Target 0-15 knots-the sailors’answer

Back to a lost future in search of that forgotten wind-range

Which program for the A-H-D TACTIK Sailboard?

• Target: Fill the 0-15 knots (less than 8 m/s) days, with the super-glide (and excitement) of a sailboard and later – who knows- create a simple and all-round class.

• Customers:The summer-holidays sailors who already know how to windsurf, those who want to sail on lakes, and lovers of course-racing.

Why does not this already exist?

Very technical sailboards have already existed 20 years ago, and they were shining in light air.
Since then the knowledge of fast windsurfing shapes has evolved a lot. Still, only the flattish planing boards benefited.
Today all boards offered to the market are pure planing boards, even if a few of them provide some glide in the non-planing 0-10 knots conditions.

Our own answer is a 320cm board, with a dagger-board, without straps and without mast track. Our work was to find a synthesis of the most obvious progresses in hull shapes and apply them to the objectives we had set.
The nose shows a true bow and a rather high one. The cross section is then morphing into a planing hull with a flat tail. This is a thick board (18cm) and a wide one too (76cm). A modern high-tech construction has allowed us to achieve a 13kg weight for this well above 250 litres board. The dagger-board is 100% carbon-fibre, it is very easy to raise and lower with one foot.

Upwind, the A-H-D Tactik sails exactly like a modern racing yacht. It requires an angle of heel and then needs to be blocked on her rail, in order to start gliding effortlessly.
On a reach, with the dagger-board up, it works exactly like a slalom-board and gets on a plane from 10 knots of wind.
With such a Sailboard, the purest glide and the rider’s skill in making his board glide and plane both rule. One has to move on the deck and find the right body-stance to constantly adjust both lateral and longitudinal hull-trim and find an optimal speed.

Concept, development and shape: Bruno André /Pascal Gerber TRIDENN