kitemiser.com: Tomo Vanguard Trex angry swallow style boards

Hi all

today going to talk about the new tomo style or surftech vanguard slingshot trex angry swallow- style kite surfboards

recently there has been allot of new kite surfboards that have a "chopped nose" and they are available in quads, five fin and thruster setups.

I hate to say it but these boards are bordering back to the traditional "mutant" style made popular by Robbie Naish and Flash Austin back in the days when kiteboarding just started.

There are still some "directional" mutant style boards some people like the option for the surf.
They also like the way that you can boost big with a smaller board that still goes upwind and is fast.

I tried the Slingshot 2014 Trex for a season, great up wind fast and very good fun in the surf,
The 2015 version is called the angry swallow and uses the new FCS2 fin system

These boards follow the tomo or vanguard style shape
parallel rails
wider tail
front nose is squared off about 10-11" back
A 5'4'' is close to riding what a 5'10 would feel like
and usually work best quad fin setup.

Of course the surfboards and the kiteboards are varied in the dimensions
The kiteboards may have less rocker and a big concave throughout the bottom
This helps planing and upwind too.

If too much rocker is added it may not be as good noticed that the vanguard has little if any rocker in the tail and nose.

So rider feedback?
There are some people that think that these are the greatest shapes ever. I guess it's all about preference of course.

The chop nose board has less size so will work good for those un strapped airs where you are grabbing the rail and throwing down some skim wakeskate inspired moves.

How do they fare in the waves?
They surf pretty good and if you transfer your weight to the back (back foot)for the turns are snappy and fast, they also float good on floaters and snaps.

Going up wind? No problem move your back foot to the middle of the board just in front of the back foot strap a bit or push down on your front foot more.

In my opinion if the wave is clean and not too choppy they work just as good at the larger counterparts that have a nose.
Even in windy conditions the face of the waves are usually fairly clean.
There are times when the chop is on it and in the way out or into the waves it is sure choppy sometimes so have to be careful not to "pearl" or nose dive with the short squared off boards
They do have some nose rocker and the nose has a "V" see picture so that helps

They also do go upwind very well and are super fast, I was flying on my 2014 Trex very fast with nice epoxy carbon fins too so that is exciting to be flying upwind 20+ !

In bigger waves and or choppy conditions you may want to go back to the more traditional shape kite surfboard. I prefer quad fin setup and like the future fin boxes too.

The FCS are okay easier to fix sometimes just stay off the reef with the futures for sure, if you hit too hard you can break the fin box out.

Your results may vary.
Ride what you like but try different styles shapes and boards for a change to widen your riding skills.
Remember with surfboards you generally don't want too much volume for your weight it's a delicate balance.of {weight-volume-surface area}
unless you are a bigger guy or riding light wind then more volume or "floaty" may be better.