For those of you that know me, you know how much I love fins and always tell people how much fins can change the performance of boards, so much so that I own over 20 sets of Futures for my various kite and surf boards along with a crazy amount of windsurf fins. After hearing from my mates on the Duotone team about the Quobbas I was stoked to get sent a set of med and large Quobba Glass Series fins to try. So far I have used them kitesurfing in various conditions and boards, sadly we haven't had any good waves yet to test them surfing. I am 6'2 86kgs, 7 x British Kitesurf Champ and surfing for 35 years, sponsored by Duotone and ION. Read below for my honest thoughts- First thing you notice when they arrive is the quality and attention to details in the packaging. Great box, fin pouches, screws and spacers, instructions plus great looking fins. Size wise the Med Quobbas are similar size to Futures AM1 and the Large Quobbas similar to AM2 but with all 3 fins same size and slightly more upright with a wider tip making the template more similar to Futures JJF but size wise in area more like the AMs. First test was in the Duotone Pro Whip 5'5 in small 2ft windswell, sideshore light wind using the Duotone Juice 11m. Normally in the Whip I use Futures P6 (formally WCT) which feel great. I fitted the Large Quobba fronts and med rear. First thing I noticed was the board felt slow. On the wave I had a lot of grip but was lacking the speed I normally have from the Whip in small conditions. Changed back to the P6s and was instantly faster. Not sure if lack of power and weak waves mean not suited to the Quobbas? Next day was bit windier but still small so tried again in the Whip this time with 9m Neo and Large Quobba fronts with P6 rear. Still felt draggy and slow so changed back to P6s and instantly more speed. I think the deep channels and bottom curves in the Whip somehow effect what the fins are doing so my recommendation for the Duotone Pro Whip remains to use Futures P6 fins if you are around 85kg, P8 if bigger and P4 if smaller. Next test is Pro Wam- After the Whip I was excited to test out the Quobbas in the Pro Wam 5'11 which I normally ride with med JJF Futures. Conditions were cross on 3ft full power on 9m Neo. Starting off with Large Quobba fronts med Quobba rear, the board felt super good with loads of grip and speed. However in the small waves I did feel it to be hard to release the tail in the top turn so changed the rear fin to the med JJF. Now it felt super good, I could come off the bottom super tight with speed and have the release off the top. After a while I changed to all 3 med JJF Futures and instantly the board felt worse, having less grip and less speed in the bottom turn on the choppy cross on waves. Changed back to Large Quobba Fronts with Med JJF rear and was back feeling super good again, offering loads of grip both on the wave and for frontrolls. In the afternoon the wind switched to cross off and the small waves cleaned up to give small down the line conditions. The Quobbas still felt really good in the Pro Wam, holding well with great speed. Next test was proper down the line condtions with overhead waves and good wind. I tested the Pro Wam again and found the best set up to still be large Quobba fronts with med JJF Futures rear. As the wind increased I changed to the 5'11 Pro Session with Med Quobbas and Neo 7m. On the steeper faster waves the Quobbas felt great, allowing me to come hard off the bottom and holding but releasing well at the same time off the top. In conclusion-
On my traditional no channel boards the Quobbas felt great but didn't seem to work on the 2020 Duotone Pro Whip. Where I found them to excel was in choppy onshore windy conditions as well as cross off fast breaking waves where the extra grip, translates into more speed while still being able to crank a tight bottom turn to come vertical up the face. If you kite in these type of conditions then definately try some Quobbas and experiment with changing the rear fin to find the best set up for you and your board. Check out the fins at https://quobbafins.com/ and for the best Kites and Kitesurf boards - https://www.duotonesports.com/kiteboarding/ Wetsuits, Harnesses and Gear - https://www.ion-products.com/water/ For coaching in Waves, Foil and Big Air come and see me http://www.pastyadventures.co.uk/ and please follow me on Instagram for all the latest news https://www.instagram.com/pastyadventures/ Thanks for the pics - Jo Malyon and Ian Butt
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Saturday 18th June saw our Kitefoiling Improver Clinic run at Marazion with coaching from Lee 'pasty' Harvey. Ideal conditions saw the 5 guys all improve lots and they also got to demo the new 2020 Kites, boards and foils from Duotone Kiteboarding thanks to Pete at KitesurfKit The next coaching clinic is Foiling Basics on the 1st or 2nd August at Marazion. Limited space so book on quick to avoid missing out. For more details click here I am pleased to announce that we are running 2 Kitesurf Foil clinics at Marazion, Cornwall, UK this summer. The first is for Kiyefoil Improvers who are looking to fly through Tacks and Gybes on 18th or 19th July. The next clinic is for new foilers who are just starting to ride the foil and looking to get better riding upwind and downwind and make their first turns. Limited space on each clinic. You need your own kit, bksa membership and keep to covid guidelines. Demo kit will be available from Duotone UK and KitesurfKit. More details here - http://www.pastyadventures.co.uk/kitesurf-clinics.html With 2019 drawing to a close its time to look back at some of the highlights. An awesome winter was topped off with Storm Gareth in march with the above shot of Lee at Porthleven, taken by Mike Newman featuring as a half page in THE TIMES newspaper. The first comp of the year was The Edge Cup , British Kitefoil Championships in Exmouth. Lee won the Masters division and the Silver Fleet (Inflatable Kites) for full report click here https://www.edgewatersports.com/10th-annual-edge-race-cup-2019/ A great summer ensued where we decided to focus more on coaching rather than beginner lessons. This worked really well with a lot of people coming for Foil coaching on lighter days, improving jumps and tricks when it was windy and getting in the waves on surfboards when it was wavey. We also ran numerous Windsurf Intro to Wave Sailing private coaching sessions. For 2020 we are going to continue to focus on Coaching as feel this is an area where many Kitesurfers and Windsurfers can greatly benefit from our knowledge and expertise to not only gain better skills but safety knowledge as well which could lead to saving lives. We will be updating the website over the coming months. The next comp was the British Kitesports Wavemasters which was held in Brandon Bay, Ireland at the start of October. Lee came away with the win in the Pro Mens fleet for the 7th year in a row. For the full report click here https://www.britishkitesports.org/news/bksa-wavemasters-2019-brandon-bay-what-a-week/ After Ireland we went straight to Scotland for the British Windsurf Championships Round 1 - The Tiree Wave Classic. After a great week Lee cam away with 2nd in the Masters Fleet. It was then home to Cornwall and Round 2 - The Cornwall Wave Classic. Crazy stormy weather with 70mph winds in the morning slowly died off towards the final of the Masters fleet, however Lee managed to sail to 3rd place, winning the 2019 British Wavesailing Masters Title to complete the hat trick of British Champion in 3 different windsport disciplines - Kitefoil, Kitewave, Windsurf! For report from the British Wavesailing Accociation click here - https://britishwavesailingassociation.com/ -
Thanks to my sponsors for the continued support and making the best gear that allows me to do what I do- https://www.duotonesports.com/ https://www.ion-products.com/ https://www.fanatic.com/windsurf and the goodies from my supporters that make my life more comfortable on and off the water- https://www.lip-sunglasses.com/ https://dryrobe.com/ https://soliteboots.eu/ https://www.fuwax.co.uk/ We wish you all a windy, wavey and safe 2020 :) Results 2019- Lee 'Pasty' Harvey British Kitesurf Pro Mens Champion British Kitefoil Masters Champion British Windsurfing Masters Champion |
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