Last summer, our family together with friends, sailed the eXperience 165 and reviewed it.
Lacking some vital accessories to further explore the polyvalent board, I ordered them from Glaridis Sport and early July, I packed 2 Thommens plus 2 new boards ( leaving behind 2 more vintage boards I wanted to test, as with these the height of the stacked material was way greater than the door opening of my garage), and took the boat to Paros .
The items bought were the following:
1. A T- boom/mast protector – PROLIMIT /19 euros – To protect the admittedly sensitive board
2. A larger powerful 40cm Freemove fin – RRD/70 euros
I would love to get a Meanline fin like the ones fitted to the T1, but on the other hand, I didn’t want to invest more on a fin for a family board. I thought that the recently introduced RRD fins would be a decent alternative.
3. A SUP paddle – RRD Red Alu – 75 euros
More out of curiosity, again I went for a quite simple/reasonably priced new RRD type. Note the user friendly red rubber inlays on the blade perimeter and on the grip.
Well, with the T-protector fitted, I did not hesitate ti allow more friends to try the board.
With the use of the 40cm fin, the board sailed higher on the water, while it executed better planted speed jibes ( rider George “Tigana” Moustakis). I have to note that the fin is quite noisy, whining under power. It also has the threaded cylinder closer to the fin base, so it required a longer screw.
I also had the opportunity to take some shots of George speed jibing the eXp165, using a Gaastra Matrix 7.5 sail.
I tried the board as a Sup in fairly flat water, but as this was my first SUP experience – all I can say is that the board is not for beginners weighting more than ~50kg, and I will show only photos of George doing his stuff… My comments about the paddle, are that although it looks solid & well designed, after using it, kept some slowly draining water inside, so some more attention on watertightness would be welcome.
As Mark Thoms pointed out, the paddle has cleverly positioned rubber inlays both at the edge (so that upon contact, the board’s sides do not get scratched), and on the grip (offering an anti-slip hold).
The fact is, that even if you don’t have a family of your own, the board attracts plenty!
The test would be definitely more complete if we had the chance to try the new carbon version of the eXp165, but I doubt such a board can be found in Greece.
hi Dimitris,
thanks for the second season test, looks like you enjoyed your summer time – here’s some notes from my side;
– t-boom protector is mandatory for any brand of board when one (still) catapults, all the centers have the heavy abs glued on or at least use a deviator,
– I really like the RRD fins designed by Werther, the kind RRD kite designer, they’re damn good, however the ‘singing’ is exemplary and can easily be eliminated by simply sanding the trailing edge a litte with waterproof 500 or higher.
– the EXP165 is not sold as a SUP but light people can use it as such, clever move you bought the RRD paddle with built in edge rubber as the board’s rail wouldn’t appreciate the scratching I can assure you 😉
– please note it’s recommended to drain out the alu adjustable paddles after each use, this applies for most brands!
finally; my offer still stands for sending you the complete collection of retro’s 😉
kind regards,
Mark
Thanks Mark for your comments.
I had already sanded the fin with 600 grade, but did not have the chance to try it afterwards.
I forgot to mention the practical rubber inlays on the paddle, so I updated the post accordingly.
Draining the paddle will become a standard procedure from now on.
Best Regards