SEVERNE PYRO 87L: 2025 TEST REVIEW

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11 Nov 2024 08:00

SEVERNE PYRO 87L: 2025 TEST REVIEW

THE VERDICT

The Severne Pyro is a full power machine that delivers speed on tap, while it’s ease of use will naturally put you where you need to be. Consider how you power the Pryo to allow it to shine on a wave, but it will still deliver fast, punchy, full send riding, trust me.

THE LOWDOWN

Covered in a lustrous red, the Pyro almost glistens in the sunlight. It’s smart, but also a little sexy, with its carefully selected colour scheme. As wave boards go, the Pyro doesn’t look intimidating, or overly aggressive in shape; its outline is parallel, and the volume is distributed in a welcoming manner, especially in the tail. Taking this into account, the Pyro should provide a comfortable and stable board when off the plane, as well as being user-friendly. Its wider tail outline, combined with the fish tail and volume, should make the Pyro excel at sneaking into waves early – helping us to up our all-important wave count.

When rolling the Pyro over to inspect the hull shape, a single concave transitions into a double concave to V, which should keep the Pyro fast in a straight line and quick to plane. The board has plenty of fin options and can be ridden as a quad, which is how we tested it, a thruster or a twin, which would really loosen up the Pyro. It comes equipped with Severne’s NYCA fins, which is an injection-moulded technology blending thermoplastic and carbon fibres for enhanced abrasion resistance and rigidity for windsurfing. The rocker, like the outline, isn’t overly aggressive, which helps maintain speed, which is no real surprise given that this is Philip Köster’s signature model – and he loves to fly high, boost massive airs and lay the board on its rail.

BRAND CLAIM

“The Pyro is fast, powerful, and versatile; sail it like Köster with twin fins for playful looseness. In a contest scenario, the improved early planing and better upwind ability of the thruster fin setup is the go. And then when the waves turn on, plug in the quad fins for down-the-line grip and reliability.”

PERFORMANCE

Feeling stable with its even volume distribution, the Pyro works wonders as you float through messy waters before you find the ideal moment to release and slip it onto the plane. Accelerating to its top speed in an instant, it becomes blindingly obvious that the Pyro is an absolute rocket, so much so, that fast is an understatement – it should almost come with a warning.

The Pyro allows you to pick and choose your line with ease, and while it remains locked in in the tail, it still feels nimble and reactive underfoot. Firing through white water and reformed waves, and once fully comfortable with its lightning pace, the Pyro encourages a real ‘send it’ attitude as you look for ramps to launch you high into the air. Its wonderfully efficient upwind angles make it easy to get off the beach in onshore conditions, while in more favourable conditions, you’re almost guaranteed to be the first to get back into prime position for the next wave, as its speed and impressive upwind angles work together in perfect harmony.

The Pyro’s natural speed, paired with its forgiving volume distribution and outline, mean that transitions are a breeze. Meanwhile, the Pyro will do everything in its power to help you out of critical situations. On a wave, dialling into the Pyro is essential, and due to its natural top speed, you may need to run off a little bit of that speed and let the power of the wave do most of the work for you as you drop down the face. If you do just that you’ll be greatly rewarded.

Sailing overpowered requires precision and commitment. When bottom turning you need to commit and use the Pyro’s natural speed to your advantage. If you bank the Pyro over, you’ll be instantly rewarded with a seriously powerful bottom turn, possessing a controlled arc, allowing you to hit the lip with plenty of punch. Its speed can sometimes challenge its agility as well as the riders when trying to sharpen a turn, as it can feel very locked in, when setup as a quad at least, especially in bolt-onshore conditions, which requires the rider to really adapt and think about how much juice they supply the Pyro. Its natural speed, whether you’re sailing perfectly powered or overpowered, lets you float over sections like a cloud to the next clean section, where you can carve out turns on its face. Suited to riders with a full-power attitude, you’ll need to give the Pyro as much of a ‘send it’ attitude as it demands – do that and you are in for the ride of your life.