A few months ago I added and Exocet Cross Carbon 104 to my fleet. I had a 2011 Cross 104 (glass construction) previously, but it had taken a fair beating (including putting my foot right through the bottom in one accident) and was starting to get heavy so it was time for an upgrade.
The 2011 model was an incredibly easy board to sail, with a soft ride, predictable behaviour and impeccable gybing ability. Since then there have been some shape changes and I was curious to see whether these, in combination with the carbon construction, had changed the character of the board. What follows is a list of my impressions. I am uncertain if the current 2015 has changed significantly (if at all) apart from a colour change.
I use this board most often for freeriding in rough, open water, mostly teamed up with a 6.5m camless freeride sail (Ezzy Cheetah). I do not use the stock fin instead replacing it with 35cm and 32.5cm Black Project type R slalom fins depending on wind strength.
Construction Quality: About on par with other boards I have seen. There are some minor imperfections I notice but nothing out of the ordinary. The board is reasonably light and feels free of any deck flex underfoot. The board is predominantly black and looks very nice. I have not noticed it getting very hot on the beach, but I do try to take care of it.
Comfort: The carbon 104 rides noticeably harder than the old glass model, but it is by no means obnoxious. I think the ride is still on the “soft” end of the spectrum. I have had no issues with it.
Early planing: This board gets going earlier that the old one, no doubt because of the stiffer carbon construction and lighter weight. It never feels sticky and has great bottom end.
Ease of use: Incredibly easy to sail. Starting with footstraps in the middle position and adding the 35cm fin I did 160km of open water sailing in 15-20kts on the first day with the board. It was that easy, predictable, and comfortable to sail that I didn’t feel the need to change anything on that first day. I have since moved all the straps back to their rearmost settings and brought the mast further back in the track. This makes the board a little more alert and quicker, but the ease is unchanged.
Gybing: The old board was a great gyber, but this one has improved on it. There rails are a bit thinner at the back and the tail a bit pointier. It turns as well as anything could, holding speed well and following whatever arc you ask it too. Encountering side-on waves in mid turn or rig flip is no problem, and turns down wave faces in big seas are smooth and predictable. If you keep your head up and do the flip and foot change while heading straight down the wave you’ll come out of the trough with full power every time. The carbon construction means improved acceleration out of the turns too. Come out with any sort of speed and it will race away back upwind.
Control: The old board had superb control at the top and in rough conditions and the Carbon 2014 model is no different. These are superb rough water free-ride boards. There no sense of tripping or shoulders catching and it is easy to hold good speed through heavy ocean chop.
Speed: Sailing in open waters doesn’t give me much of a chance to test ultimate speed potential, and camless rigs bog down deep off the wind so it will be some time before I get to test that completely. I do feel my across the wind speed and acceleration has improved however, and a standard day’s sailing yields noticeably bigger distances than before.
Putting it all together I am a huge fan of this board. I feel it has improved all aspects of my sailing and I look forward to using it as much as I can. It is light, strong, easy to sail, gybes beautifully in the roughest of water, and has bags of control. I like the Exocet feel generally (I have four of them), but this is by far my favourite. It’s billed as a FSW, but I think it is more a freeride board, or possibly better, a modern “wave-slalom” board - ideal for rough water, bump and jump, turn and burn sailing, and generally putting the hammer down when conditions are pumping.
