I picked this board up yesterday - Carbon Reflex model. Specs say 241cm x 95cm with 147 litres. Weighs about 8.4kg bare hull. There are a lot of footstrap positions to choose from which is very good to get the right balance point for the sail, foil and rider style. The board feels very solid - not super light but apparently a lot of strengthening has been done in the construction compared to a normal slalom board to handle the inevitable crashes and foiling stresses.


I first tried the board with a 5.7m sail in about 18- 20 knots of wind and was very impressed with the stable feel, footstrap positions, nose touchdown bounce (the soft forward rails definitely help here), and pumping onto the foil. I have been using a Formula board for foiling for the last 6 months and this board feels a bit more balanced when hiked out on the rails, probably because of the narrower tail and therefore back footstrap position. Upwind leverage and angle feels similar to the formula board (good!) and down wind feels similar as well. The foil 147 is probably a bit easier around the corners compared to the formula board.






I'm keen to see how the board goes in "windsurf mode" - the underside tail shape narrows the tail width so it should be interesting how it planes with a big sail and how it gybes. I've not owned a lightwind slalom board (apart from a formula board) so I guess I have nothing really to compare it to (my biggest slalom board is an iSonic 107). This board is not an iSonic and is clearly geared to foiling, which is where I'll be mostly using it but I hope it still is fun in windsurf mode.
I'll report back more on both foiling and windsurfing soon - I should have some faster foils soon as well.

Great looking board Glen, definetly post how it goes as a normal windsurf board. Have been considering either naish Titan or Fanatic gecko again because they can be used for both types of sailing

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AUS 814 said..
Great looking board Glen, definetly post how it goes as a normal windsurf board. Have been considering either naish Titan or Fanatic gecko again because they can be used for both types of sailing

Most of the SB larger boards are foil ready.
JP have made the SuperSport foil ready also. They work well as windsurfers and we hope they will still work with a foil

Fanatic Falcon TE 129 and 136 are both windsurf & foil ready. The 136 is a super versatile board. Have been using it with 7.8 and 8.6 race sails and Neil Pryde alloy foil with smaller free ride sails.
Nice looking board Glen!!

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bushfire said..
I picked this board up yesterday - Carbon Reflex model. Specs say 241cm x 95cm with 147 litres. Weighs about 8.4kg bare hull. There are a lot of footstrap positions to choose from which is very good to get the right balance point for the sail, foil and rider style. The board feels very solid - not super light but apparently a lot of strengthening has been done in the construction compared to a normal slalom board to handle the inevitable crashes and foiling stresses.


I first tried the board with a 5.7m sail in about 18- 20 knots of wind and was very impressed with the stable feel, footstrap positions, nose touchdown bounce (the soft forward rails definitely help here), and pumping onto the foil. I have been using a Formula board for foiling for the last 6 months and this board feels a bit more balanced when hiked out on the rails, probably because of the narrower tail and therefore back footstrap position. Upwind leverage and angle feels similar to the formula board (good!) and down wind feels similar as well. The foil 147 is probably a bit easier around the corners compared to the formula board.






I'm keen to see how the board goes in "windsurf mode" - the underside tail shape narrows the tail width so it should be interesting how it planes with a big sail and how it gybes. I've not owned a lightwind slalom board (apart from a formula board) so I guess I have nothing really to compare it to (my biggest slalom board is an iSonic 107). This board is not an iSonic and is clearly geared to foiling, which is where I'll be mostly using it but I hope it still is fun in windsurf mode.
I'll report back more on both foiling and windsurfing soon - I should have some faster foils soon as well.

I have the 2017 UltraSonic that isn't foil ready. When the time comes I will have a foil box installed.
Until then I'll just use 8.2/8.7 sails.
It will be interesting to see what they will be like in 2-3yrs.

I had a chance to try the Foil 147 in windsurf mode - about 15 knots of wind with a 7m Severne Reflex sail in moderate lake chop - definitely a smaller sail than normal for these conditions but it is the one I was using in "foil mode". The board feels somewhere between a formula board and a slalom board, probably due to the tail width, but is fun across the wind (where a formula board isn't). It took me a while to feel comfortable on the board - I needed to swing my weight a bit more rearward than normal, but I was soon really enjoying blasting across the chop. I was impressed how well the board handled the chop. I think the reasonably high nose rocker helps a lot here. The board is slow at gybing due to the tail width but I'm guessing this is a technique learning issue to improve speed.

