Windsurfing Gear

Target
Intermediate to Expert
Great early planing performance, coupled with comfort, speed and control, and a great tutor for transitions at any level.

At a Glance
The RRD Z-Ride comes available in 2 models – the lightweight carbon kevlar edition or the wood sandwich edition (the one we tested).
There are good fittings and details on the board with measurements along the mast track, big cut outs in the tail, a good grippy mono deck pad, and good comfortable foot straps with excellent inboard and outboard settings including a single back strap option. The Z-Ride also comes with an excellent 40cm ZX fin (Powerbox).
The plan shape is pretty straight and fast with lots of width going up into the nose and tail of the board, and the deck is flat along the middle of the board and then progressively domes away towards the edge giving a good compromise of stability when standing over the board and good rider position when powered up and leaning outboard.

Ride and Handling
The Z-Ride 120 is said to “Achieve a great balance of speed, control and early planing”, and we were certainly not disappointed!
The 120 rises early, easily and progressively onto the plane making full use of its double concave in the hull.
When first onto the plane the board has a controlled, low planing threshold that is great for intermediate sailors building confidence.
Move further outboard and drive off the fin more, and the board releases easily to a quick yet still smooth and controlled 2nd gear.
The rider position is excellent, whatever strap option is used. With the straps inboard the sailor is quite upright and the board has a beautifully controlled and smooth planing speed, place the straps outboard and the sailor can wrap their feet around the edge of the board and drive off the fin for great speed and performance on all points of sail, especially upwind.
Load the board up with bigger rigs and the Z-Ride laps it up offering great speed with smooth control.
As the wind and chop pick up the board’s shoulders can catch a bit and throw spray up, but with attention to trimming by the rider this is not an issue and the board can be pushed to a great top end.
When off the plane the board has great stability as well with lots of width throughout the board and a great flat deck along the centre.

Manoeuvres
The Z-Ride offers a superb range of performance in gybes, from tentative first time gybes with a smooth carve and sure, easy foot placement on the grippy mono pad, through to performance gybes with sailors looking to push the board into tighter arcs and faster exits.
Tacking is made easy as well with plenty of width in the nose and around the mast foot, and the flat deck along the centre of the board providing a stable platform

Verdict
+ Early planing, wide user range, rig carrying capacity and a great tutor for transitions at any level.

- Not much to fault but in heavy chop the shoulders of the board can catch a bit causing a bit of spray and loss of speed.