I've now had 5 sessions on my new Severne Predator 110L, so I wanted to share my experience on this board.
For clarity, I have no association with Severne, I just wanted a foil board built for jumping.

What's the point of the Predator?
Dedicated foil freestyle board. Built to handle jumps and any other move you can throw at it.

What's it like to ride compared to the Alien?
I really enjoyed riding my 115L Alien. Looking at the specs of the Predator 110L - 190 long, 68cm wide, you may think that it rides similar to the 200 long, 70cm wide Alien, but the difference in ride is very noticeable.
Here's why:
- The Predator has rounded nose and tail shape, which makes it less stable when slogging.
- The mast track is much closer to the front foot straps, making the turning response very sharp. If you thought that Alien has low 'swing weight', this is next level.
- Narrower tail makes jump landings smooth, but makes gybing more difficult as you don't have as much leverage with your back foot. That means higher foot pressure, making balancing more difficult.

Pros:
- More maneuverably
- Great jumping
- Single rear foot strap
- Riding switch stance is easier than on the Alien


Cons:
- Harder to ride ie. less stable (takes a few sessions to adjust)
- The front tuttle screw is under the rear foot strap (minor inconvenience to assemble)

In summary:
I'm really enjoying this board so far, as it has forced me to improve my sailing. It's not as forgiving as the Alien.

Looks nice. It has no tracks? Is there also a new foil coming from Severne? Or do they want to sell the Redwing as a freestyle foil too?
Had a Pegasus 108. 182x61cm are really hard to stay on it when the wind goes down. And the mast track so much to the front straps felt very strange to me. I'm not Balz Muller

I'm honestly shocked there are no foil tracks on the Severn boards. Otherwise looks really nice.

How do you handle the tuttle screw under the center back strap? I have two back straps to get around this issue but wondering what other options I have.

PS: boards look great, but lack of tracks does seem like an oversight

It would definitely be nice to have a dual track option as well, but I reckon tuttle is still great if you want access to the high performance windfoils. Broader industry, wings etc is definitely moving towards tracks by the looks, but I still like tuttle for speed of install.

Also dear Severne, can you please make me this.



Thanks.

wow ! cool ! an Alienator !!!

Yeah, good point, no tracks. Add that to the cons list. I guess, I already got over it and forgot about it. I originally asked Severne for tracks, but they said that they don't do them atm
I use a T handle to install the front tuttle screw. Ideally I need to find a T handle which is 20-50mm longer though.
www.kincrome.com.au/5mm-t-handle-hex-key

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swoosh said..
It would definitely be nice to have a dual track option as well, but I reckon tuttle is still great if you want access to the high performance windfoils. Broader industry, wings etc is definitely moving towards tracks by the looks, but I still like tuttle for speed of install.

Also dear Severne, can you please make me this.



Thanks.

Hahahahah, that's gold
So you want an Alien with a closer mast track?
What about the single back strap? That'd be ideal. And tracks of course.

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PatK said..
Looks nice. It has no tracks? Is there also a new foil coming from Severne? Or do they want to sell the Redwing as a freestyle foil too?
Had a Pegasus 108. 182x61cm are really hard to stay on it when the wind goes down. And the mast track so much to the front straps felt very strange to me. I'm not Balz Muller

No tracks unfortunately
Yes, new smaller front wing is coming for the Redwing, which Severne is saying will be fine for jumping.
Can you please write a review of the Pegasus? Would be cool to know what it's like.

Yeah full width back pad and single back strap option would be nice too. Either Alien with a Predator nose, or Predator with a wider tail and outboard straps... lol. Or Slingshot Wizard 114L V3, but with a deep tuttle box option. Its generally pretty easy for manufacturers to provide a deep tuttle adaptor for foil... but on the flip side deep tuttle to double track adaptors seem pretty crappy, so if I had to have 1 or the other, I'd go for Deep Tuttle.

Why can't I have my cake and eat it too... Seeing as the board rarely touches the water, I don't see why the tail needs to tuck in like a traditional slappa does if you want a more maneuverable board. And I'd prefer to have tail width to retain option to run bigger sails, and a more comfortable sailing position when cranking upwind. Should be able to get away with pretty versatile 1 board solution.

Anyway, sorry to hijack the thread, hopefully sneak a ride on this if I ever escape NSW COVID lockdown

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Nikita said..

