Exactly a decade ago, Patrik put his first formula board into production and today he is the only shaper, who has supported this discipline by continuing to design, shape and register a formula design at every possible registration date. This substantial period of continued development has allowed Patrik to maintain a race winning formula board. Whilst the revolutionary invert-V feature has changed the way the new FV3 rides, it has also opened up new doors for Patrik to experiment with new shapes, which all equates to a noticeable leap forward in performance this year. Patrik: “The formula design was my entry ticket into the shaping scene and today I’m still fascinated by this unique discipline. Recently someone reminded me that ever since my very first production formula design, I remain the only shaper not to have missed out on registering a formula board since. It makes me proud to know that many other brands have had to stop with their formula designs or had to change shaper in order to keep up! I hope you enjoy reading about the new FV3 – I’m sure you’d enjoy riding this new evolution of PATRIK Formula design even more!”
PATRIK formula: Evolution with a true performance upgrade!
It is not an easy task explaining how microscopic changes in shape can affect performance. However, it is not in our DNA to just say that our board is the best on the market, points better upwind, is faster and easier, lighter, stronger, etc., as this would just be the standard marketing text from any brand. We would rather spend some time trying to explain in detail what we have experienced in the past and how our continued development has led us to the new board shape. So, here we go..
History of the new bottom shape concept “Invert V”: In 2005 Patrik shaped some single concave concepts for formula and speed boards. The performance was very good and the shape worked best with a tail kick of 1-1.5 mm and some extra side kick (rail rocker) on the formula of also 1-1.5 mm. Unfortunately, the tail and the side kick measurements are very sensitive and if the kick was off by just 0.5 mm the boards were either too sticky and slow or too loose and hard to control. It was clear that this shape concept worked extremely well for custom boards where the shaper can finish the board perfectly, and even rework the perfect tail and side kick after the first sailing session, but it was not possible to realize this concept for production boards due to the factory tolerances and measuring methods.
Taking it a step further, it all starts with the material. Both the core material, styrofoam that comes out of the mould and also the PVC sandwich sheets, which are not solid, have tolerances in thickness of +/- 0.5mm. Some cores are shaped by CNC, but the materials constantly deform and the final router traces always leave too much room for tolerance and imperfections. It’s also fairly normal that every step of vacuum bagging and/or mould pressing leaves further areas of imperfection with additional unwanted or missing materials. There is simply no other way around these small imperfections other than to rework the shape by hand after every step. In order to handcraft the soft materials to within 0.5mm requires highly skilled and experienced shapers.
If you study the actual shape a concave or any curve has, you’ll see infinite measurement points, which again make it difficult in production to follow a perfect set of measurements.
We know that some brands have the single concave concept in their range but as mentioned above it’s almost impossible to control the fine measurements to within 0.5mm in mass production and this results in dramatic performance variations. The sponsored riders from these brands will almost always have the opportunity to select 1-2 good boards out of 5 at the start of the racing season. However, for our customers we can’t accept to offer a shape with only 20-30% of performance quality and therefore Patrik never finalized this concept for production.
Patrik: “It is simply not fair for our customers who cannot test several boards at once and choose the best one. After years of testing, even I struggle to find the best balance between the fine line of just 0.5 mm tail and side kick in just one session.”
Over the years Patrik has continued to search for a solution in order to obtain the same performance effect of the single concave in the tail, but with a simple concept that can be put into production. Throughout the past 3 years Patrik has worked on an Invert-V concept – a V-Shape which goes inside the board. Similar to the normal V-Shape, the Invert-V concept can vary between constant-V, closing-V or increasing-V. It is important to find the correct V-Concept to ensure the perfect board trim. If the V is closing instead of opening the board will be sticky, if it is opening instead of closing the board will lift too much. In comparison to concave, with infinite measurement points, the Invert-V has flat sections across, along and/or diagonal to the board and can be easily measured with a straight edge.
Patrik: “This concept sounds simple, but it took years of brainstorming, shaping and testing until I could finally find a way to introduce this concept in to mass production. The first board with this concept was the Slalom 128. I was a bit unsure if it would work out, but following many meetings and detailed instruction, I proved that this concept could be put in to production so that we can offer 90-95% accuracy in shapes.”