It was very interesting to foil on the board with the 7m sail and then swap to the windsurf mode with the same sail in the same wind. - quite different experiences. The foil is excellent at upwind and downwind (e.g. course racing) and the windsurf mode is great fun across the wind.

All in all I'm very impressed with the versatility of this board. I'm now keen to see how the it goes in 10 knot winds with a big sail, compared to foiling in these winds.

It is worth noting that this board was designed for foiling with a some windsurfing ability. A lot of boards now have strengthened fin boxes and are called "foil ready" and may well be the way forward. I reckon the advantage of this board is that it has a lot of structural strengthening over and above just the finbox. Is this really required? I don't know, but it is "comforting" to know it can take the "abuse" of someone learning foiling. I've seen other boards get cracked easily with normal learning crashes. Time will tell whether this one stands up better.

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bushfire said..
I had a chance to try the Foil 147 in windsurf mode - about 15 knots of wind with a 7m Severne Reflex sail in moderate lake chop - definitely a smaller sail than normal for these conditions but it is the one I was using in "foil mode". The board feels somewhere between a formula board and a slalom board, probably due to the tail width, but is fun across the wind (where a formula board isn't). It took me a while to feel comfortable on the board - I needed to swing my weight a bit more rearward than normal, but I was soon really enjoying blasting across the chop. I was impressed how well the board handled the chop. I think the reasonably high nose rocker helps a lot here. The board is slow at gybing due to the tail width but I'm guessing this is a technique learning issue to improve speed.

It was very interesting to foil on the board with the 7m sail and then swap to the windsurf mode with the same sail in the same wind. - quite different experiences. The foil is excellent at upwind and downwind (e.g. course racing) and the windsurf mode is great fun across the wind.

All in all I'm very impressed with the versatility of this board. I'm now keen to see how the it goes in 10 knot winds with a big sail, compared to foiling in these winds.

It is worth noting that this board was designed for foiling with a some windsurfing ability. A lot of boards now have strengthened fin boxes and are called "foil ready" and may well be the way forward. I reckon the advantage of this board is that it has a lot of structural strengthening over and above just the finbox. Is this really required? I don't know, but it is "comforting" to know it can take the "abuse" of someone learning foiling. I've seen other boards get cracked easily with normal learning crashes. Time will tell whether this one stands up better.

What fin were you using with the 7m?
You were up and planing?
i have the stock 58 Drake.

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AUS 814 said..
Great looking board Glen, definetly post how it goes as a normal windsurf board. Have been considering either naish Titan or Fanatic gecko again because they can be used for both types of sailing

Plenty of crossover choices out now. 2018 JP Superpowers are foil ready also as are the bigger Fanatic Blasts.

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WINDSURFnSNOW said..

AUS 814 said..
Great looking board Glen, definetly post how it goes as a normal windsurf board. Have been considering either naish Titan or Fanatic gecko again because they can be used for both types of sailing

Plenty of crossover choices out now. 2018 JP Superpowers are foil ready also as are the bigger Fanatic Blasts.

SuperSports?

Started off on a Drake/Deb 50cm and then changed to a MxR 48cm Whale(I think?). The MxR felt better! Not much lift when going slow but felt great when fully planing?. I had to pump onto the plane initially but when out in the chop the board volume and the chop made getting back onto the plane (after gybing!) easy. Only going 24- 25 knots top speed.
I'll do some more tinkering with fins as I go.

Only going 24-25 knots! I dream of that.

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BSN101 said..

WINDSURFnSNOW said..

AUS 814 said..
Great looking board Glen, definetly post how it goes as a normal windsurf board. Have been considering either naish Titan or Fanatic gecko again because they can be used for both types of sailing

Plenty of crossover choices out now. 2018 JP Superpowers are foil ready also as are the bigger Fanatic Blasts.

SuperSports?

Yep. Predictive text got me.