Windsurf – August 2019

WINDSURF MAGAZINE 83

Test Editor Tris Best // Second Testers Maurin Rottenwalter, Joe North Dan Hallam & Bryony Webb

// Photos Tris Best // Test Location Overcombe & OTC, Portland.

The birth and subsequent growth of stand-up-paddling brought about a positive and much needed injection of interest

into watersports in general. One of the key drivers was that it was easy to understand, and more importantly easy to

access, bringing the sport into the mainstream. Simply grab a board and paddle, and away you go! And with the first boards

that hit the market being long and wide, the early-adopting windsurfing brands quickly realised there was an opportunity

for some crossover between the two sports. So not long after the dawn of SUP production came the emergence of the

windsurfing-SUP board – a.k.a. windSUP.

central fins, the 6” contenders have sticky-plastered over their Achilles heel,

improving their performance in strong winds. The upside is that they then

glide more efficiently in the light stuff, and remain stiffer at lower pressures.

Irrespective of which thickness you opt for, always try to use a knuckle-joint

UJ with your inflatable windSUP, to avoid putting undue pressure on the

deck-plate fixing in the board.

A noticeable correlation in the hard boards on test is that all bar one are

based on the compact design concept, with stubby noses and tails and paral-

lel rails. Even the Sealion (the exception to the rule) has an outline focussed

around a compact concept that originates in surfing, retaining width and

volume in the tail. These are the first generation foiling windSUP’s if you

like, and as a result of our test findings, we are confident they won’t be the

last! Foil specific boards in windsurfing have evolved beyond recognition in

just the last year, just as we’re sure this style of board will do so too. For now

though, these boards offer a great deal, and were a lot of fun to test.

SUMMARY

Taking a look at the iSUP’s to start, and the Red Paddle Co Wind 10’7”

remains a fantastic user-friendly option, from the brand that continues to set

the standard in the inflatable sector. Everything about it speaks of quality and

attention to detail. The O’Shea Wind+SUP is a true windsurfing machine,

capable of withstanding considerable abuse and offering a super dependable

SUP platform to boot. The Cruz’Air from Gunsails and Pure Free WS from

GA are both 6.0” in thickness and sit high on the water’s surface. The Gun-

sails is super forgiving and easy to get on with, whilst the GA offers that extra

squirt of performance should the wind increase. Whichever iSUP you choose

here, all are capable of windsurfing well, best suited to the light to medium

weight rider if intended for use as a learning platform.

The composite windSUP’s here are all wave-SUP designs that can addi-

tionally be used with a foil for wind foiling or SUP foiling, albeit we didn’t

get the chance to try them in SUP foil mode. In surf SUP mode, the JP’s

performance and feel relates to a cruisy practical longboard; the Fanatic a

fun loving Mini-Mal, the Sealion a smooth carving fish and the Starboard a

slashy new-school short board. Put a wind foil in them and the JP comes into

its own for ease and passive ability, making it a great tutor, even for first flights.

It feels much like a SUP that can wind foil, rather than a true harbinger of

both disciplines. The Fanatic is the all-rounder in the group, capable of being

set up according to conditions and preference. Ride it with or without straps,

there is plenty of tuning to be had to get the balance just right. The Sealion is

light, responsive and surprisingly easy to foil on, with a smooth fluid manner

that mirrors its wave riding style. And lastly there’s the Hyper Nut 4 in 1 - the

smallest and most technical of the bunch, but with a crisp exciting nature that

closely resembles the direction for many foil specific windsurf board designs

we’ve seen. Hold onto your hats - we’ve got a feeling there will be many more

multi-faceted windSUP designs emerging over the next year or so!.

THE LINEUP

• FANATIC STUBBY
  FOIL EDITION


• GA PURE FREE WS 10’7”


• GUNSAILS CRUZ’AIR 10’6”


• JP FOIL SLATE PRO 8’10”

• O’SHEA WIND+SUP

• RED PADDLE 10’7” WIND MSL

• SEALION WINGS 7’6”

• STARBOARD HYPER NUT

4 IN 1 7’4” STARLITE

A RISING INFLUENCE

H

owever, the road ahead served up a few bumps along the way,

and certainly didn’t become the ‘golden ticket’ for new windsurf-

ing blood that many had hoped. Rapid progression in the SUP

market soon highlighted stark differences and conflicts in design

directions between the two sports. A wave specific SUP for example, would

be highly rockered for best performance, with soft rails in all but the tail, to

grip the water during transition. By contrast, planing windsurf performance

would demand minimal tail rocker (tail kick at best) and at least some ‘flat’

in the board’s profile to release onto the plane, along with a harder edge to

maintain speed whilst being sailed flat. So using a wave SUP for windsurfing

just didn’t tick many boxes, the board feeling painfully slow and even creating

sail handling issues as it stubbornly refused to release. Similarly, using an early

touring SUP for windsurfing didn’t fair much better - great for long distance

cruising, but terrible for making any headway to an upwind goal ... and no

good at all for teaching any friends or family how to windsurf. Meanwhile the

SUP all-rounder felt more of a compromise than ever, not really offering any

upside in windsurfing, other than a board to pootle around on in light winds.

All this was to change with the advancement of inflatable SUP (often

referred to as iSUP) technology, leading to a meteoric growth in their prom-

inence. The ‘iSUP’ is now a common sight on UK shores, being relative-

ly cheap and more importantly practical to use, transport and store. And

with some simple additions to the iSUP’s design, all of a sudden the place of

the windSUP in the market was realised. A deck-plate fixing and removable

central fin were all that was required to transform the iSUP into an ideal

light-wind platform with which to teach friends and family members how to

windsurf. Larger central fins; hard-edge PVC rails; even removable dagger-

boards ... a number of innovations have been introduced to push the iSUP’s

windsurfing potential, even to the detriment of their paddling prowess in

some cases. The future of the hard board windSUP looked dead and buried

a few years ago, but thanks to the feverish development seen in a certain

new pathway, they’re beginning to make a comeback. That new and exciting

direction is foiling. With the foiling accessibility that all watersports now

enjoy, the tables have once again turned, focussing on the potential a hard

board windSUP can offer. Most crucially, their design no longer needs to be

compromised - shape the rail and rocker for surf performance, because once

the board is in the air and being used as a wind foil platform, those design

parameters no longer have a bearing. Sure, the board may be a little sticker to

release, but just optimise the setup and learn to pump the foil to compensate!

With the iSUP, development was going down the ‘friends and family’ route,

presenting the owner with an opportunity to get all involved. Encourage the

kids onto the water, and hopefully novelty may well become the habit of the

future. With foiling windSUP’s, dare we say the opportunity has risen to be

a little bit selfish ... a board for your full enjoyment on the water, whether it

be SUP’ing, wind foiling or even SUP-foiling (note we’ve missed off ‘normal’

windsurfing here...). Then again, it means you only need to take one board

on your summer vacation now ... what’s selfish about that!

FINDINGS

Looking at the iSUP’s in the group, there’s an even split between 4.75” and

6” thick, with two of each included. In years past, we came to the conclu-

sion that 4.75” provided the best all-round performance in varying wind

conditions. And yet, with extra features such as hard-edge rails and enlarged