Sport Today

Or should I keep scouring the swap meets?

This thing is 280 liters, that sounds good. One thing against Mistrals
is that I never thoughtmuch of the centerboard parts and now they are
hard to find and they aren't making new ones.

If I were you, I would want to know more about the Exocet, but I
wouldn't order one without hearing reports. 'Sorry I can't give you
one.

On Tue, 19 Sep 2006 09:57:13 -0700, "Steven Henderson [MS]"

The narrow tail should make it fast in sub planing conditions. Because
the fin and straps are forward on the narrow tail, it should still work
well in marginal planing conditions, where you never quite have the
power to get everything all the way back on boards like the Equipe.

I think to make up for everything forward and the duck tail, they then
made the nose short so to keep the rails as parallel and useful as
possible. Perhaps where this board might lose out is when it's setup
for light wind and the wind while out racing picks up considerably. Or
when it is set for high winds and the wind drops out.

But it's for sure cool, can't wait to hear more about it!!

Higher speeds through reduced surface drag compared to a board just as
long but wider;

Better VMG by using a very long water line;

Lower power requirements and this lower drag by reducing the need for
an enormous sail (FW size); and

Increased stability on the rail, and easy to lock in due to increased
rolling moment of the rig on the hull.

I am not a big fan of the removable tail insert as a concept.  One of
the big advances in the most recent development in racing longboards
(not the brand new stuff, but the AHD 380 and its ilk) was the ability
to get very high speeds by moving everything back except the front of
the mast track.  Boards like the AHD could perform well in light wind
and heavy wind simply by adjusting the mast track and daggerboard.  We
could argue that people will jump to FW boards once the wind picks up,
but that misses what I perceive as Exocet's point:  one board for
almost all racing conditions.  According to to Eric, removing the tail
block will allow the board to really unwet and fly off the wind.
However, the tail block should be in place until about 13-15 knots or
else (according to Eric) the Warp-X looses around 2 knots upwind.  2
knots is a huge speed difference going upwind!!  So, unless the racer
has the chance to remove the block and and store it between races, the
board will not be operating at its full potential during a pretty large
window of time.

None of my thoughts are formed from testing the board or even being
aware of it until your post.  It is an exciting concept, for sure, but
I think the proof will be in the pudding.  Anyway, 31 lbs for a top
level course racer is pretty heavy.  The second iteration Equipe XR
from 1991 (same shape as IMCO, not Equipe 2) weight 24lbs.  Light
weight is king when it comes to boards that long as the leverage on the
rider is very strong, and reducing weight allows much better control
and senitivity.  I suggest it's even more important on a longboard than
a shortboard, and it matters almost as much  in heavy air as in light
conditions.  All that said, I can't wait to try it!!

-Dan

Wow,  that is an interesting board.
I've never longboarded either, but looking at the board I have to
wonder, is this a bit of overkill?    Do boards really have to do
everything?   IE  Jack of all trades, master of none?   Certainly
extreme speciallization is no help, and everyone should have some type
of decently well rounded board, but I don't know many people who would
take a formula board into the surf, or expect a wave board to win in a
formula race.  Do long boards need to also plane like a free ride
board?    I have no idea how well it acomplished the intended goal, and
maybe it does it well.  But my initial thought is to say, just buy 2
boards that are both better designed for each seperate dicipline.   Am
I out to lunch?

Dave

Another thought:  The duck tail configuration is one that reduces
surface area, reduces surface drag, and creates a sort of wheely bar
that can help trim the nose in higher winds.  The downside is the lack
of volume and waterline (and the resultant loss of power) at the tail.
Not that I could design a board any better, but it occurs to me that
employing cutouts removes area but keeps the waterline long.  Exocet's
current FW board uses an pair of adjustable tail "louvers" that can
raised or lowered to match the particular conditions and rider
preferences.  Again, I'm sure this design option was considered, but I
am not sure why it was not employed given the "issues" Patrice
acknowledges with the Warp-X's tail configuration.  Again, time will
tell, and the reintorduction of racing longboards only confirms the
health of our sport.

Windsurfing arises as the Pheonix.

-Dan

Your thoughts on the board are quite similar to mine I imagine. I'm not
a fan of a removable insert and did wonder why not consider an
adjustable on the fly system. I gather something like this would be a
bit too technical really!

The thing is once the wind is strong to consider removing the insert,
then boards like Formula are totally ready to rock! I'm sure that the
Warp with the insert removed will still better the old longboards, as
it has the longwaterline just the same, by employing the flat nose.

I think that this board is going to be a mainly lightwind board, insert
installed. For me the lines aren't as pretty as the old Mistral or AHD
designs, but I imagine it is all about how it works on the water.
Patrice knows what is needed to be fast, so I am sure it beats all the
old designs hands down.

Funny Mistral didn't dust off the molds for the Pan Am and pump out a
bunch over the last year or two!! In fact considering a slightly
improved IMCO was submitted to the Olympic tryouts, rather than a
slightly updated Equipe 2 does make you think what they were playing
at!??

Hopefully this board will appear at the Liquid Surf and Sail contest
next month.  If I get a chance to test it there I'll report back, but
am confident that others have already given it a few good kicks
already.

-Dan

J

As you might or might not have known when sailing the borrowed Equipe,
longboards benefit greatly from agressively dipping the leeward rail
when tacking and jibing in subplaning conditions.  Again, this
eliminates the windward rail's ability to grab the water and resist the
turn.  If you did not use this technique I can understand why you might
think the Equipe was tough to jibe.  To be sure, the Equipe (all three
design iteration) was always one of the easiest raceboards to jibe when
planing.  I always enjoyed that performance aspect on my old Equipe XR
and could slice and dice with the course slalom boys pretty well all
things considered.

-Dan

All of them?

Dog