SIMMER TEAM TALK!
SIMMER TEAM TALK!
SIMMER TEAM TALK!
While competitors waited for the wind to fill in on the final day in Tiree, Phil Horrocks, Cori McFarlane, and Adrian Jones kept the competitors busy with a demo on all the latest Simmer wave gear they have been using. We caught up with the team to find out what boards they have been riding and to also hear about the latest Simmer Blacktip Team Carbon sail as used by PWA World Champion Marc Pare!
WINDSURF: OK, we’ll kick off with the Flywave. Phil, is that your go-to board?
Phil: “Yeah, the Flywave is my board for when it’s really firing… the proper days. Most of the time, my main board is the Quantex. I use that at Rhosneigr, my home break, and for most UK windsurfing. But when the conditions are really good, I’ll jump on the Flywave.
So, for example, in Cornwall at the start of the year I was using the Flywave, and at Rhosneigr, I was on the Quantex.”
WINDSURF: What makes the Flywave good for those “rad” conditions?
Phil: “The Flywave holds a rail in anything. When it’s full power, full speed and you’re carving on a big wave…really wanting to use the whole rail and commit to the turn…it just grips and pulls you through the carve beautifully.
The Quantex, on the other hand, has a slightly wider tail. It’s made for slower, less steep waves, allowing you to stay higher on the wave, do tighter turns off the back foot and carry speed through flatter sections. It gives more pop and projection off the lip in rougher, less ideal conditions.”
WINDSURF: So that’s your go-to board at Rhosneigr?
Phil: “Yeah, exactly, I use the Quantex at home all the time. I never really use the Flywave there. The Flywave is for Cornwall, Ireland, Tiree, maybe Chile…the special trips. It’s the one I ‘want’ to use all the time, but where I live, I end up on the Quantex mostly!”
WINDSURF: And how about you Cori, where do you sail normally?
Cori: “I sail mostly in the Canaries, in Tenerife at Cabezo. It’s a nice clean wave, though not as heavy as somewhere like Chile. I use the Flywave…the 72L or 78L, pretty much anywhere I go. It’s a quad.
WINDSURF: What do you like about the Flywave?
Cori: “I like how it holds speed through the bottom turn, especially in onshore conditions. It keeps the drive really nicely.”
WINDSURF: And what about the Quantex, Do you ever use that?
Cori: “I’ve tried it a few times at Rhosneigr and at the summer test centre. I really like it when I’ve tried it, but I don’t actually have one yet.”
Phil: “I’m a bit heavier, stronger, and I like to sail fully powered up with a lot of drive in the sail. For me, that suits the Quantex…it’s a board I can really turn and push hard.
Cori’s lighter, so she can get going easily on the Flywave and still enjoy its turning ability. Her weight makes her slightly more suited to the Flywave, whereas I prefer the Quantex.”
WINDSURF: And what about the Omnia, we haven’t mentioned that one yet?
Phil: “That’s the Omnia…the freewave board. Well, the wave freewave, you could say.
It’s basically for those rougher conditions when the wind’s strong and people want something more wave-oriented than their freeride board. It’s perfect for that, but it’s also rideable as a proper wave board. It’s loose, lively and fun!”
WINDSURF: Adrian, where do you sail normally?
Adrian: “Mostly at Rhosneigr. And because I sell the boards, I have to try them all to understand what each one does best. When I joined Simmer about a year and a half ago, I thought I’d mainly be on the Flywaves…Ben Proffitt told me, “Get the Flywaves.” So, I ordered one of each. But as soon as I got on the Quantex, I thought, wow, this is the one. It’s just easy to ride.
The Quantex feels fast. It’s got that wider tail, sits beautifully in the water and turns super loose. You can flick it around easily…it feels like it rides on top of the water. The Flywave, in contrast, when you bank it over, engages the full rail… it’s a full rail-turn board.
So, I found myself using the Quantex almost all the time.
The new generation of Flywave, though, which came out in April, has a wider tail and a bit more rocker at the back. That’s made it a much more all-round board. I’ve been back on them recently, testing with Ben before the Rhosneigr event. We spent a week trying all three… the Omnia, the Quantex, and the Flywave…all in 95 litres, comparing how they felt.
The Omnia felt the fastest and easiest and it turned pretty well, but felt a bit more limited than the Quantex. The Quantex was looser and easier to tighten up your turns onshore or in the bottom turn. It’s a little more technical to sail…shorter and more sensitive, but that’s part of why it’s so fun.
Then we got on the Flywave, which we both expected wouldn’t suit Rhosneigr, but we were totally surprised at how good it felt. With the new tail, it’s much more capable in onshore stuff. But with all that said, Ben actually ended up competing on the Quantex, even though he’s a Flywave rider, which says a lot.
If you look at Marc on the World Tour, he rides customs but also uses some production boards. He uses the Flywave and the interesting thing is that our boards all have five fin boxes…so you can ride them as quads or thrusters. Marc runs his Flywave as a thruster, which gives it more drive and speed, even though it comes standard as a quad. That setup seems to bridge the gap between the two models really nicely for him.
WINDSURF: And what about the sail you have up in Tiree, this is the Simmer Blacktip Team Carbon one?
Adrian: “Yes, this is the exact sail Marc’s using now. He’s been developing prototypes…I think we’re on number 17. They’ve really done their homework because Marc’s meticulous with equipment. He’s never satisfied, even when it’s right, he keeps tweaking.
The big change is the material… the sail has now got carbon strands, which add strength. That means they can use less film, making the sail lighter and more stable. You really notice how solid it feels…it doesn’t move around in your hands.
I was talking to Marc about it after Pozo. I told him his stalled doubles looked incredible… the best there by far…and he said he’d always been scared of doing stalled doubles until he got this sail. It feels so stable, with the power really far forward, leaving it light on the backhand. He said it gave him total control, even in nuclear wind.
So yeah, it’s made a real difference and this new production version is exactly what Marc is using at the moment.
Simmer have spent a lot of time working on the direction of the carbon strands. Because they’re strands, not woven fabric, the strength is directional…it gives most of its strength in one direction. So, they had to keep adjusting the lay-up of the cloth until the sail twisted and stretched properly. That’s why they went through so many prototypes before finalizing this version. Now they’ve got it dialled in…and Marc is really happy with it.
Marc won the world title using this sail so that is the icing on the cake for us!”
WINDSURF: We noticed Marc was one of the only ones wearing a wetsuit in his heats in Maui, everyone else was in shorts!
Adrian: “Yeah, he absolutely loves that day-glow bright O’Shea wetsuit we made for him. He did a demo in Sweden recently, everyone else was in full winter suits, and there’s Marc in a short-sleeve! We’ve given him winter suits too, but not in that colour scheme…he just loves that Fluro one.
WINDSURF: You’ve got to be pretty talented to wear a wetsuit like that to the beach!
Adrian: [Laughs] “True! But what’s cool is how it all came about. When Marc joined Simmer, we wanted something visually distinctive, something you’d recognize even without seeing the logo.
We considered pink, inspired by the pink sails he was already using. We talked about Kai Lenny…he’s one of the few riders today with a truly iconic look. His red and blue suits are instantly recognizable. So, we wanted something similarly unique for Marc…a look that would stand out.
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