I have just purchased this board to compiment my Mark OZ custom as a lightwind foil board. Designed as a Foil Slalom board I asked the Tribal crew to make a small alteration to suit my shorter freeride foil geometry, the tuttle moved further forward and the mast base further rearward......
Unboxing...... Wow, what a stunning board, very interesting shape, beutifully built and finished and its light. haven't weighed it but its light...
Shape....Its 210 x 78 with a stated volume of 148 liters. Very parrallel outline with a rounded nose and a flat deck.....the real cool sh.t is on the bottom. It has loads of V with added chamefers and really large cutouts. Its unlike anything I have seen before.

First ride...... I matched it with my own designed foil......93 cm fuselage (front foil wing alot closer to the mast than a race setup) 960 cmsq AR 8.4 front wing and 190 cmsq stab. 2 degree mast rake...97cm mast. 10 to 15 knots fading frontal breeze, big messy waves as it had been blowing 30 knots all night. KA Kult 6.4 camless.
There was no wind inside so I had to uphaul. MY initial concerns that it may be unstable due to all that V were unfounded, it was easy to stand on and uphaul. I slogged out to the windline, it did roll a little on the V but was fine. Once I got the first puff and sheeted in I was shocked at how efficiently it picked up speed, a few pumps and up it came. Wow, that was so easy!!!! I amazingly had everthing in pretty much the right spot so it felt balanced and off I went. I am thinking to myself, cool, this feels great. With the big waves I did smack the crests a few times but with all that bottom shape it was a very soft touch, no fierce slap. Off the wind I went...oh the nose is noticably longer than my M OZ custom and very flat...its going to pierce the back of a swell and kill me !!!!!! Nope, not the case, it has plenty of nose rocker on the bottom, deceivingly so... Yes I grabbed the back of some swell but again the touch down was smooth due to all that shape in the bottom. ( I went over the front once but was looking around and not concentrating, my bad) However I think it does need a little more mast rake..2.5 degrees I think would be better for using it in the rough stuff.
Even though it has a bit more nose than my custom I didnt really notice the extra swing weight, I could throw it around pretty easily....bear in mind this board is designed for speed and racing so I am using for a purpose its not optimised for.

Bottom line......I am very impressed with this board. The outstanding features are ease of getting on the foil and the soft touchdowns. Its stunning to look at, well built and finished I would highly recomend it. Its optimised for speed demons but is really user freindly and will be a fantastic blasting board for weekend warriors as well. I am very happy!!!

if it rides half as good as it looks, you're all set

I have used this board about 6 times now and really enjoying it. The highlights for me are how easy it is to get on the foil and how slippery it feels when on the foil, the aero is really good. I did a back to back with my compact Mark OZ custom I designed the other day in about 16-18 knots and it was really interesting. They both work awesome but are very different. The Tribal gets up way easier, just glides on the foil where the compact board required more input ( I think the drag from the US plate mount on the small board is a contributer) Once up the Tribal feels more locked in and racy where the mark OZ is more lively. Downwind on the swell is where the Mark OZ shines, can throw it around easier with the much shorter nose.....but if you do touch down in a gybe the Tribal doesn't slow down and glides back up where the Mark Oz is more of a whack but bounces back up.
So for me being a heavier guy I think I now have the perfect 2 board quiver. The Tribal for lighter days or Port Phillip Bay Northerlies which have flatter water and the Mark Oz for 16 knots up in a SW when the Bay swell gets up.
I would really recomend this board for speedsters as the aero is great and on a fast foil this thing would fly or for freeride blasting. If you are into wave / swell chasing then the compact style board like my Mark Oz custom is the way to go..

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mr love said..
I have used this board about 6 times now and really enjoying it. The highlights for me are how easy it is to get on the foil and how slippery it feels when on the foil, the aero is really good. I did a back to back with my compact Mark OZ custom I designed the other day in about 16-18 knots and it was really interesting. They both work awesome but are very different. The Tribal gets up way easier, just glides on the foil where the compact board required more input ( I think the drag from the US plate mount on the small board is a contributer) Once up the Tribal feels more locked in and racy where the mark OZ is more lively. Downwind on the swell is where the Mark OZ shines, can throw it around easier with the much shorter nose.....but if you do touch down in a gybe the Tribal doesn't slow down and glides back up where the Mark Oz is more of a whack but bounces back up.
So for me being a heavier guy I think I now have the perfect 2 board quiver. The Tribal for lighter days or Port Phillip Bay Northerlies which have flatter water and the Mark Oz for 16 knots up in a SW when the Bay swell gets up.
I would really recomend this board for speedsters as the aero is great and on a fast foil this thing would fly or for freeride blasting. If you are into wave / swell chasing then the compact style board like my Mark Oz custom is the way to go..

