Got this board for a very good price and had been using it for a month now, with 4.7-5.5-6.5 sails, wanted to give a small review of it;
Two things i like the most are being very early planing and very comfortable over chop. Its quite user friendly in general, stable at non planing conditions and easy to tack non planing. It was good with 6.5 gator, I guess it will be ok with a 7.0 too (i am 62kg). Top speed is very good but not at freerace level. It has a lot of nose rocker for a freeride board, nose flies over chop and no nose diving while jibing on a wave. Only used it with outside straps, which are not all the way out, still enough to play on onshore waves. Jibes are smooth and fast but not so good at keeping speed at tight jibes. It jumps really well, feels light on air, handles hard landings too. Build quality is good in general. Only thing i am not happy about is the footstrap bindings (footstraps themselves are very comfortable, soft and snug), there are plastic parts with teeth to go between pads and bindings, they are not very effective and bindings unscrew by time. Plus i see rust at vent plug after only one month.
This board has been my favorite freeride/b&j board so far, pushing fox to second, i like the look of its shape too :)

I've got the same board, 2016 V4, different colour, but same shape. The graphics look nice at first but rub off. They seem to have taken feedback onboard and now dont tart them up and they use plain colours.
Otherwise, I've had the same experience as you. I dont use the plastic anti-twist tabs, but tighten the footstrap tight, use the metal plate and they dont twist.
Longish planing flat and no tail rocker gives early planing and speed, but as you say, you cant crank it around tight off a wave face on the way out, it requires a more moderate radius turn. I've got a wavier 85l board for when there are actual waves.
I'm 78kg and use 4.5m wave up to 6.5m 2 cam. Great all rounder.
I bought this one to replace a 90l V1 2005. I've also got a 2009 V2 106l.
2020 there is a V5, which looks more modern at 230cm long, but hope they haven't cocked anything up. I doubt they have as its their best seller.

Thanks for the footstraps tip, nice spot :)

I have the same board. Just brilliant. I use it in rough coastal conditions with 5.5 and 6.5m Ezzy Cheetahs. I leave the stock fin at home and use instead Select slalom fins 29 and 33cm. Beautiful rough water blasting boards with fantastic gybing attributes. I have a number of Exocet Crosses from a range of years and they are all magic for coastal sailing/blasting.

Edit: I wouldn't hesitate to move the straps to the outboard positions and use double straps at the rear. This will wind the speed up a bit and plays to the strengths of the board as a blaster. It's not really a wave oriented board.

Nice video, thanks

Sounds like one of those special shapes that come along from time to time I'm a massive fan of the RRD FSW 106 v3 it's fast with out side strap setting with a fast fin but set inside straps and wave fin is brilliant in small waves and bump & jump it's so smooth at all points of sailing it is my one board for all conditions and with my 80kilo will take 7mtr (blasting) down to 4.5( bump and jump).
I also have to say it has replaced the fox as my favourite board too it's not a free race board but is a fast all rounder l prefer the RRD v3 to the v4 .

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nerdycross said..
Sounds like one of those special shapes that come along from time to time I'm a massive fan of the RRD FSW 106 v3 it's fast with out side strap setting with a fast fin but set inside straps and wave fin is brilliant in small waves and bump & jump it's so smooth at all points of sailing it is my one board for all conditions and with my 80kilo will take 7mtr (blasting) down to 4.5( bump and jump).
I also have to say it has replaced the fox as my favourite board too it's not a free race board but is a fast all rounder l prefer the RRD v3 to the v4 .

I dont think there is anything out of the ordinary in the design. Maybe thats why its so good, there arent any gimmicky things to muck it up. Longish flat section for early planing, no tail kick & sharp rails at the straps for speed, tucked rails in front of the straps for gybing, decent amount of nose rocker to keep it clear of white water and chop when gybing. Neither too narrow or too wide. Its quite long at 240cm, but that makes it easy to use. The bottom shape is 'v' at the back, light 'v' and double concave forwards. Not large amounts either. The DDSA footpads are one of the best things about the board. For a full carbon board without a great deal of bottom shape, its very comfortable in chop, my knees dont suffer at all.
The only thing I would prefer is slightly more outboard footstrap plugs. On flatter water with larger sails they are too far inboard. Not so much of a problem on the 94l, but it would stop me from buying the 116l.

The 2020 version is 10cm shorter at 230cm, slightly wider at 61cm, more parallel outline so looks more modern. I dont think they would risk gimmicks. US importer's review so you wouldn't expect them to do anything other than praise it, but there doesn't look to be anything in the new board to go wrong. www.exocet-original.com/exocet-cross-2020-review-by-aerotech-sail-c1200x66859

With the RRD, was the V4 the one where they added thrusters? A friend had the V3 and it looked a similar sort of board to the Cross.