PatK said..
Looks nice. It has no tracks? Is there also a new foil coming from Severne? Or do they want to sell the Redwing as a freestyle foil too?
Had a Pegasus 108. 182x61cm are really hard to stay on it when the wind goes down. And the mast track so much to the front straps felt very strange to me. I'm not Balz Muller

No tracks unfortunately
Yes, new smaller front wing is coming for the Redwing, which Severne is saying will be fine for jumping.
Can you please write a review of the Pegasus? Would be cool to know what it's like.

yes severne is releasing a 1000 and a 1800 for the redwing with a new stab also

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Narrower tail makes jump landings smooth, but makes gybing more difficult as you don't have as much leverage with your back foot.

I think your front wing on the Fanatic foil might be too wide for this style board. I have used the 125 Predator back in February in combo with a Slingshot i76 and found it was super easy to throw into a jibe.

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That means higher foot pressure, making balancing more difficult.

I think with this type board you would benefit from having a bit more volume under foot, ie buy a board that has plenty of spare volume. I found on the 125 due to it's higher volume tail I could comfortably step into the foot straps before the board even came out of the water. The more compact stance with the mast track being so close to the front straps helped with that as well.

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The front tuttle screw is under the rear foot strap (minor inconvenience to assemble)

I found using an allen key with a long handle like the one Slingshot provides with their foils makes things a lot easier.

My statements were in reference to what the Alien is like to ride. The Predator is great!

I think the Fanatic foil width works fine on the Predator. It gybes great; carves well. All I was saying is that the Alien is easier to gybe. I've recalibrated for the Predator now and my foiling gybe rate is back to around 90%.

Same for the slogging balance, the Alien is easier, but I can still slog on the Predator in both straps just fine; no issues.

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seanhogan said..

Nikita said..

PatK said..
Looks nice. It has no tracks? Is there also a new foil coming from Severne? Or do they want to sell the Redwing as a freestyle foil too?
Had a Pegasus 108. 182x61cm are really hard to stay on it when the wind goes down. And the mast track so much to the front straps felt very strange to me. I'm not Balz Muller

No tracks unfortunately
Yes, new smaller front wing is coming for the Redwing, which Severne is saying will be fine for jumping.
Can you please write a review of the Pegasus? Would be cool to know what it's like.

yes severne is releasing a 1000 and a 1800 for the redwing with a new stab also

Any photos of the 1000 front wing yet?

Voila

Why didn't they give the predator a full EVA deck?? Its a freestyle board! I hit my elbow to the alien deck practicing duckjibes and now i have a damaged bursa (Schleimbeutel in german, sorry for my bad english) wich hurts and the doctor said it will never be 100% anymore
Would love to test the 1800 wing.

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seanhogan said..
Voila

The 1000 wing looks pretty good. Sightly higher aspect ratio compared to the 1400.

I tried the 1000 wing with an Alien 115 and my Foilfreek 5.2 at Silvaplana this weekend. Felt quite small compared to my SAB W950. But it is fast and stable. I liked it.
Severne showed some Predators in diffenrent sizes. 95, 110, 125

Severne also showed the Alien 120 again. I doubt it comes next year out. It has two strap plug rows. Would like to swap with my 125.

from these pics, the smaller Predator has inboard straps set up. Probably the final board will have both option.

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6u1d0 said..
from these pics, the smaller Predator has inboard straps set up. Probably the final board will have both option.

My 110 Predator has inboard and outboard front strap options.

I prefer more outboard frontstrap positions. On my freestyle board I need to stretch my back leg because with the centre options I'm not standing in a natural postion. Are there others who've had the same experience?

On my Alien 125 i am 99% between the rear straps. Only for going upwind i go into the rear strap. Outer front straps are ok. Mybe this is because of our nasty gusts.

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NicoDC said..
I prefer more outboard frontstrap positions. On my freestyle board I need to stretch my back leg because with the centre options I'm not standing in a natural postion. Are there others who've had the same experience?

I use two board, one with classic outboard straps one with inboard front and single aft.
I definitly prefer inboard for carving and jibe : no twitchiness during the curve and sail flip.
I definitly prefer the other for pushing the speed. I can use my 'large' camed sail with it (I won't even try with inboard straps).
I have never used any mixed set up with rather outboard front straps and single aft ( as the 125 predator on the above pic seems to be)

I beleive that the Alien vs Predator match the description of my two boards one compact with outboard, one small with inboard...