Isthmus Sailboards Staff Review
::2007 Quatro Freestyle Wave 85::
This board delivers a light and alive feel on the water while always being totally in control. Step back and it jumps onto a plane and accelerates to a very high top speed-has excellent pop for chop hops, and is super maneuverable as well. The strap setup can be set wide enough to make this a great on-shore and even side-shore wave board if the waves are not too big.
I personally preferred the front straps all the way back to come up with a stance that worked well for me. This board is equipped with a Maui Fin Company Freewave fin of the highest quality and MFC footstraps. The footstraps were not my favorites for comfort, so consider upgrading the footstraps if you choose this model. This Quattro was my personal favorite when tested against the Goya Freestyle Wave 85, JP Freestyle Wave 85, and Starboard Kombat 87.
Windsurfing Magazine
::2007 Quatro Freestyle Wave 85::
What We Liked: A favorite. Fun on edge, fun
for freestyle, and its light, lively ride was
tempered perfectly by comfy straps and pads.
A top pick for its hands-on control in ballistic
conditions.
Buyer Beware: One intermediate/
advanced heavyweight tester felt it
lacked speed and early planing performance
for bump-and-jump sailing.
Better Than The Fleet At: Pleasing the vast
majority of a rather opinionated test team in
varied wind and water conditions.
Best Suits: Intermediate to expert sailors
looking to advance to the next level and
beyond; lightweight and middleweight
sailors.
Other Highlights: MFC straps
offered excellent comfort and adjusted
easily.
Boards UK
::2007 Quatro Freestyle Wave 85::
New to the UK but not to the world at large, the three-board Quatro
Freestyle Wave range sits between their better-known Wave designs
and a three-board Freemove range. The 85 is the middle board of the
range, which spans 75-95L.
On the water: The bigger, quicker and more lively of the two
very wave-biassed boards in this line-up. It planes up clearly a bit
later than the average of those on test, but still much earlier than an
equivalent sized waveboard. Nevertheless, its strengths are
principally geared to coastal waters. It was clearly more
manoeuvrable and controllable in the waves than the less wavebiassed
designs, particularly with sails below 5.7m. It rides waves
and jumps impeccably, giving a lively, nippy feel rather than supersmooth
or loose.
In flatter water it sits high and has quite a skittery feel. While
clearly designed for more of a wave than slalom / freeride stance, the
deck is comfortable enough to make the board fun for blasting
around over flat water or swell, and – as our GPS results showed –
definitely nippy. The narrowish nose and tail aren’t ideal for freestyle
but the board still performs OK in this arena too.
Range: Very happy with up to 5.8m as long as you’re not trying
to milk every tiniest puff out of marginal wind situations, and wavy
and controllable enough to be a smallest board for average weight
coastal sailors.
Fittings: The straps are comfortable and adjust easily through a
smallish range. The deck is comfortable and the 25cm MFC
Powerbox fin suits the board very well.
Popularity: This board won more top places in the guester
favourite lists than any other and fared very well with the testers too.
Not often found lonely on the beach!
Overall: A really sensible combination of manoeuvrability and
get-up-and-go for a small medium-wind coastal all-rounder. It isn’t
quite a fast-tail, so it does sacrifice a bit of performance in the
marginal winds, but as a partner to a bigger board for taking care of
those iffy jumping / riding days, it’s a very high performing,
comfortable and classy board.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Fast Waveboard (with great all-round capabilities)
quatrointernational.com
: more :
close
