X380 and Raceboard Europeans

The first real test for the X380 came at the Raceboard Europeans and it proved what many expected; The board has superior speed and pointing ability in all conditions. Pierre Loquet (FRA 93) won the title with two 1st. one 2nd. and one 3rd. after discarding a 4th. Interestingly his two bullets came in light wind as well as heavy conditions,- gusting to 35 knots.

It was three Warp X380's at the Europeans, and they placed 1st, 3rd and 4th. with the defending champion, Patrik Pollak (SVK 1) in 4th. position after being disqualified in the first race. The X380's placed in the top 3 - eleven times (out of 15 possible) during the 5 races - which must be considered a total dominance.

Patrik Pollak:

Before you notice some real pressure in the sail, the board goes on the rail and starts to fly. It wants to go fast and the only thing you should be careful about while sailing upwind, is that you do not get over excited by speed and forget to point high enough. Long straight water line (with tail section) helps to keep board on the rail and it does not take long until you find that "sweet spot" where board feels "light" and responsive allowing you to get max out of the big centerboard.

Exocet WARP X380 - a "torpedo" which will sink your opponents hope of winning…

Christophe Boutet:

A quick comment from Bandol about the Raceboards Europeans. Conditions were light (about 6 knots of wind) and the Warp X380 is doing surprisingly well, being as fast as the Mega Cat in very light wind and much quicker as soon as the wind picks up. Downwind the X380 is really superior to the other boards as it planes much quicker with the tailpiece on. In medium wind from 12 knots up the board is very impressive with the narrow dagger, showing a remarkable foil effect upwind.

In my opinion this board is a winner !

Pierre Loquet : (Interview with windsurfjournal.com)

I use to race in the Olympic class, where the level is pretty high. The Exocet Warp X380 board offers great tuning possibilities thanks to it's removable tailpiece, and it was such a pleasure to ride a board that can accelerate in the lightest puff. The Raceboard class allows all sort of different boards to compete , which make the races very entertaining; it's a great class for all those who want to race without having the Olympics as a goal. I'm stoked with this European Raceboard title and thanks Exocet for this opportunity. My plans are not set up for this season, but I'll definitely try to attend the Raceboard Worlds with the Exocet Team.