This is a first board from Tribal that I have bought.
Short notice about myself: I am surfing for the last thirty years. I am freeride and speed oriented surfer, participating in online and “live” speed events. Being a woman I am relatively light (58 kg) and small (165 cm). I have used previously following small slalom boards: Patrik Slalom 87 l, Patrik Slalom Airinside 95 l, RRD X-Fire 90, Goya proton 96 l, pre-Bringdal Mistral Slalom 80 l (2008?), RRD Anders Bringdal Slalom 75 l, Patrik Speed 80 l, Tabou Manta 74 l, F2 Thommen 95 l.
I have tried last month 63-liter Mistral speed board shaped by Chris Lockwood and I was really impressed by it! I was looking for the new small slalom board, and as soon as I have got to know that Tribal boards are shaped by Chris Lockwood I have ordered the Radix 88. I do not ride true slalom races, so I was looking for a fast freeride board, which I can use for fun and for some speed runs in medium wind and real-world conditions.
The board has arrived very carefully packed: a thick cardboard box outside, then a cardboard honeycomb structure, which protected the board, which was lying inside a board good quality bag (on the picture). The board is very light and the build quality is simply immaculate! Lying in the living room it was looking like a candy – simply irresistible!
As soon as the wind conditions have allowed me to use a 6.3 slalom sail I have taken the Radix to the local lake near Leipzig. The wind conditions here are normally pretty bad: the wind is very gusty – it means the gusts are pretty short and vary in strength from 10 to 30 knots multiple times on one leg. All the lakes here were previously an open brown coal mines – it means that they are pretty deep, normally around 50 m deep. As the wind picks up a pretty large chop and small rolling waves appear very quickly.
As soon as the first light gust arrived I have pumped the Radix on the plane and I have immediately recognized the feeling I know from the Mistral speed board. Even underpowered the board rides very high and free above the water having a great glide. Still it has a very directional feeling and it is always level to the water. Even when the wind picked up and the chop has built up the feeling still remained the same – the board was flying free and very controllable above the chop inviting to push your limits in every gust. Of course, I have accepted an invitation and I have immediately broken an old Saxonian speed record riding the whole 2 km faster which is really unbelievable in terms of speed surfing!
The Radix planes really early for its size and glides through lulls effortlessly, riding so high above the water and having so little water resistance. Tacking and jibing were also very easy and comfortable. The slalom riding stance is very natural on all courses. And the foot straps are very comfortable and still hard enough to control and rail the board.
All in all it is really a brilliant board offering a great combination of effortless gliding and control, which I was looking for a long time. It has a free feeling and acceleration of a speed board without sacrifices one has to make when riding a true speed board.
