Exocet Breeze longboards

Recently got the 145 liter version of the Exocet Breeze wave longboard. They call it the 9'10" but list it as 308cm, make of that what you will, but it's about 10 feet long. They also have a 9' 125 liter and 11' 160 liter version. This line is replacing their X-Longboard line; the trio is similar to that line in most measurements. Mine is 65cm wide and listed at 10.1kg. Felt lighter than that -- I weighed it with footstraps installed & a 2-bolt plate and it came out to just slightly over 9kg.

Got it for use in light onshore and sideshore waves. Have only had a handful of testing days with it so far, and mostly in flattish water, but will put more updates here as I use it more. I know there isn't much out there about these boards, so hopefully this thread could be helpful if anyone is considering one. Maybe others can chime in with their experience as well.

I figured this would be good in onshore crap winds from 10-20mph, basically up until I can plane on my 105 liter & 4.9. Sideshore and side-off down to ~5mph. I have a Sealion (8'3", 125 liters, no straps) that I previously sailed in those same conditions. Worked really well and had lots of fun, but it's a much different style sailing. Have to keep your weight back to turn rather than leaning into the turn like you would on regular gear. Also the lack of footstraps can be a real problem getting in and off the beach in sketchy shorebreak situations. I've never liked having to do the overhead carry, especially with heavier boards like that. This Breeze board can be easily carried with the straps and boom like a shortboard, and the turns are much more traditional where you can lean into it.

The one day in the waves I've had was unfortunately much lighter than expected when I arrived. It was very onshore, and on the inside about 5mph, not more. Outside, beyond the break, more like 10mph. Waves were knee to chest high. I used my 4.9 KS3. Even in the inside glass and crummy onshore direction, the board climbed over the whitewater easily, and scooted along quite quickly considering how light it was. Trying to catch a wave in that ~5mph wind was basically impossible given the wind direction. I could move along across the wind but turning down to grab a wave I was basically motionless. I screwed around anyways and caught one from what I would say was a standing start; once I was on the wave in that absurd wind it was basically like surfing a longboard without the sail. Anyways not a lot to be gleaned from that session other than how easy it was to maneuver the board even in the lightest wind. Also on the outside, the board flew along pretty good, could have had much better luck had that wind existed where the waves were breaking.

The other days so far were bay conditions, some choppy, some small waist-high swell. Sailed it with the 4.9 and 6.7 KS3. Been tinkering around with the fins and mast base position. Day one I tried mast base right in the middle, and used the 28cm fin they supplied with the sides covered up. Wind was 15-22mph with the 4.9. Board seemed to plane pretty early with just a pump or two, and jibed real easy, much more like a shortboard than any longboard I could remember using. Super fun overall. With the base in the middle though, it felt a little too far forward relative to my stance -- much further away than my shortboards. Just slightly uncomfortable. So the next few days I tried the base way back in the track. That way the stance felt much more normal once planing, but it seems to have really really hurt how early it planes. Killed it really, probably just pushing too much water that way. I can usually get going pretty early, but my usual tricks weren't really helping. Also I was sort of spinning out on some jibes. I emailed Exocet and Patrice said middle of the track is best. So, I've moved the base back to the middle where the board felt best on day 1, and think I'll just get used to it being farther forward relative to my stance. I haven't sailed longboards in years so there's probably going to be some adjustment period, even though this thing zips along and jibes like a shortboard with a really long nose. I've also put the 9cm side fins on just to see how that feels.

In the small swell around waist high, the board turned well once I got used to a more slow-motion turn. Still a pretty tight radius but just have to slow down your body a bit. Tiny swell around knee high wasn't really worth it. Jibes when planing are just like a shortboard really. Obviously a larger radius, but not by as much as I would have expected. I have a 76cm freerace board, and that turns like a barge compared to this longboard. Jibes when slogging are also super easy, board turns right around. Overall the handling is pretty amazing for a 10 foot long board.