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PhilUK said..

nerdycross said..
Sounds like one of those special shapes that come along from time to time I'm a massive fan of the RRD FSW 106 v3 it's fast with out side strap setting with a fast fin but set inside straps and wave fin is brilliant in small waves and bump & jump it's so smooth at all points of sailing it is my one board for all conditions and with my 80kilo will take 7mtr (blasting) down to 4.5( bump and jump).
I also have to say it has replaced the fox as my favourite board too it's not a free race board but is a fast all rounder l prefer the RRD v3 to the v4 .

I dont think there is anything out of the ordinary in the design. Maybe thats why its so good, there arent any gimmicky things to muck it up. Longish flat section for early planing, no tail kick & sharp rails at the straps for speed, tucked rails in front of the straps for gybing, decent amount of nose rocker to keep it clear of white water and chop when gybing. Neither too narrow or too wide. Its quite long at 240cm, but that makes it easy to use. The bottom shape is 'v' at the back, light 'v' and double concave forwards. Not large amounts either. The DDSA footpads are one of the best things about the board. For a full carbon board without a great deal of bottom shape, its very comfortable in chop, my knees dont suffer at all.
The only thing I would prefer is slightly more outboard footstrap plugs. On flatter water with larger sails they are too far inboard. Not so much of a problem on the 94l, but it would stop me from buying the 116l.

The 2020 version is 10cm shorter at 230cm, slightly wider at 61cm, more parallel outline so looks more modern. I dont think they would risk gimmicks. US importer's review so you wouldn't expect them to do anything other than praise it, but there doesn't look to be anything in the new board to go wrong. www.exocet-original.com/exocet-cross-2020-review-by-aerotech-sail-c1200x66859

With the RRD, was the V4 the one where they added thrusters? A friend had the V3 and it looked a similar sort of board to the Cross.

Agree about the footstrap location. Ok on the 94 and 84 but a shade too inboard on the larger boards. And, those footpads are terriffic. Wonderful, wonderful boards. If they keep making them I'll keep buying them.

Here's my 94 with a 5.5 Cheetah and Select S1 29.

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Shifu said..

PhilUK said..

nerdycross said..
Sounds like one of those special shapes that come along from time to time I'm a massive fan of the RRD FSW 106 v3 it's fast with out side strap setting with a fast fin but set inside straps and wave fin is brilliant in small waves and bump & jump it's so smooth at all points of sailing it is my one board for all conditions and with my 80kilo will take 7mtr (blasting) down to 4.5( bump and jump).
I also have to say it has replaced the fox as my favourite board too it's not a free race board but is a fast all rounder l prefer the RRD v3 to the v4 .

I dont think there is anything out of the ordinary in the design. Maybe thats why its so good, there arent any gimmicky things to muck it up. Longish flat section for early planing, no tail kick & sharp rails at the straps for speed, tucked rails in front of the straps for gybing, decent amount of nose rocker to keep it clear of white water and chop when gybing. Neither too narrow or too wide. Its quite long at 240cm, but that makes it easy to use. The bottom shape is 'v' at the back, light 'v' and double concave forwards. Not large amounts either. The DDSA footpads are one of the best things about the board. For a full carbon board without a great deal of bottom shape, its very comfortable in chop, my knees dont suffer at all.
The only thing I would prefer is slightly more outboard footstrap plugs. On flatter water with larger sails they are too far inboard. Not so much of a problem on the 94l, but it would stop me from buying the 116l.

The 2020 version is 10cm shorter at 230cm, slightly wider at 61cm, more parallel outline so looks more modern. I dont think they would risk gimmicks. US importer's review so you wouldn't expect them to do anything other than praise it, but there doesn't look to be anything in the new board to go wrong. www.exocet-original.com/exocet-cross-2020-review-by-aerotech-sail-c1200x66859

With the RRD, was the V4 the one where they added thrusters? A friend had the V3 and it looked a similar sort of board to the Cross.

Agree about the footstrap location. Ok on the 94 and 84 but a shade too inboard on the larger boards. And, those footpads are terriffic. Wonderful, wonderful boards. If they keep making them I'll keep buying them.

Here's my 94 with a 5.5 Cheetah and Select S1 29.

Been riding the Cross' for years, both the wife & I have had many but have stuck with the old 94s & an 84, all very early versions.
We had some later versions, grey model but didn't like them, maybe because the 104 was too big for the inboard straps.
We also had an old version 106 which we didn't like, same reason I suspect.
The 94s are just one of those boards that they got right.
I have had 32 knots out of mine with a decent sail fin combo, 34 pointer & 6.5 cam free sail.
Just love the double thickness footstraps

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AUS 808 said..
Been riding the Cross' for years, both the wife & I have had many but have stuck with the old 94s & an 84, all very early versions.
We had some later versions, grey model but didn't like them, maybe because the 104 was too big for the inboard straps.
We also had an old version 106 which we didn't like, same reason I suspect.
The 94s are just one of those boards that they got right.
I have had 32 knots out of mine with a decent sail fin combo, 34 pointer & 6.5 cam free sail.
Just love the double thickness footstraps

Yes, I have had 32 knots out of them on flat water and near as makes no difference 29 in rough open water conditions. No-cam sails all round.

Question: do the Cross's take Powerbox or Tuttle fins?

Have looked for specs online but couldn't see it mentioned anywhere.

Powerbox

Although the larger 124 and 134 have a foilbox.

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Sea Lotus said..

Looks like fun! Nice sailing .

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PhilUK said..
Although the larger 124 and 134 have a foilbox.

Which sucks if all your current fins are powerbox.

I also have an Exocet Cross 84 liters equal to Shifu's, I use the straps in the outermost position and double rear strap and I also did 32 knots with a no cam sail. Definitely the most versatile and funny board I have had in 35 years of windsurfing

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RobITA said..
I also have an Exocet Cross 84 liters equal to Shifu's, I use the straps in the outermost position and double rear strap and I also did 32 knots with a no cam sail. Definitely the most versatile and funny board I have had in 35 years of windsurfing

This is impressive. Can you tell us anything about the conditions and what fin and sail you were using?

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Shifu said..

RobITA said..
I also have an Exocet Cross 84 liters equal to Shifu's, I use the straps in the outermost position and double rear strap and I also did 32 knots with a no cam sail. Definitely the most versatile and funny board I have had in 35 years of windsurfing

This is impressive. Can you tell us anything about the conditions and what fin and sail you were using?

Hi Shifu I don't think that's so impressive anyway here you can find my data for the last session gpsteamchallenge.com.au/sailor_session/show?date=2020-12-28&team=94
The wind was really good for a 2sec Vmax but the sea was too much rough with a chop over half meter and lot of weed to allow me to do a good speed in a long distance as nautical mile; I've used a point7 ACX 5.4 no cam sail and a custom carbon fin antiweed 22cm, other time with a sea more flat the Cross pushed me over 28 knots in nautical mile, sure not an impressive data at all but for a freewave with a no cam sail and a weed fin I think it's not so bad. Most of all I'm impressed how the board handles the most roughest sea conditions and how it jibes, it seems on a rail, when you set the jibe the Cross never breaks down it's like a Subaru on the snow

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RobITA said..

Shifu said..

RobITA said..
I also have an Exocet Cross 84 liters equal to Shifu's, I use the straps in the outermost position and double rear strap and I also did 32 knots with a no cam sail. Definitely the most versatile and funny board I have had in 35 years of windsurfing

This is impressive. Can you tell us anything about the conditions and what fin and sail you were using?

Hi Shifu I don't think that's so impressive anyway here you can find my data for the last session gpsteamchallenge.com.au/sailor_session/show?date=2020-12-28&team=94
The wind was really good for a 2sec Vmax but the sea was too much rough with a chop over half meter and lot of weed to allow me to do a good speed in a long distance as nautical mile; I've used a point7 ACX 5.4 no cam sail and a custom carbon fin antiweed 22cm, other time with a sea more flat the Cross pushed me over 28 knots in nautical mile, sure not an impressive data at all but for a freewave with a no cam sail and a weed fin I think it's not so bad. Most of all I'm impressed how the board handles the most roughest sea conditions and how it jibes, it seems on a rail, when you set the jibe the Cross never breaks down it's like a Subaru on the snow

Thanks very much for this. I am always interested in what other people are doing with their setups for these boards. I'm trying to get mine to 30kts at our local (very rough) beach. I have to find one more knot of speed. At present my smallest fast fin is 29cm - I think need to get something smaller. I agree entirely with what you say about the general handling of these boards and the fantastic gybing attributes. They are very easy to keep carving even in the roughest of water, and they accelerate nicely coming out of the turn.

I tr5hink the 28kt nautical mile is very, very impressive.

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happy to help; a couple of times I tried the Cross with a carbon slalom fin and straps all back and outside and I must say that the feeling is very similar to a strong wind slalom like the RS2; I believe that the classification as a freestyle wave is more a question of marketing in reality the board is a 100% freeride

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RobITA said..

happy to help; a couple of times I tried the Cross with a carbon slalom fin and straps all back and outside and I must say that the feeling is very similar to a strong wind slalom like the RS2; I believe that the classification as a freestyle wave is more a question of marketing in reality the board is a 100% freeride

Yes, my sailing buddies and I have thought that too. Probably the best handling Freeride out there.

hi
anyone else has tried the 2020/21 new shape
was very tempted by a 2019 at a very good price but latest reviews for 2021 are excellent and basically state that kept all the benefits from previous shape but with much better maneuverability especially in small waves
I'm more oriented B&J right now but seems to me be the 2021 would more future-proof if it can ride small waves

alternative option would be the 3s+ at this stage...

I've ridden the 2021 114 L. Fast as &$@!. Like a slalom board but with better manners. But still not really a FSW. You can do big carves on an open wave face, but nothing as good as a wavey FSW. I'd say it would be my number 1 choice if I only wanted it for B&J sailing. But if you're serious about getting into waves then one of the FSW boards with a thruster option would be a better choice.