Mistral 2008: Wave RD

Mistral has gone through a major image change in time for the 2008 board range. Long gone are the images of Mistral as primarily a freeride brand tied into the Club Mistral set up.

In comes statements like, ‘pure high-tech boards’ which are ‘radical, dynamic and aggressive’. Long gone are the Moreno Twins who for some reason no longer fitted the Mistral glove and in comes windsurfing’s bright hope, 18 year old Marcilio Browne: young, fresh and already winning titles to complement the master of trophy collecting in the more experienced Nik Baker.

Then we have a new name/concept: the Mistral Red Dot Division Boardrange. Mistral say their 08 range is: ‘sophisticated, performance orientated, super light with a unique Mistral unfinished look, the right mixture of technologies, new graphics and durable’. Wow – sounds impressive. Now let’s see if they can compete with the other main brands who also claim to be radical and aggressive!

So the Wave RD is the Hardcore Wave board. The 76 litre is Marcilio Browne’s signature board but there are three other boards in the range; 69, 86 & 96 litre.

These board are for experts only. Well, those of us who are expert at having a go in the waves even though it sometimes involves more swimming than sailing!

Raphael Filippi in Maui (T.Indra) Marcilio at Baby Beach (T.Indra) Portrait shot: PWA/John Carter		Key Features New smooth outline with round pin nose and pin tail to keep the water flow fast. Adjusted rail shape for smoother entry into the turns and more control in chop. Bottom rails for smooth bottom turns. Single to double concave bottom shape, increased ‘V’ in the tail to improve rail to rail turning. New deck channels for improved stiffness and deck shape. New G10 Custom Wave Fins by Kai Hopf. New M-dot Air Pod Pads.

The Stats

*Marcilio Pro Edition
** US box

Construction

		Construction: Tecnora Kevlar Double Sandwich Cost: £1099 Availability: End of August 2007