Hi late last season and leading into this season I made a move to Tribal boards. Great to see them on the scene with some Australian flavour in the design.
For about 15yrs I have been a Tabou fan boy and so really familiar with the benefits of double concave to V bottom shapes. I also dabbled in a JP pro slalom but, found despite being reasonably quick they were way off the mark with handling comfort.
The Tribal Radix and new Libero boards incorporate a really well defined double concave to V bottom. This is paired with bevelled edges coming into the rails which is a significantly different design feature to other boards.
The Radix slalom boards have a super low (length wise) deck profile to maximise trim control especially in nuking winds where you might consider a smaller board.
The rails work really nicely when carving to the point that I have found rolling/surfable knee high chop no longer has any bounce type impact on gybe control or speed - just carve it strap to strap without slowing down.
So far in my sails I can confirm this bottom shape really works. I have run full on into square edged thigh high chop this winter and found I can just run over it almost like it was not there. The impact of doing this compared to my recently sold JP was totally incomparable - these things run really smooth and I judge beat Tabou in this regard as well which is commendable.
In my opinion better ride = control = access to higher speeds.
I expect to set some PB's on this gear this year. Recently I picked up a 108 Libero (freestyle slalom board) the goal here is a drag racer that can handle the most evil chop and be fun to sail.
I took it out last weekend for some river chop on the easterly. I can confirm it is going to deliver on my expectation.
I had a great sail and it totally killed the chop which is renowned for being gnarly when the tide is running.
So cutting to the chase I am an enthusiast sailor not related to the company but feel confident saying Tribal have something really different and worthwhile considering on the market. Also the construction appears to be first rate and I expect these will be very durable yet high performance boards.
AL, any additional thoughts to share now you've had them for a while?
Anyone else got the tribal boards?
Im considering a radix 102 as my first slalom board. Fast and proper slalom but not quite pwa level where the small boards really only work when super over powered?
Select to expand quoteMHSA said..
Has anyone else got the tribal boards?
Im considering a radix 102 as my first slalom board. Fast and proper slalom but not quite pwa level where the small boards really only work when super over powered?
Subsonic has had some experience with the 102 i believe.
Great write up Alex. I recently swapped from my Patrik Slalom 115 to a Tribal Radix 110. It's great in chop...smoother than the Patrik which is good for an old bugger like me. The bonus is that it carries both my 7.0 and 7.8 Severnes perfectly. So highly recommended.
Can you stick a foil in the Radix? Trying to go down to one board for an upcomming road trip:)
I tried the 118 yesterday with a 34 carbon Tribal fin and my 5.6 slalom sail in 12 to 17 knots.
Got it going for 500 metres but underpowered.
Board felt very smooth and felt way smaller than bigger 80cm wide boards that i really do not like.
Fin was way too small, needs at least a 36 minimum.
Want to try it another time with my 39 Leading Edge fin and my 6.3 or 6.7
Reckon it could be awesome in light winds but only with a big fin.
Hi yes you can run a foil on it. I am not so experienced with foiling and have an older NP one. I had a good run on my 118 with it so it seemed to work for me. Regarding fin size with the 118 I have very good results with a 38 tribal slalom or powermax fin. If well powered 31 and 33 weedspeeds work well also on the 118.
