I got to try out quite a few twin fin boards this year plus some other multi finned boards and my favourite was the RRD 82 twin!
I tried it out in cross onshore conditions at Scarborough with a 5.3m and my new 77kg
I'll keep it brief.
It planed fairly early, had reasonable top end speed and in a straight line it felt "lively" one other board felt more lively, but the rrd had a nice responsive feel. It didn't spin out or let go once. If your used to single fins, then in a straight line you probably wouldn't know it was a twin fin.
On the wave it could do tight little turns and big drawn out ones unlike some of the others that I tried that had a very locked in radius, this board felt very intuitive just point(where I wanted to be) and shoot! What I liked most was that at the half way point in the turn where the other boards started to bog and slow down, the rrd didnt it kept it's forward momentum for some very nice powered up top turns, one other board I tried also had this "drive" but the radius of the turn could not be made tighter due to the flatter rocker.
Two other boards of another brand had a more grippy feel when the rail engaged, but for me in cross onshore conditions the extra drive that the rrd gave back up the face out weighed this.
Also why I really, really liked it was because it felt very similar to my own custom board.
I highly recommend getting hold of one of these RRD's to try out. I dont think they changed the shape this year and I can see why.

Hi rider 5 ive got the 90 2010 wavetwin love it .
very special boards

Hi Rider5

How does the RRD compare to the Mistral twinny?

I have the mistral 92 and love it, but also looking for a complement board for excelling in the 5.3 - 4.5 range.

Thanks
Northy

Select to expand quote

northy1 said...

Hi Rider5

How does the RRD compare to the Mistral twinny?

I have the mistral 92 and love it, but also looking for a complement board for excelling in the 5.3 - 4.5 range.

Thanks
Northy

I have only sailed the 09 mistral twin 84 so compared to that, the mistral feels looser more alive very twitchy and responsive to heel toe pressure than the rrd, the mistral has a bit less volume in the nose, i reckon the mistral planed a bit earlier only a bit!. The feel of the mistral(with all that vee in the tail) is in a league of it's own.

Hey Rider, how do they compare to the Riders custom twins?

Hi

I'm the lucky owner of a 2010 RRD twin 82.

I say lucky because this board is great,, and it haven't let me down on any points yet.

I waited a while before posting a review here, as I think it is only fair to get the board in different conditions over some time.

The 82 have OK flotation (I'm 86kg), for non-planing stuff. Okay if you stand still it might sink a bit, but if there is a little of movement then it is quite balanced and moving forward easily. Getting it onto the plane was quite easy.

Up on the go it feels like sailing a 75 liter board, often I sailed it down to 4.7, and it is still having heaps of control. On the waves it is very loose and snappy in the turns. But again it is never that loose that it just looses its grip from the 2 fins totally, you can always bring it back from a slashy top turn. I also seam to handle slower turns really good and carry you through some non-perfect conditions.

In the bottom turn it is nice and forgiving and there is no "special" point you have to get the board in to perform. Move your weight forward or back and it will still perform and get you exactly where you want to be in the wave. It accelerate quick out of the top turn and all in all is a lot of fun to sail.

I also sailed it in quite light wind and it performs very well with a 5.8. If you are over the 85kg and want light wind performance then maybe also consider the 90 twins. Haven’t tried it myself but hear from heavier sailors that they love it.

The foot strap position and fin position is where I put it first day and there is no fiddling around – so great.

Regards

Jesper