A very quick short early session today to finally get the 73 on the water. Here are my first impressions.

Conditions...Patchy Northerly at Green Point, Brighton...15-22 knots...choppy.
KA Race 2017 proto, Tribal Powermax 38

The board instantly felt very composed and compact for it's size....really does not feel like a 73 wide 118 liter board. Ride is engaging enough but not "thumpy" through the chop...I think the balance is just right. Rides flat with the nose staying low, does not feel super fast or overly lively, quite cruisy in it,s temperament.
Gybe is awesome, it carves a really smooth progressive arc, very easy to gybe even for a hack like me.
Stance is just right...out on the rails so you can really lock in yet it does not feel extreme due to the slightly narrower tail.
Speed.....well as I said it does not feel super fast..yet I managed a respectable speed for the conditions....especially as I have had the flu for 3 weeks and the mojo was non existent. Peak was a 30.5....OK for the bay on a big board...especially as I was not really pushing it. There is a lot more speed in this for sure when I get it dialed.

I am happy....need more time on it to dial it in.....I am not sure the powermax is the right fin for it I think it needs something more upright to coax the nose up a bit and loosen it up and certainly bigger for when I put an 8.0 on it. Tribal Slalom 42 coud be the ticket.

Next weekend?????? Lets hope.

Oh......and I forgot to thank James at Carbonart again for doing such a great job on these boards....thanks mate. I am sure he would be more than happy to build some more!!

Any photos on the water??......not that I want to see the colours of the ka proto or anything

Nope sorry and the proto was not in the production materials anyway.

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eastcoast said...
Any photos on the water??......not that I want to see the colours of the ka proto or anything

colours have been on the website for a while.

Second session today, wind very gusty and full of holes but was a bit of fun. The board is very, very good..composed but still lively enough to keep things interesting. Speed is good and the thing I like about it is that it does not feel overly fast yet is.
Had a slalom fin in it today..an older MxR G11 40 cm I had. The board felt slipperier with this fin but it may be a bit soft being G11. Still need to sort the right fin for it.
Very happy , it is an excellent board and will get lots of use this summer.

Nice couple of pics there Martin, the boards look real nice in real life and you were certainly motoring yesterday!

Who was on the camera for you?

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Jman said..
Nice couple of pics there Martin, the boards look real nice in real life and you were certainly motoring yesterday!

Who was on the camera for you?

Yes board finish is excellent, Re pics Brendon who use to work at RPS www.facebook.com/brendanboxallphotography/

Hi Jerry...It was Brendan...takes nice shots!!!!!

The board felt great....I actually started on the new 64, first few runs but then the wind got patchy so I swapped to the bigger one. I got a peak of 31.4, pretty sure it was on the big board but also saw a number pretty similar on the 64. This is going to be an awesome board for the Elwood sea-breezes with a 7.1 or 7.9 in the lighter winds. Also keen to see if I can get it to 40 knots at Sandy Point...my next challenge!!! might have to give that one to Spotti.

OK, well it,s time for an update on how the board has been doing.
It hasn't been a fabulous season in Melbourne so I haven't ridden it as often as I would like but it still has probably been my most used board...the 64 on the other hand no so much..used it twice.
I am really happy with this board it as does pretty much what I designed it to do...is fast, pretty good through the Port Phillip mess but still a very engaging and lively ride and it gybes well. It has taken me a while to get the fin combo sorted....I started with an old MxR Katana in it which works in the lighter air but is a G11 fin and too soft when the wind gets up, tends to lift the board out of the water. I have tried a Tribal Powermax in it and found it a bit too powerful for it and have ended up on Tribal Slalom fins 38, 40 and 42 which work great and give the board a huge range.
It rides quite flat with the nose sitting low but never feels like it is going to dig in and grab even in the really rough stuff. When you are fully powered it really gets up on the tail just flying off the fin and feels very slippery and efficient. I have not had a good sail on flat water on this to see it's top end speed potential....I have had it over 30 Knots at Elwood which is faster than I have done on any of my previous 70 wide prototypes in that rough water and being a bigger board I am pretty happy with that.
Is it perfect...well that,s impossible, but it's pretty darn good. If I did it again I would probably deepen the concaves a fraction more and run them further back just to soften the ride some more.
Sails....I have only used KA Races on it , 6.3, 7.1 and 7.9. 7.1 is the sweet spot. It handled the 7.9 well at my 90kgs...a lighter sailor could use 8.5 I would think. At my age I am starting to find the Race sails a bit full on in the rough water of the Bay, I am not fit enough, so about to start on a development of the ultimate camless Race, still super fast but more user friendly for an old man. Koncepts would work really well on this board and the 7.0 and 7.5 in particular would be really sweet.
Overall very happy.
As I have mentioned James at Carbon art is in a position to build more of these as we have the bottom tool so if you are interested give me a yell.
Another fun board project, learned a lot again. I will have to think about the next one now... a big freestyle Wave board I think

Hi Martin,
If you are designing a big FSW I have an Exocet Cross IV 114 from 2013 and it is awesome fun. Would be a good reference point.
www.nzsailing.com/exocet-cross-iv-pro-xidp379944.html
243 x 67 and thin rails with a good few mm of tail rocker. The longer length makes for comfort in the choppy stuff but jumps well and even turns ok on small wave a with a smaller fin. Gybing is a hoot as you can take any radius you like and no hopping around. Has pretty soft rails up front with a progressive rockerline and a flat section between the straps. Outboard and inboard strap options including a centre rear strap.
I think there is a market for big (110+) FSW with Powerbox to give more options to put a bigger fin in for less than ideal conditions but still with tail rocker and softer tucked rails for turning fun in lighter winds.

Yep sort of what I was thinking, maybe not quite that long and a bit wider. For me it is the board to have in the back of the car so on the way home from work you can take it for a blast knowing that you will get a fun sail in from around 15 knots up. Low stress sailing, just farting around. I have the smaller one that fits the bill when it is windier, the board Hoop built me last year...just thinking of a lower wind version.
There are lots of days when I am on the Slalom gear and thinking that all I want to do is go for a sail and this gear although really good is just a bit too much hassle.
Something a bit more simple and back to basics.
I will design it and see where it goes from there.

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mr love said..
........................... so about to start on a development of the ultimate camless Race, still super fast but more user friendly.....................

Now that sounds interesting. I'd be up for a go on something like this