I'm fairly sure Patrik has a set of scales and knows what he is doing.
Is the idea to get more leverage or to give a suspension affect to soften the ride. The blocks support the extension look a bit like high density foam.
You would they would catch on chop and cause drag.
good to see someone pushing the envelope a bit.
It looks like the outrigger would make the board a litte wider. Isn't the regulation width a max of 100cm?
Now they've discovered how to decouple the footstrap positions from the 1 foot off width we might find the footstraps stay there, at 100cm, and the board gets narrower?
The foot pad mounts look rather bulky.
If they're not there for shock absorbtion i would have thought CF blade/struts would have been more aerodynamic for mounting the pads.
Pretty awesome though and good to see progressive thinking.
Interesting to see some different stuff tried.
This is my favourite - the heel recesses under the chicken strap
The flat board surface under the tradional chicken (both older single and newer double) force you to stand more upright, making it harder to use your weight to drive off the fin.
It will be interesting to see wether this works - not sure why the straps are angled
interesting. There is still "pipes" but they are a lot smaller. They are still persisting with the adjustable plates in the cut outs also.
All the straps + pipes + plates has to weigh a bit more?
One wonders if Patrick was caught out by *board offering 2 different boards, one of which has a super wide tail to help get leverage going upwind and as there is a cut off date and 2 year freeze on designs in the Formula class came up with the cantilevered pad as a compromise. Might need a bit more streamlineing to stop it catching on gybes tho' it should be pretty parellel to the flow.
and who says windsurfing's for old men?
there's half a dozen young-ish blokes getting excited about FORMULA of all things
There's a bit more of a write-up about the PD II here -
bet-bonus-au.com
It does have air-pipes!
Wow!
Plenty of adjustability there.
I can smell "Paralysis by Analysis" from here.
From the Formula windsurfing site
"As a result of a request to ISAF for a "class rule interpretation" - we have been advised that the use of heel plates may not comply with our class rules.
Heel plates are a device that when applied to positions for footstraps (using same inserts) enable the rider to position themselves above the normal hull deck and even further outside (off board) the normal sailing position. Only boards that come supplied with heel plates - ie as a standard option, and part of the hull design, as registered with ISAF - will be deemed class legal.
The use of custom heel plates is rare, and therefore the implications of this ruling are minor; but if you are in any doubt concerning this rule clarification"
ie so long as its part of the homologation process its ok - so adjustable on the fly would be ok on a homolgated board - but not a custom retro fit
Im no expert, but this makes very little sense. I can't see how this is legal and if it is I don't see why it cant be retro fitted? It seems like they already have a ruling then I guess it is a foregone conclusion?
Fyi, Steve Allen modified his old fanatic at the euroeans one year with similar foot plates and they were ruled legal because they fell inside the current boards sheer line I.e didn't extend the feet farther away from the board, but they did raise his heals. The PD seems to do this now?
Sean - are you on the FW technical committee? can you give us a bit more on why this is acceptable?
I can see the reasons for only allowing homologated gear - even playing field etc - plus with a two year product cycle and limited board brands it makes for less obselescence and hopefully a bigger marketplace (thats the theory)
However it sits slightly at odds with the non one design nature of the racing - ie the discipline exists to push new ideas, however you may only bring this idea to the market for the next 2 yr product cycle
I guess to try and stop the gear war, a mixture of regulation (boards) and free expression (sails, fins) and limits on gear numbers for an individual competitor is necessary.
Anyway Brett if you feel that you need these heel pads on the new starboard I suggest that you employ Uncle Bruces' bush lawyering skills to argue your case.
His usual clients pay him in red wine from Central coast liquor shops (anti freeze mixed with red food colouring) so a half decent bottle should suffice as total payment.
Nice one with the wings - makes one board do it all! SB and JP have 2 boards - what to choose before registration? What about Gaastra? Anyone seen it? Pics?
km
