Adrian Jones and his Clones test out the next board in the 2013 freewave test, the Quatro Freestyle Wave.
Graphically the Quatro is a great looking board and comes complete with high quality fittings. It is a single fin design and is supplied with a 28cm MFC, the biggest in this test group. At 95 litres, it is one of the biggest boards, but perhaps surprisingly the width is actually the narrowest in test by nearly 1cm. The tail width is fairly standard, giving it quite a narrow, straight-sided profile compared with the other boards within this group.
On the water, the Quatro has a fairly unique feel to it, perhaps down to this narrower, straight-sided profile and larger fin set up. It’s not particularly quick to plane, but once the board does release it really accelerates well. That narrower width does pay a penalty when the wind drops however making it one of the first to drop off the plane. Top speed is one of the slower within this group, but the ride is easy and fairly comfortable. Once the wind picks up, the bigger fin does start to overpower the tail of the board, so we would definitely recommend a smaller fin option if you are planning to sail well powered.
Unique board – has a really nice bottom turn, feels quite small and you can really crank it in to the turn.
In a straight line, it’s fair to say that the performance of the Quatro isn’t really up to the rest of the group. Bank the board into a bottom turn however and it’s a whole different story. This board has probably the most radical bottom turn of the whole group, allowing a skilled rider to carve tightly and get really vertical back into the wave. Off the top it suffers against the tri-fins in the same way that all the other singles do by not turning as tightly or with as much ease. In fairness to the Quatro, it does transition well from bottom turn to top turn, a point at which some of the bigger boards get a bit stuck. It also has a really nice backside snap.
The more gunny profile makes it quite good for jumping, once up to speed although for pure freestyle, the same attributes make it less stable in the slide. Despite the higher volume, the Quatro definitely feels one of the smaller boards within this group.
Has a really nice backside snap.
TARGET BUYER
The Quatro is a wave riding board that excels in the bottom turn for more skilled riders. Unfortunately this skill-set, probably steers it away from what most Freewave buyers are looking for from this style of board. However if you are a heavier rider, looking for a larger single fin to ride waves on, then the Quatro would be a nice fit.
Not really competitive with the better boards when it comes to straight line performance, seems to be more about the riding.
RIGHT TO RESPOND – Zero Gravity, the British importers of Quatro, give their response to the test.
“The Quatro Freestyle Wave 95 is a great choice for anyone who is progressing in the waves but still needs a board for back and forth blasting. The test states “most radical bottom turn of the whole group and is able to carve tightly” which are attributes which translate to an amazing board for carve gybing, perfect for riders wanting to master gybes in rougher conditions with a more front foot weighted stance. It inspires and rewards in equal quantities and is without doubt a board that will take you further.”
A full list of UK dealers is available here on the Zero Gravity website. You can also find out more about the One and other boards in the Quatro range of their own website here.
Check out the rest of the Freewave testing series:
