www.carbonartwindsurf.com/boards/slalom/

Not a review but easeir to keep this in "gear" section.

They look the goods. Looks like CA has finally invested in some graphics design and also got on board with the wider shorter design trend.

I like the new web site! I think it's the nicest one around, I like it way better than any other including the big brands' ones. I cannot say anything about the boards design, and anyhow I am not in the position to judge; but the graphics also are very nice to me. The red/clearcarbon one in the pic with PMcG walking to the shore, I think it's a 66, is awesome!!!

Hey geoITA. I agree, the website is great and aesthetics are stunning on the red pro model in that picture. That is the colour that I am ordering in the SL103 (68 wide) and SL87 (59 wide). The board that PMc is carrying in the picture is the SL112 (74 wide). What a sweet looking bit of gear. Cheers, AJE.

They do look very nice ! Is CA migrating towards the same volume / width / length as mainstream slalom brands ?

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Haggar said..
They do look very nice ! Is CA migrating towards the same volume / width / length as mainstream slalom brands ?

Yep.... Including recessed deck.

the new shape puts CA on my consideration list given they now fit in my car. :)

Like the others they claim a fairly big sail range for the boards. I'd be interested to know what the ideal sail sizes are for each size.

I guess my next CA SL58 will be a SL59 Although I don't know when that'll be as my over 3yo SL58 is still going strong
Hey AJE both my 58 (59) and 66 (68) are red, pick another colour mate

Looks bloody flash as eh bro!

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carbonart website said..
The 2016-17 slalom range introduces 8 new compact modern shapes

Wait... what year is this???

My babies just arrived today at the office. Apologies, the pictures in the fluro light and dark office carpet don't do the slick look justice. When the rain stops I will get them outside for a photoshoot.

Initial impressions straight out of the box:

* Solid construction and quality workmanship on the finish
* Bloody light, even compared to my 2012 Falcons which were not heavy boards (mind you, they are currently strapless which will add some weight)
* Pro Finish looks slick. Glossy underbottom which feels super smooth and the see through carbon weave deck and graphics are beautiful finishing touches.
* Single placement footstraps (able to have two different angles at front of each strap) for no nonsense setting up. If Phil and James says that is where the straps go, that is where they go.
*Gradual recessed deck, not as deep as my old falcons
*Fast looking tails with a clean recess on the bigger boards
*Gortex plug so no worries with forgetting to screw the plugs in

Boards in picture:
SL103 (238cm x 68cm) with 103 Litres of vol (replaces my Falcon 113 - 69cm wide)
SL87 (239cm x 59cm) with 87 Litres of vol (replaces my Falcon 79 - 56cm wide)


I broke my hand after putting in my order for the boards so I can't sail them for another 7 weeks whilst in recovery, but I will update at that stage.

FirieBob, I am loving the colour. We will have to share it moving forward

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Waiting4wind said..
They look the goods. Looks like CA has finally invested in some graphics design and also got on board with the wider shorter design trend.

It took them almost 10 years but they are finally getting there! Still being quite moderate in design including the cut outs that do not include "platforms" as in most current designs. But the change almost puts them back in my book of possibilities, and I am sure in many others. (Just bought a Patrik 100 slalom, fantastic quality ... an 87 will soon be on order!)

Just as a side comment: the Goretex vent is not such a great idea: it is almost guaranteed to cause water contamination with time. Either because of the goretex or the valve that detaches from the laminate/foam. I sold my CA 58 to a local legend (the boardlady www.boardlady.com/) somebody with a lifetime experience in naval architecture and windsurfing repairs. She just shook her head when she saw it and commented "I bet it is leaking" ... sure enough it was and she proceeded to remove it boardlady.com/5909.htm (she is very happy with the board btw).

Something to keep in mind as one might be able to order a CA with the standard foolproof air valve

They look bloody nice AJ, might see you on the water one day as I'm doing the caravan thing I just checked and my current SL58 (2nd) is 4 years old, that's 7 years of CA's, the only problem I had was when our number one airline squashed my first 58 flat, snapping the rails and popping the bottom and top

Geez Duzzi, how often has someone had trouble with standard vent screws, more often than I've had hot dinners I say. From forgetting to screw up, sand and perished o rings etc. I know there must be people like you have had trouble with the Goretex vent but I'd think it would be rare, in my travels around Aus I haven't met anyone who has, just saying

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AJEaster said..
My babies just arrived today at the office. Apologies, the pictures in the fluro light and dark office carpet don't do the slick look justice. When the rain stops I will get them outside for a photoshoot.

Initial impressions straight out of the box:

* Solid construction and quality workmanship on the finish
* Bloody light, even compared to my 2012 Falcons which were not heavy boards (mind you, they are currently strapless which will add some weight)
* Pro Finish looks slick. Glossy underbottom which feels super smooth and the see through carbon weave deck and graphics are beautiful finishing touches.
* Single placement footstraps (able to have two different angles at front of each strap) for no nonsense setting up. If Phil and James says that is where the straps go, that is where they go.
*Gradual recessed deck, not as deep as my old falcons
*Fast looking tails with a clean recess on the bigger boards
*Gortex plug so no worries with forgetting to screw the plugs in

Boards in picture:
SL103 (238cm x 68cm) with 103 Litres of vol (replaces my Falcon 113 - 69cm wide)
SL87 (239cm x 59cm) with 87 Litres of vol (replaces my Falcon 79 - 56cm wide)


I broke my hand after putting in my order for the boards so I can't sail them for another 7 weeks whilst in recovery, but I will update at that stage.

FirieBob, I am loving the colour. We will have to share it moving forward

I suggest as you can't sail them you pass them onto me for a test run.. ..Lucky bugger!

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firiebob said..
They look bloody nice AJ, might see you on the water one day as I'm doing the caravan thing I just checked and my current SL58 (2nd) is 4 years old, that's 7 years of CA's, the only problem I had was when our number one airline squashed my first 58 flat, snapping the rails and popping the bottom and top

Geez Duzzi, how often has someone had trouble with standard vent screws, more often than I've had hot dinners I say. From forgetting to screw up, sand and perished o rings etc. I know there must be people like you have had trouble with the Goretex vent but I'd think it would be rare, in my travels around Aus I haven't met anyone who has, just saying

If you keep your board for a few years it is not a problem, but eventually the goretex is almost guaranteed to fail. You might not notice it, but there is a reason why nobody else uses it. Nothing too tragic: a good shop will fix it (maybe not as well as the Eva) and at worst you would have some water in the board.

As far as durability and quality of CA boards I have a different opinion, but let's no go there . The new CA 83 on paper looks good, nice that they all are finally in the mainstream, they will sell more!

One of our airlines here certainly tested the durability of my first 58 But we digress

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duzzi said..




If you keep your board for a few years it is not a problem, but eventually the goretex is almost guaranteed to fail. You might not notice it, but there is a reason why nobody else uses it.

Not sure about that. A friend bought 2 slalom boards recently from a little company called Mistral and they came with the Goretex plugs as well. I am guessing that they also wouldn't be the only ones.

This is my first time with the Goretex. I am looking forward to having less things to remember before hitting the water in a rush. LOL

Geeze Firie, they did a number on your board. Were you insured, or did Q help out with the cost of a new one?

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AJEaster said..

Geeze Firie, they did a number on your board. Were you insured, or did Q help out with the cost of a new one?

Na my fault, every time I flew to and from Perth the first thing I'd do is check my baby, this time because I had ordered the one I have now I just left in bag till a month late, not too smart really I used to fly with the big V but from Cairns to Perth it's almost a round the world experience. Oh I had donated the board to a mate to help him so more his disappointment.

I think the Mistral boards are made in Vietnam not Thailand, could be wrong, if so they'd be my other choice, also they have the Aussie connection with Chris Lockwood.

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AJEaster said..

duzzi said..




If you keep your board for a few years it is not a problem, but eventually the goretex is almost guaranteed to fail. You might not notice it, but there is a reason why nobody else uses it.

Not sure about that. A friend bought 2 slalom boards recently from a little company called Mistral and they came with the Goretex plugs as well. I am guessing that they also wouldn't be the only ones.

This is my first time with the Goretex. I am looking forward to having less things to remember before hitting the water in a rush. LOL

I am sure it will be fine, but eventually the problem is real, look at the link again boardlady.com/5909.htm

Looking more carefully at the description of the boards I find it a bit corporate that the Web page talks about the "compact shape" as if it was a development they invented instead of adopting with a decade delay ... but hey, they have to sell their product! Detail wise, besides the rather primitive cut outs, and the apparently very aggressive concave deck (I wonder) what negatively stands out is the Tuttle box that is still not recessed. One adds a nice chunk of weight that way both in construction and in the water that you pick up and carry around every time you go sailing (convection sucks it up in the empty space of the box). It is actually enough water to make up the difference in weight between standard and pro: bit of a silly overlook if you care about grams. Talking of construction, the description is still quite dismal:

Pro Construction you’ll get the same base construction, but vacuum laminated with even more advanced fibre composites – 12k ribbon carbon lay up (locking in the rocker), Innegra, S glass and selected epoxy resin. This creates a stiffer, highly tuned responsive board.

One would guess that the "standard construction" (whatever it is with its un-selected epoxies ... and no S-glass?) does not have a locked in rocker and is "untuned"?

But enough commentary on my side! (Apologies: we are off season, and can't go sailing! That's why! I promise this is the last one and I'll go back in the garage and look longingly at my Patrik 100 )

Ive had two CA slalom boards for about 4 years now and haven't had any probs with the goretex valves,(touch wood).

Hi Simmer tried these Goretex valves on their wave boards couple of seasons ago, and I have seen a couple of cases where they leaked badly (mate drained 2kg of water out of his board). They seem like a bad idea to me. I believe Simmer are back to vent screws now. I wouldn't take the risk with those 2 boards - they look too nice!

The Goretex valves work much longer in fresh water than they do in salt water, the salt can build up on the diaphragm and damage it, rinsing it off periodically will lengthen its lifespan.
I prefer the screw in plug, I'm not very good at maintenance, but real good at making sure the plug is tight.

The goretex valves also vent the board and can prevent de-lamination.

The changes to the 2016/2017 Slalom range as outlined by James. New CA Speeders to be released soon.....

What I find interesting is the speed range goes all the way up to 108 litres/63cm wide. I think this is a great bit of forward thinking by carbon art. GPS sailing is a very popular genre these days and well done carbon art for recognising the new needs of the market. If I ever decide to update my 100 litre slalom board one these makes a lot of sense for what I do.

I wonder how the single footstrap placement works for those with shorter legs ?
Whats the spacing from centre to centre ?

James will put extra plug positions to suit if you ask nicely ;)

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firiebob said..
They look bloody nice AJ, might see you on the water one day as I'm doing the caravan thing I just checked and my current SL58 (2nd) is 4 years old, that's 7 years of CA's, the only problem I had was when our number one airline squashed my first 58 flat, snapping the rails and popping the bottom and top

Geez Duzzi, how often has someone had trouble with standard vent screws, more often than I've had hot dinners I say. From forgetting to screw up, sand and perished o rings etc. I know there must be people like you have had trouble with the Goretex vent but I'd think it would be rare, in my travels around Aus I haven't met anyone who has, just saying

Just ruined one of my boards.
Noticed it felt heavy, weighed it and 10% up on when I built it.
Deck de- lam around the goretex vent.
Vacced the board through the vent opening and no cracks, so looks like the vent failed.
Tried several days of vac and heat but only lightened up 200gr.
Cut the deck off and poly wet all through.
Freaked out, weighed all the other boards and they are all good. Some of the boards are 5 years old, so it looks like a rarity.
Stlll like the goretex idea, so from now on I'm using a rubber plug as an extra safety, pushed in the vent hole for when I go in the water.
I'm also going to re-new all of the vents in my boards.
I'd say at least tape over your vent if you remember.

First Impression: Carbon Art Slalom 87 (59 wide)

This board replaced my Falcon 79 (56 wide) which was a very good board and a great benchmark. I only sailed The CA for 7-8klm yesterday as it was my first sail in 7 months after breaking my hand, so my physio warned me to keep sessions short and sharp and build up TOW through to spring where I should be right.

I rode the board with a 7.1m KA Race. The board handled this size sail well for straight line and gybing, but I feel that a touch smaller would be the absolute sweet spot, something around a 6.6.

What I noticed was the immediate no fuss comfort. Straps come prepositioned so no mucking around or pondering there. The position was very comfy for me at 178cm tall (not a tall or short arse.....Joe Average really). The mast track worked very nice in the middle so I didn't muck around with the mast track at all. The ride is quite high and dry, and anyone who has ridden a Mistral 91 will be familiar with what I mean about that statement. It is quite a commanding position from the straps, balanced off by the lower mast track in the deck concave which all worked together to create a very easy to ride board. Unlike the Mistral 91 however (which I found quite sedate to ride - mind you quick but sedate), the CA had the lively feel that I loved in my Falcons, so in this short session I noticed some great attributes from two of my favourite boards. I was quite overpowered on the 7.1 but the board was very settled even at pace leaving me to focus on keeping good posture when manhandling the sail. Acceleration was rapid on the short runs we had and top speed was very similar to the Falcon 79 when I last sailed in similar conditions at the same spot last year.

A very nice gybing board as well, and I am looking forward to getting more time on the water with this one and it's big brother (CA 107 - 68 wide). I will update more as I get more sessions.

I'm glad you like the new Carbon Art, i and i'm sure many others have been hanging to hear how they perform. Please keep the info coming as you get to ride them more.

Nice review Adam. Good to hear you're back on the water.

Good to hear you like your new CA's fella. Just try and keep all limbs etc intact until at least Xmas