Wind Interview with Tiesda You
Tiesda You, Brand manager and designer at Starboard, wanted to keep the development of this board top secret. When we visited their HQ a few months ago, we did spy a prototype in the workshop, but we were so busy with the iSonic R&D story and its cutaway designs we didn’t quite latch on. What a shame! To get our revenge, we now bombarded Tiesda’s inbox to ask him to give us more details on the development of these production Quad boards.
Wind: when did you guys start with the development?
Tiesda You: We started the development on Quad fins almost two years ago, following tests on SUP boards that Svein Rasmussen and Scott McKercher developed for radical SUP surfing.
What did you start from? Twin fin boards?
Tiesda: At the time, we didn’t have any twin fins so we were using Evos and Kodes. We were working in parallel on quads, thrusters and twin fins. For a fin concept to work, it’s important that it works on existing shapes too. Otherwise, we can fall into a trap of making a concept work, but in a contradictory and artificial way. Once you have found a fin configuration that works, then you can of course evolve the shape to push the possibilities of a new fin configuration further too. What is interesting is that these shape evolutions often work back as single fins, and better. If you look around, you’ll see a lot of single fin shapes now evolving in the same direction as twin fin shapes.
Our new Quad 76, 81 and 86 are new shapes that have been designed around two and four fins. We finally kept the four fin option, as it made the twin fin option obsolete. Once we finished the shapes, we went back and tested them as single fins (to check out the convertible option) and surprisingly, they worked even better everywhere than the Evos of 2009, whether waveriding or for bump and jump. The Quad 66 and 71 are based on the Evo 66 and Evo 70 shapes of 2009. The key was the placement and selection of the four fins of course.
According to Scott McKercher, one of the key points on the Quads is the choice of fins, with two big ones in front and two small ones in the back. How about the shape itself? Was there a lot of adaptation needed?
Tiesda: We worked a lot on the shape but it wasn’t to adapt to the quad set up. It was simply to improve the performance of the board in itself. Adding the fin configuration which we kept secret as long as we could only pushed the performance further than what we imagined. These new shapes have rockerlines that came from the Kodes, so they’re quick and plane up fast. The tails have a lot of kick though, like the Evos, and also a lot of mono-concave. At the front, there’s a lot of forward vee, again a concept that came from the Kodes. The outline came from the Evil Twin 80. So these new Evo Quad shapes are a mix of Evos, Kodes and Evil Twin. Three in one, you could say…
Did the work on SUP development help in the development of the Quads?
Tiesda: Absolutely. If it wasn’t for the discovery in SUP, which itself was inspired from the discovery in surfing, we wouldn’t have quads in windsurfing.
Our chief tester, Erwan Joffroy, has tested four fin protos before on Maui. To summarise his test, even though he says there could be a breakthrough for advanced riders of high skill level, he noted many disadvantages (not accessible to use, catching waves / take off was a problem, comfort) for the average rider. Are you not worried that this four fin configuration will be too technical for the many riders who buy a waveboard just to ride in high winds with small sails?
Tiesda: On the contrary. It is for the average rider that the difference will be the greatest, in terms of waveriding. For sure, pros like Scott will be using the Quads to push their limits of waveriding even further, but for me, Svein or other average testers, we are not radical experts and we love the Quads because they make waveriding easier than before. Simply apply heel or toe pressure and the board follows you instantly. It’s fantastic. In a straight line, the board goes upwind no problems, there’s no crabbing effect or spin outs. You sail it just like a normal board. For riders who are looking for a board for bump and jump in highwinds, we have the Quad Convertibles and the Kodes. Two options that will give you the single fin bump and jump style. The Quad Convertibles [in single fin mode] give you the flowing style of the Evos, and the Kodes give you the fast and aggressive style.
What development was done on the fins?
Tiesda: This was Scotty’s part. He’s tried everything. He bought tons of surf fins and twin windsurf fins. We also shaped lots of G10 fins, and then we opened moulds to work on different flex options. There are a lot of possible combinations, so it took a long time. Right now, we’re looking at 16cm G10 in the front, symmetrically foiled, with mini tuttle finboxes and 11cm in the back, also symmetrically foiled and using an FCS type box.
What other wave boards will you have next to the Quads in 2010?
Tiesda: There will be the Kodes of course and the Quad Convertible. The Quad Convertible is perfect for people who are looking for a board that can give you the most pure surfing performance in the waves, and then transform into a flowing, single fin bump and jumper whose riding style is like the Evos.
The work on quad fin setups has only just started and even though it’s pushed the limits of waveriding and many pros have adopted it, do you think you will work on quad setups on other programs (freeride, freestyle etc.)?
Tiesda: Good question. It will be part of our 2011 R&D but it’s hard to tell how it will be and if anything will work. One thing we’re trying for example is a freeride board with inspiration from the Quad fin discovery: but there are only two fins. One fin, the larger one, is in front and the back one is the smaller one. There is also the tri-fin concept to try, where this time the single fin in the back is the smaller one. The Quad concept for waveriding is already very thorough, but you are right, we are only just starting to see if there are potential multi fin evolutions to other disciplines.
In terms of wave shapes, the best riders in wave windsurfing want to get closer and closer to pure surfing. Where would this R&D take us? An ultra-small SUP Quad with a sail?
Tiesda: For sure, we’re getting closer and closer to pure surfing style. We’re already working on some new generation of boards that are super thin and shaped like surf boards. We ride these boards strapless, which allows us to ride more free, with more style. We get closer to other strapless sports like surf, skate and wakeskate. At the same time, there is SUP, a discipline that meets windsurfing from a different side. The synergy is interesting and perhaps the future of waveriding will benefit from it.
Last question: will these new boards influence the profiles of sails? What is Severne working on?
Tiesda: The Quad boards won’t necessarily affect your choice of sails, but it could very well be that by looking to push the limits of waveriding, windsurfers will need to find a new generation of sails that works in compliment with the boards. At Severne, I’m pretty sure they have their own best kept secrets.
truster
> 9 months ago, 10 Jul 2009
Should be in the Perth shops tomorrow and the east coast in a few days.
