In Tobago there are actually only plastic forks, which is terrible. After three weeks, you'd be happy with even the cheapest camping cutlery for chips, gyros or a vegetable wok. Unfortunately, it's the other way round with carbon forks: if you've been surfing with them for three weeks, as we did on this year's Freeride test... is likely to end up eating even the best aluminium boom. In terms of price, however, this is the equivalent of switching from fast food to 4-star organic food. The X-CS carbon fork from NeilPryde is in the league of the thinnest bars, with an ergonomically comfortable diameter of just 27 millimetres (25 mm tube + grip).
The NeilPryde lettering is not glued in as before, but embroidered and proved to be robust during the test. The same goes for the coating, which showed no significant damage - despite the rather aggressive coral sand at the spot. The variable fasteners can be operated with one hand on each side, meaning that both fasteners can be opened and closed simultaneously. A small downer here: After three weeks of exposure to UV radiation in the Caribbean, the tension lever had lost some of its bright orange colour.
In addition to the vario closures - isolated corrosion problems at the joint in the past have obviously been rectified - the entire back end also impressed with good rope guidance and solid clamps. The width of the back end suits everything from wave sails to freeride sails.
On the water, the boom seemed extremely stiff, even with almost full extension on the 6.5 freeride sails, almost nothing bends: the spars are easy to grip, the head piece sits firmly and wobble-free on the mast - with low leverage. You can switch between RDM and SDM with the supplied adapter sleeve. This minimises the internal length of the boom. The head piece offers a few degrees of axial movement for tension-free mounting with different body sizes or clew heights.
Conclusion on the NeilPryde Carbon Boom:
A grippy, super-stiff carbon boom with a solid and tight-fitting head piece and easy-to-use back end including variable adjustment. The 50 centimetre adjustment range can be used in full with a clear conscience.
- Price: 929 Euro
- Available sizes: 140-190 cm / 150-200 cm (tested size) / 175-225 cm
- Further information about NeilPryde
