Hi all,
I recently reviewed my 2017 85 and 105 Quatro cube. Great boards and I still have the 85. However following some discussion with fellow wave heads, I thought it might be a good idea to change my board quiver a bit. One of my main partners in crime, also on the 85 and 105 Cubes suggested it might be nice to have a 95ish full on DTL board to sit between the 85 and 105 for those epic DTL days when the 105 is a bit big but the wind isn't solid enough for the 85. This got me thinking about changing the 105 Cube to a supermini and getting the 96 Pyramid.
I checked out the Quatro site and the net in general for info but couldn't find much other than Quatro claimed the new supermini is a bit quicker and turns better. Having sailed the 2016 Mini quite a bit I decided to get both.
I've had a chance to sail the Mini in all conditions, mainly with either a 5.0 or 5.7, bump and jump, cross on mushy, cross on clean and classic down the line up to logo high. First impressions on stepping on the board are its quick to plane, just get low to open the sail out step back to the straps and you're off. Acceleration is excellent , provided you bear off a bit, if you don't bite the bullet and step back expect to spend a lot of time plodding around followed by a nice walk to get upwind. When on the plane it is definitely faster than the older Mini which although had enough speed always felt a bit limited on the top end. The 2018 is not slalom fast but plenty enough to hit ramps , plough through white water and generally make life easier getting off the beach and upwind.
Through chop it carries speed well, the double concave and narrower tail working well to help the board feel smooth. Upwind performance is excellent, it does point slightly higher than my old cube probably down to the 21 centre fin. Jumping is great fun, I really like the drive from the board up the ramp, in the air while being a wide board at 61.5 it is has nice control and pulls away quickly after landing. I haven't tried anything too radical in the air but it can nail high jumps really well and no doubt looping etc are well within the capabilities of this board.
In decent onshore waves this is a truly excellent board. Onshore wave riding is not one of my strong points, but Colin 'Whippy' Dixon really put me through my paces during a Medano coaching week last year so no excuses. Thankfully this board really helps my onshore wave riding, on dropping down the wave and bearing off the board holds and builds speed well making top turns a bit more radical than anything else I've sailed. In mushier onshore conditions the supermini is I feel just about the best fun you can have as it really gives options that older and other boards don't.
My main concern when buying this board was its cross off performance. As I am lucky enough to sail some of the best spots in Ireland/ Europe/the World , and bear in mind I loved my 105 Cube the Supermini had to deliver on iffy wind days when my smaller wave board wouldn't be enough. I've had it out on 3 different spots in waves from 3' to logo high. I put the straps well back, recommended by the Quatro guys and used the supplied 21 MFC centre fin and a 22 K4 Scorcher.
Bottom turns are great and top turns need a bit of commitment to keep the nose up coming off the lip. It carries speed well and grips well. I do prefer the Scorcher fin to the supplied one as I feel the DTL performance improved. While not as good as the Cube in cross off the Mini is still a lot better than I expected. When I was buying the Mini the shop told me if I wasn't happy with it they would swap for the Cube, surprisingly to me I've decided to keep it, it hinged on the cross off performance and while the cube is better the mini is no slouch and the earlier planeing is nice to have.
To sum up, the wind range is huge, 4.2 - 6.2 easily. early planing, control and excellent performance in all conditions. Super easy and fun , its hard not to like. Congrats to Quatro yet again.

Nice review Rob. Let us know how you get on with the Pyramid and also how the SM handles the bigger days . Cheers Jens

Pyramid review coming soon

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Rob0104 said..
Pyramid review coming soon

cant wait to read this one - I love the look of this board but for me (92kg) im concerned its too small / specialist for an alrounder

Rob - how much do you weigh? You sail Brandon or Belmullet or?

hi Northy1, I'm based in the north, Maheroraty, Benone, Dooey, east coast and anywhere else that works. 88-90kg depending on pie, beer consumption

Between the Cube 104 (or prior year 105) and the Supermini 103, which board do you think will be better for cross shore (not cross off as we don't get that) slog and ride (the kind where you have to pump llike crazy to catch the wave). Waves tend to be in-intimidatingly small here.

hi phil, I would lean towards the mini, the cube is more wave orientated , it will work for you but its probably overkill for small waves. The mini will plans earlier and rips in small stuff.