Thanks for the reviews
Interesting that you notice less nose swing-weight with the smaller board - some say they don't.
Which of your foils are working best with Mark's board?

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azymuth
Interesting that you notice less nose swing-weight with the smaller board - some say they don't.

Definitely notice less swing weight on my shorter rides. My larger 111 ltr at 170 long 65 wide is nimble but interestingly my 93 ltr Foilstyler at 180 long and 62 wide is even more so nimble. Think width is also a contributing factor.

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azymuth said..

mr love said..
I have used this board about 6 times now and really enjoying it. The highlights for me are how easy it is to get on the foil and how slippery it feels when on the foil, the aero is really good. I did a back to back with my compact Mark OZ custom I designed the other day in about 16-18 knots and it was really interesting. They both work awesome but are very different. The Tribal gets up way easier, just glides on the foil where the compact board required more input ( I think the drag from the US plate mount on the small board is a contributer) Once up the Tribal feels more locked in and racy where the mark OZ is more lively. Downwind on the swell is where the Mark OZ shines, can throw it around easier with the much shorter nose.....but if you do touch down in a gybe the Tribal doesn't slow down and glides back up where the Mark Oz is more of a whack but bounces back up.
So for me being a heavier guy I think I now have the perfect 2 board quiver. The Tribal for lighter days or Port Phillip Bay Northerlies which have flatter water and the Mark Oz for 16 knots up in a SW when the Bay swell gets up.
I would really recomend this board for speedsters as the aero is great and on a fast foil this thing would fly or for freeride blasting. If you are into wave / swell chasing then the compact style board like my Mark Oz custom is the way to go..

Thanks for the reviews
Interesting that you notice less nose swing-weight with the smaller board - some say they don't.
Which of your foils are working best with Mark's board?

I have pretty much only been using my 900mm span 960cm2 front wing on the M-OZ custom and messing with quite a few stabs, sizes and shapes.

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mr love said..

azymuth said..

Thanks for the reviews
Interesting that you notice less nose swing-weight with the smaller board - some say they don't.
Which of your foils are working best with Mark's board?

I have pretty much only been using my 900mm span 960cm2 front wing on the M-OZ custom and messing with quite a few stabs, sizes and shapes.

900 span and 900 to 1000 mm2 seems to be a sweet spot for riding bumps

Agree, good speed and glide and still turny.....

I will have a revised version of my 790 cm2 in about a week......modified to improve the lift... That will be interesting.

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Interesting that you notice less nose swing-weight with the smaller board - some say they don't.

Not trying to dive back into the swing-weight debate, but since I switched from a 230cm board down to a 180cm, I've really felt a big difference in how the new board reacts to foot and mast base inputs, especially in turns and gybes. The rig and foils haven't changed, so the only thing that's different is the board itself.

I've already mentioned the shorter length, but there's also a big shift in the setup: the distance between my front foot and the mast base (UJ) is now about half of what it was, and the foil is a lot further forward too. I get that everything works together, but I'm curious - when people talk about reduced swing weight, do they mean the impact of reduced foam/length in front of the UJ or is it more about the tighter overall setup?

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Panno said..

Interesting that you notice less nose swing-weight with the smaller board - some say they don't.

Not trying to dive back into the swing-weight debate, but since I switched from a 230cm board down to a 180cm, I've really felt a big difference in how the new board reacts to foot and mast base inputs, especially in turns and gybes. The rig and foils haven't changed, so the only thing that's different is the board itself.

I've already mentioned the shorter length, but there's also a big shift in the setup: the distance between my front foot and the mast base (UJ) is now about half of what it was, and the foil is a lot further forward too. I get that everything works together, but I'm curious - when people talk about reduced swing weight, do they mean the impact of reduced foam/length in front of the UJ or is it more about the tighter overall setup?

Too me swing weight is how much board is in front of the foil mast. But I think you second point is much more important to a looser feel and that is the tightness/compactness of the set up