Will post more once I have some more useful information. Also if anyone has sailed these types of boards and has tips, would love to hear them. I should get a lot of days on it on the coming few months in some real conditions, unless I am putting the hex on myself by saying that...

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Grantmac said..
This board, in the largest sized, is one I'm very interested in.
Would you say it's fairly easy to up haul compared to other boards the same width? I'm tempted by the largest one in order to also use it as a SUP.

I haven't been on lots of other longboards to compare stability. But it's 145 liters and I'm 75kg, so uphauling is as easy as it gets. Really can't imagine how I'd fall off in any uphaul scenario other than getting trucked by a wave. As far as the width itself - my Quatro Power 105 is 64cm wide vs. this at 65cm, and there is no comparison in uphaul stability. And the Quatro is easy to begin with at my weight.

As far as trying to paddle the larger (70cm) version: the Sealion I have is 75cm wide, but prior to that I had a real long, narrower sup board that was probably close to the big Breeze dimensions. That was easy for me even with no paddle experience. But the point is, the Breeze I have feels very stable even given it's relatively narrow width vs. normal boards of that size. So I believe if you can test any 70cm sup, you'll have a rough sense of what to expect. Don't see any reason it would be less stable than another 70cm longboard. I personally don't plan to paddle mine because I still have the Sealion, but other than the footstraps likely(?) getting in the way, I don't see any reason why it wouldn't handle fine as a sup. But I spend most my time sailing and just a handful of winter days paddling for waves. If you're going to paddle a ton, there could be nuances beyond stability that I'm not thinking of.

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Grantmac said..
I'm not much for paddling either but we do have days with small swell and basically no wind.

I find 65cm 105l boards almost impossible to up haul but I'm easily 100kg in my gear.

My 106L Hypernut was possible to up haul and even paddle on flat water. It was I believe 76cm wide but I think the square outline adds a lot of stability.

Ah ok -- yeah, that makes sense. The big 160 liter Breeze board should be very stable for you if you could handle the 106 L / 76cm, can't imagine any issues at all with either uphauling or paddling. The length and way the volume is distributed easily override the relatively narrow width.

It's just a question probably of what style board you want. These longboards will have a lot more glide for getting into weak onshore waves. Also when the wind is marginal but comes up suddenly to planing conditions, the longboard is very fun, while the Sealion would get pretty ridiculous quickly if the wind got to 20mph, and I'd imagine the same would be true for any short/wide SUP. Trade-off would be different turning style on waves. Not necessarily worse or better, just different.

any pics? are they available in Australia? I don't know if there are any importers for Exocet left?

Finally got some waves to try the board in. Wind was pretty onshore, maybe 10mph early, then probably 12-16mph later. Was able to catch even the weakest smallest waves easily, board has tremendous glide speed with just a quick pump of sail. On the bigger waves (chest to head high), it really handles well. 4.9 sail and had all 3 fins installed. Board turns like a much smaller wave board, totally different experience than the windsups I've sailed before. Lots of grip in turns from fins. In both straps, able to lean into turns, didn't change anything from how I'd ride a normal board. Very pleased.

Note that these were very slow/mushy waves. I would expect trouble could arise in fast/hollow waves with a board this big. All of my sailing though is in weaker waves, so I'm happy with it.

Had the mast in middle of track. Low-end and general sailing much better this way. I've already gotten used to having me feet relatively further back vs. mast.

Will be using it solely with 4.9 going forward. The sub-planing speed is plenty with that sail, not worth trying plane a bit sooner with big 6.7.

Couple pics, 2nd one shows how much rocker this thing has.

Couple more pics showing the step tail design. A standard board bag has the fin slot too far back due to the step tail, so I took a utility knife and cut a new slot farther forward, and had a guy with a big sewing machine finish it. Works well now.

Hi did it come with fins ? What kind?

That's too much center fin to be running sides. Needs something around 17-21cm.
I'd be curious if the sides have toe which would make sense for a float and ride board.