Shape Details
The main difference and advantage of the Invert-V is that the water flows along the Invert-V surface towards the centre of the bottom shape and concentrates in the middle of the board to give more lift. This hydrofoil effect means that the board rides higher above the water and glides freely over the chop. Due to this effect it was possible to change many other details of the shape to improve overall performance without losing the existing performance benefits.
Scoop-Rocker-Line
The old rocker line did not work with the Invert-V concept, because it was unstable across the axle, so we replaced it with the new rocker line from the Slalom 128 to harmonize with this concept.
Outline
Due to the hydro effect of the Invert-V concept the board feels more free. This enabled us to extend and straighten the tail outline to improve the rail power under the back strap so the rider can keep pushing the upwind angle at lower speeds. This small detail really helps right at the start of a race and immediately after tacking.
Deck-Shape
With the new board riding higher on the water we inverted the deck shape to lower the mast track position and keep the connection point of the rig at the same level as the previous model. This helps to keep the board controllable and makes the shape a bit stiffer at the same time. The deck shape at the downwind strap is angled and allows for a more comfortable stance.
Rail-Shape
The above combination of changes made for a steady riding position, so we were able to shape the back foot rail a bit more boxy to allow the rider to push harder going upwind. The back foot rail size/width can be tuned with the adjustable wing setup. The combination of increasing V and the 5cm wide bevel mean the actual rail is thinner, but higher to keep it off the water as long as possible.
Finbox Position
With the invert V hydro effect the board glides more free over the water which allowed us to put the fin box at 9 cm. The additional area behind the fin gives more lift and improves not only the early planing and acceleration, but lets the board glide in a very steady sailing position even in the strongest gusts.
Strap Position
As the board rides steadily and controllable due to the more forward position of the fin box we were able to balance the strap position trim further back and move the rotation point further forward so the board can turn further into the wind and improve the upwind angle.
Cut-outs
New geometry to balance the whole new concept of invert-V, fin box and strap position. Step cut-out to reduce the quantity of nylon spacers and insert depth for the adjustable cut-out plate to save weight.
Adjustable cut-outs
The new adjustable cut-out plates are designed to switch from left to right and use them for lateral or longitudinal stabilisation.
Adjustable Wings
The key feature for the ISAF “one board rule”. It gives the advantage to trim the board for all kinds of rider styles and sailing conditions. The tail / strap width can be adjusted from 86.5 cm up to 94.5 cm.
CONSTRUCTION
Early planing, acceleration and top speed are the most important performance aspects of this shape whilst being lightweight and stiff are the main requirements of the construction. It can prove difficult to build such a big board light because every reinforcement adds weight. However, smart combinations of layering and the positioning of reinforcements ensure that the board withstands all the heavy pressure of pushing this board up and downwind, whilst remaining light. Due to the new board riding higher on the water and impacting less against the chop, we were able to increase the stiffness by applying the Invert-V shape throughout the whole deck and with a full Carbon Biax 45°-45° we reduced the torsion at the same time. The tail shape Invert-V on the bottom runs into a very strong Positive-V shape under the mast track which also helps stiffen the board and this in combination with a full Carbon Unidirectional as a final layer proved the best combination of shape and construction during testing.
Technology | Composite Semi Custom Sandwich |
---|---|
Core Material | EPS (Styrofoam) |
Sandwich Material | PVC Sheet |
Final Lamination | Deck: Full Carbon Biax 45°-45° / Bottom: Full Carbon Unidirectional 0° |
Dimensions
Length [mm] | Width [mm] | Volume [litre] | Tail Width at 300 [mm] | Nose Width at 2000 [mm] | Weight (+/-6%) [kg] | Strap Options & Insert Holes | Strap Quantity | Fin Box | Approved Series | |
formula ||| | 2300 | 1000 | 165 | 867 | 856 | 8,8 | 7×4 | 4 | Deep Tuttle | ISAF |
Range of use
Best Sail Size [m2] | Sail Range [m2] | Rec. Fin Size [mm] | Fin Range [mm] |
9.5-12.5 | 8.0-12-5 | 700 | 600-700 |
