aerial and sliding maneuvers; they need to pop air easily and carve and respond quickly to the rider's moves. Of all boards, they need to be the lightest yet remain extremely strong. To finish off, a freestyle board needs to be perfectly balanced and aggressive enough to invite its riders to go bigger, faster and stronger with confidence while being forgiving enough to help him or her finish each move.

The Flares excel in each of these criteria. They also come in more sizes than any other freestyle board range, catering for riders of all ages and all sizes.

• Dedicated freestyle boards
• Most compact and quickest to accelerate
• Designed to generate lots of pop off flat water and be highly responsive with a direct, aggressive feel
• The small freestyle fin, the thick tail and centered straps require a good freestyle skill-level and a vertical riding style

Key features

• Fast racing chassis: rockerlines and vee configuration come from Starboard's iSonics
• Flare 91, 101, 111: new extra-compact outlines increases rotational speed, improves responsiveness and control
• Flare 91, 101, 111: new extra-thick tail improves float and forgiveness during moves
• Flare 91, 101, 111: new squared-off tails create a sharper release edge for cleaner, quicker acceleration with every pump
• The 60, 72 ProKids models and the 116 keep their shapes.
• New raw-finish without paint reduces weight (WoodCarbon models only)
• Exaggerated deck dome and heel gutters improve rider comfort, grip and control over the board
• New ultra-light 70g Slot Box fins
• New Drake specialist freestyle fins

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