Starboard Evo 70 Wood Carbon Construction.size: 229 cm long by 55cm wide
Shaped by: Legend Scott Mc Kercher, Swen Rasmussen and Tiesda You.
Weight: 5.8 kg with footstraps and fin (on my bathroom scales)
Changes with 2008 Evo wood 70 xtv:Carbon Wood construction vs Wood,
1 cm shorter overall due to shorter nose.
Pinnier tail than last year
Double foot plug holes for back foot strap
less tail kick, less nose kick
1 kg lighter
Three weeks ago I received an E-mail from the boys at Auswind that my new Evo would be in the local windsurf shop that arvo. So without anyone noticing at work I slipped out, and made my way to the G-spot.
When I entered the shop I was strangely surprised. Tim, the owner had taken the unusual steps to unpack my board from the carton box and it was lying in the main display area next to the new Evil twin Epoxy Wood ready to be taken out for her virgin ride.
Mick, check this out, finally a Starboard under the 6kg with fin and straps, he smiled. So I picked her up and checked her new curves and shapes. Hmm a bit pinnier, a bit shorter and yes, yes, noticeably lighter than my last years Evo Wood… Is this finally the long awaited next step in EVO-lution, just like the time when we all changed from Glass to Epoxy?
Later that day I bounced into the usual windsurf crew at Sunset during a late arvo surf session at Pipeline, and was surprised to hear that most of the familiar faces already had a preview of my board in the shop that morning. So, she is a bit of a flirt, but lucky she came home with me that same evening.
So after 2 weeks of hoax onshore strong wind warnings I decided to take control of the poor weather conditions and lined up a trip to Leos, the Abroholos Islands, to get some classic down the line wave riding. The forecast on Lauries Seabreeze site was looking good with a 4-metre swell expected and up to 35 knots of wind.
Funny enough, once out there, the wind did kick in and how… Gales up to 60 knots and seas up to 8.5 meters!! For 36 hours long we were stuck on our little sailboat in the strongest storm to hit the Midwest coast for many years.
Two days later, we finally woke up in a more comfortable 15 to 20 knots South Easter. The swell and seas also cleaned up and Leos was breaking perfectly with logo to mast high sets. This is the day, I told the boys.
I rigged my 5.3 Severne S1 and made my way to the break. The wind was a bit lighter than I expected, but the Evo Carbon Wood got planing anyway. The fact that this year construction is full one kg lighter, made me think of what the potential is for this board… Sailing in glassy conditions at Hells Gates when everyone is using bigger volume boards, and perhaps rigging a sail size smaller to enjoy the surfing feeling we love a bit more.
After getting away from the wind shadow of Leos Islands the wind filled in a bit more and it was pretty easy to head upwind to prepare for my first wave. In the horizon the first of a three swell set was brewing and by the time I hooked into the bigger second one it was getting serious. The wave itself was a bit higher than logo high and it felt like I had heaps of time to make a proper entry in the wave once it was about to break. You probably know that feeling if you are already an Evo rider. So I laid down my sail and screamed through the Evo’s first bottom turn while accelerating speed!! The result of my extra gained speed was a furious smack of the lip while the board stabilized in preparation for the next section. Note that I have sailed a few sailboards in my time and find it absolutely a must for a good board to maintain its drive in the turn without skipping out. To sail a board that gains speed in the turn is a dream!!
Anyway the next section was a bit more of a vertical top turn followed by a nice size aerial on the end bowl. Wow, what a wave…I wish I had this gear when I was 16.
I had about 20 more empty waves before the wind totally glassed out and absolutely loved it. The turning capability of this Evo reminds me to the Evo of 2 years ago, but somehow it feels like it has more drive.
I will keep you updated on the Evo 70 Carbon Wood. There is a big storm brewing next week to hit the Western Australian coast so it looks like a bit more water time is coming soon. And I cannot wait for my September trip to Gnaraloo…
Happy sailing... Mick
