Hello, what do you think of the Patrik slalom Air boards? How gliding do they give compared to ordinary slalom boards? Is lightness an important factor? Can it be compared to the isonic starboard, which you prefer? Why do most of the pros at Patrik ride regular race boards and not Air? Thank you

Bud has the 115 Airinside.
He also carries a 115 Angulo Sl, 115 Tabou, 115 Goya Bolt, but they float and plane all differently.
2nd is easiest and most rangy.
3rd is widest, so best in lightest wind.
1st is most high strung but could be most fun in flat water.
Hollow boards do need draining each day of use, but always less than 3 oz.

Have a look at the videos of patrik talking about them. He also destroys one for the camera, fills with water and still supports his weight.

What i would think is the flex would feel and be very different to ride ,a normal foam then thin carbon layer compared to a hollow and thicker outer layer Patrik slalom board, both are very good quality and i am happy with my carbon Patrik's ,nothing wrong with Isonics ,either .the new ones are very light ,I would love to try a hollow board ..the price scared me a little ,but I'm sure it would last a very long time ,if I was rich and racing ,I would own one

I suspect racers usually like to change their designs whenever a new idea pops up that seems to work.
Not sure hollow boards can keep up with evolution in design.
For sure, in the old days, Aquajet, Wave Hollow, and Woodwinds always fell behind in design as soon as any new idea came to work.

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Very interesting, I did not know that they made modern boards like this. Went searching for the video.
I think this is the one you where talking about

difficult question, because the PD AI SL Shapes are not identical with the conventional sandwich shapes.

I switched from the PD SL128 and PD Custom 122 to my first PD AI 130 Gen.1 and despite another shape form it drives similar. Very performant. It was extreme stiff, very light and makes some noises due the fact, that it's hollow.

From Gen.1 to 2., Patrik changed not the shapes, but some material - to make them stiff there where he wanted it and more flexible on other parts of the shape. Between Gen. 1 and 2. regarding the 130 SL - it was possible to feels differences - I was surprised the first ride changing from Gen.1 to 2.

The AI technique now is very safe - and I havn't had critical failure at the AI's (several 130 SL, 110 SL, FF 190, Hybrid 91).

When now boards made from Kinetic are costing 3200 ? in Germany the difference to the AI's are getting small (3500+).

Hopefully got an air inside slalom 140 turning up in June to replace my ultrasonic. Seeing Patrick hitting one with a mast extension sold me on them, hard to crack then easy to fix with no issue of water getting sucked into the foam.

Patrik boards are made in Ukraine.

Not all: only Foil-comp, Speed-comp, Air-Inside and Foil-Ride VIP ltd. were made in the ucraine.

all others - by Cobra.

I've ridden both the AI 115 and full carbon slalom 115 (mine). There are subtle differences in ride. Not dramatic. The AI fells solid under foot and slightly lighter but I reckon my carbon slalom is faster. Just have to tune it right. It's a beast.

I have a AI 115 V2, had it for 2 years.
It only leaked water once on a hot day where I was not planing at all.
Never done it since. It has a valve to let air in and out and not water.
It is my light wind board as I am 78kg
I changed from a Patrik 135 V1 and the 115 planes up earlier and is faster (7.7 sail)
The bottom has a different shape from the normal core boards to allow for the lighter weight of the board.
The AI does overpower slightly earlier than the core boards. We have proved this with testing on the swan river.
Both 115 patrik boards are very good!!!