After time spent testing on Maui, we had a chance to ride the Quad Fin 75 in a good sized swell.  Our big wave expectations were confirmed.  The board rips with superior holding power in large choppy waves, without being penalized from excess fin drag.  “We wanted to make sure that this design would not be over-finned.”  Our Twin Fins have performed well, so we wanted to try a Quad with a similar amount of fin area.  The desire to add control in choppy conditions, without losing the surf-style of the Twin, is where the quad design came about.  We felt there was room for a wave board that was not as loose as a Twin Fin.  The Quad offers amazing holding power, but still offers great top to bottom turning.

The Quad has evolved out of the design experience from the Twin Fin.   The Twin Fin design offered a radical surf-style with greater holding power compared to the Single Fin.  The fins are closer to the rail allowing them to engage harder into the wave face.  We felt we could enhance this ability, by adding two small  finely foiled fins in front of our standard twin fin setup.

Through our development and testing, we discovered small front fins are the optimal choice in quad design.  We feel that the majority of Quad Fin boards available to the market right now are over-finned.  Our Twin Fin designs are working great, so we didn’t want to add much more in fin area and drag.  We have kept a thin foil large rear set, and matched it with a small thin foil front set.  This combination added more drive and control, allowing sharper more vertical turns.  It also added wave-riding confidence on choppy large wave faces, without the fear of the fins letting go.

The Quad’s holding power offers a great balance between front foot and back foot wave sailing.  This gives a wide range of sailing styles more confidence to attack the wave face.  Our Quad design will help you reach your goals in wave-sailing quicker.

Xwave90
I went out late yesterday to doug’s as I told you I thought I might do. The late day exectutive session I think they call it for working stiffs…The wind was basically unsailable and the conditions were deteriorating fast.. The biggest sail I had was a 4.7 ZXPRO. Northwave’s wave sail…

I decided what the heck…I can make the XWAVE 90 litre work..That board rips!!!!! I sailed for a couple of hrs in the funkiest wind imagineable..And to my surprise, the thing turns!!! Gets up on a plane in a heartbeat and stays on one.. The sail/board combo was perfect..It certainly didn’t feel like a 90 litre board. This board would be the perfect light air wave board for me..Perfect for a San Carlos board in March and April when I usually go..

Had the mast centered in the track and never touched it..Either I am getting used to these short, wider boards or I think the 90 is just as loose as the 75!! Hopefully I will get to use the 75 a bunch in the next couple of days as we are looking at building conditons thru the weekend…

Xwave 75
I sailed Doug’s yesterday. Most people my size were on 4.7 range. I was on the 75 with a 4.2 and I was ripping around everyone!! And i weigh 180lbs. Let me say that the board is totally different from anything I am used to and in no way have I dialed it in yet….This sucker gets up on a plane in a heartbeat and stays on one! Also, with the redistribution of the volume it is easy to slog in lulls and get pumped up on a plane quickly in lighter air. It seems to have more volume than just 75 litres..It turns with little effort but like I said, I haven’t found the sweet spot yet..I thought that it would pearl easily because of the no nose and no radical flip tip but to my surprise, it doesn’t. You can push forward hard to drive the board and it has the volume up front and rail outline to carve. Once again, I got away with murder! My session was over two hours long and when I came in it wasn’t because of fatigue. It jumps well and off of anything,but I haven’t riden it long enough to really find the sweet spot and I know once I do, it will be as loose.

Anybody that wanting to demo any of these two boards that are in the Gorge feel free to contact Skip Whitley on
509 637 0237

Maris Naish Xwave 105 in 40knts

  My Xwave 98 has taken a wicked beating in the last few storms, No nose, bottom and rail damage , she keeps on going and is still dry.  Had a bonus day on it in 36 knots 

on Sunday, decent 6′ reef waves, no large waveboard has ever given this kind of ride to me!!  Felt like I was on a waterski, 20′ roostertails cuz of wicked overpowered blasting cutbacks, manoman, with a 27cm onshore wavefin no less.  Unbelievable, never felt out of control except for the boom….thought I it was gonna rain carbon more than once, haha.  My arms are 2 inches longer still.  I was the only one out and it was close to dark, smoked a few small logs cuz I couldn’t see much but hey, all the specatators on the point stayed til I was done.

 Cheers.  Markus

Click on images twice to view full sized

fredo-images/ryder 2/28/09

I have ridden this board all summer now and i still beleive this to be the best wave board i have ever had.The pounding this boards took and the ride was unbelieveable!!!. Hopefully the pics speak for themselves.

Nice work big guy. All the best for the coming seasons and hopefully catch up soon.

Cheers,

Chris Lee.

(PHOTOS: Roger Swan / Black Swan Fotos)