I know neon is all the rage, but I gotta say, this monochromatic setup I rode my first day was a sweet setup for light winds and a growing swell.
First, the rig. Since its introduction, I've been a fan of the Goya Eclipse. Levi's signature sail offers amazing low end power, fingertip handling yet you can tune it down in when the wind fills in. Lots of sails claim low end power with high end handling, but the Eclipse delivers. Compared to my Goya Wave3D's, the Eclipse has the power and handling of the W3D's, but with the added softness of the Guru's. Jason has created one of the best sails I've ever ridden, hands down. (gee, ya think I'm impressed?) Rumor is that the 2011 version will be lighter and more responsive.
I picked the 92 liter Quatro Wave for its float, but also its longer rail line for the larger swell that was inbound. You'd be hard pressed to find a better big wave, light air board out there. This board drives the line with power and control, but you don't get this performance without a compromise somewhere. And that somewhere is speed. Its like driving a truck in 4W low. Its powers up, and then stops accelerating. This board ins't made for jumping and planing upwind, its made for pure down the line wave performance. Period. Typical of Keith's boards, its very well balanced to give the rider amazing turns on the lip with the power to get in and out of deep wave sections with confidence. It doesn't quite have the snappiness of pocket power of the quad, but it offers big wave turns that quads have difficulties with. Interesting to note, that with its slow board speed, it loads the rig up with the unused power. This has an interesting side effect in that you can run with a smaller sail than you'd think giving you better handling on the wave with the smaller sail. A sweet design outcome indeed!
