Slingshot Coupe 6’0 2011
Reviews / Surfboards
34,266
At A Glance
The Coupe from Slingshot is a new board for 2011; it’s quite different from a lot of the offerings on the market right now. Principally because it is a “twinzer”, rather than three or four fins the Coupe has just two fins at the rear set parallel to each other. The fins are fairly large; just over 5 inches each so should offer plenty of drive. The construction this year is bamboo, a material that many board brands seem to be using. It’s eco friendly as it grows so quickly and in such abundance, but it is also incredibly strong and light, making it perfect for board manufacture. The Coupe utilises the Fastrack mounting system for the straps and pads, which is a feature on all their boards this year. This allows you to fine tune your stance and set it up exactly how you like it, it also makes fitting and removing the straps really easy. It is supplied with rubber Fastrack plugs so you can cover up the slots should you wish to ride it strapless.
On the Water
The Coupe is a craving machine, it grips the rail so tightly you can just engage and concentrate on looking down the wave and where you want to go. The twin fin set up offers plenty of grip and ensures you have maximum drive in the turns. The rocker of the board is quite flat in the nose section and we were worried this would result in burying the nose and board at critical moments on the wave. However the wide point on the Coupe is fairly far forward, this makes it hard for that nose to bury and at times when we really thought we had overcooked it the board just powered down the wave and didn’t bury at all. The extra width also makes it quite buoyant and as such it is easy to tack and gybe, that width also allows you to make a few footwork errors and get away with it. Some riders may prefer a more traditional shape in larger cleaner waves, but for European mush the Coupe offers a lot, with more grip and bite than a quad fin it really allows you to get those turns in.
For
Quality construction, good footstrap options and offers unrivalled grip in the turns.
Against
More suited to Euro waves than a more traditional shape, replacing the twin fins on a remote surf trip could be tricky, carry spares!
Overall
Great fun to ride and amazing to carve, the drive and speed down the wave is fantastic.
This review was in Issue 25 of IKSURFMAG.
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By Rou Chater
Rou has been kiting since the sports inception and has been working as an editor and tester for magazines since 2004. He started IKSURFMAG with his brother in 2006 and has tested hundreds of different kites and travelled all over the world to kitesurf. He's a walking encyclopedia of all things kite and is just as passionate about the sport today as he was when he first started!
