Windsurf mag did a waveboard test in the UK, including the Pyro 87.
This link should take you there.


www.windsurf.co.uk/severne-pyro-87-2020-test-review/

P.C_simpson said..

Brent in Qld said..


Ran the 87 in Nostalgia mode this weekend. 4.5, 5.0 & 5.3 in crappy cross-on. These fins have to be nearly 30yrs old (my old favs) & were only recently found in my spare-spares box hidden in another box. Worked an absolute treat, 150mm with a base that fills the slot box + moderate tip flex.

Am finding this board is probably the fastest wave board I've owned. It is very capable of plodding around like a normal quad offering a ton of security for general use if required. The big difference compared to my usual (3 other quad) wave boards is this thing seems to have an accelerator and putting the hammer down requires 'speed sailor at the limit' commitment. Think twice or look sideways when travelling as quick as this board is capable & big splashes can result. Having said that, I am having a cracking good time learning what to do with all this new found speed in the waves and taming my new toy with fins+strap+ base positions.

Hey brent, how did you find the board getting back up wind as a twin fin?

I have a 105 but have been recovering from a injury since I got my board so have had it wet yet, I am a big fan of twin fins and would love to only use it as a twin if it goes up wind well.

^+1 Mr Simpson

My experience is when I'm up+going, I don't use the board if its looking dodgy. 90+kegs on 87. Got a 107 Reactor for shlogging, a top unit for getting upwind off the plane yet drives really well on the face for me.

The Pyro goes upwind well as a twin, better angles as a quad I reckon. Goes noticeably faster as a twin so there might not be much in it if I was calculating VMG Due to the speed I'm also finding I can run less than usual surface area in the fins. So far I've found with 4.5-5.0 I'm using my smallest quad set (14+10s) and all is fine. 11s up front seem to stiffen the board up too much for me, 11s might be a different story on 105.

I'd recommend running quad for a few sessions to get use to everything, the board is not without its quirks as has been discussed. Like anything new & different it does require playing with the set up of straps, base position, etc... for personal preference so that board and rider can play nicely together. Quad mode is pretty settled and allows a good initiation to learn about this short and fast board. Hope this helps, all the best getting get back on the water.

seabreezer said..
@basher

"quad fins have more drive on the wave face " .....

Presume you mean vs thruster / tri-fin ...... thats a big call ? ....

I guess these things are subjective and mostly about personal preference. But I see that the testers at Windsurf mag said the same thing.
www.windsurf.co.uk/severne-pyro-87-2020-test-review/


The theory is that with a quad you have two fins near the rail to drive along the wave face - especially on a steep section. Those fins if pushed hard should add board speed - as when surfing a surf board in quad set up. By 'drive' we mean you get a speed response from the fins when you push against them, a bit like when you pump a foil or use kinetic energy to propel your skateboard.
We get less 'drive' and less grip from twin fins because if we push hard on them they break out, with one fin following in the path of its neighbour - two fins can create a lot of lift when planing but they take less sideways load in terms of fin area because both fins are set in line with each other.

On a windsurf board of course we also have sail power to use as well as our body weight driving over the rail and fins, and so our fins play a slightly smaller part in the overall action than they do in surfing.
Once you get past rail shape, volume distribution and rocker lines you still have stance and rig drive to add to what the various fin set ups might offer.
I haven't sailed my Pyro enough yet, to decide which fin set up I prefer.


People (above) have been taking about upwind performance, and it's often said that a quad set up goes upwind best, by allowing the board to point higher. I find getting upwind is more about technique and about how powered up you are - and how well the board keeps planing when driven higher into the wind. As a fast board and early planer, the Pyro should score well here, and with any fin set up.

Fins with upright leading edges also go upwind better than swept back ones, but simply being well powered up can over ride those fin differences.
In short, we have endless tuning possibilities here. Those tuning options will be about your local sailing conditions and preferences - more than they will be about the theory.

Here in the UK we've had little wind this Spring, and that has meant I've been a bit starved of windsurfing.
But the wind came back today and it was like trying out the Pyro again, as if for the first time.

After a really good session this afternoon, I feel I can say a lot more about this board.
I've been on it enough now for it to feel like an old friend.

I was on my 83 Pyro because my 93 light wind Pyro has yet to arrive - presumably it's still on a container ship somewhere, travelling from Thailand.
We've had a long winter lockdown here and I guess I'm carrying 2kgs of extra couch potato weight. That weight will soon go now I'm back at work - but today I was worried my 83 might be too small, especially when the wind started off a bit marginal. We also had a rising tide, meaning a downwind current, which can make it hard to plane. If the 93 had been here, I would have chosen that first.

But I went for the 83 Pyro combined with my 4.8m S1, and the choice was actually a good one. This board planes so early and I was surprised to find it also floats me through the wind lulls when others were stalling.

With the speed on offer you can easily get good air and you might think that the low rocker would then mean a board that is stiff to turn.
But no such worries with this board. It's actually quite short, almost a stubbie, and so it turns so well, helped by a curvaceous plan shape and grippy rails . The board also storms upwind - although I've only tried the quad fin set up so far, as supplied. Other guys sailing today were struggling to stay upwind, in our unhelpful current.
I think we can conclude that the Pyro is an easy board to sail - as long as you can deal with the relatively short length.

My session got even better when the wind started to build - and by the end I could have been on a 4.4m rig or smaller. My joy on the Pyro did not change, as it performed without fault. In stronger wind, it just goes faster. Don't expect a sedate ride, it's more thrilling than that.

I can't say we had big waves or a period swell today but my west Hove sailing spot always sets up something in any planing wind, especially over the outer reef where deep water meets a shallower chalk seabed. We can get deep and clean bowls there. The wind was well onshore and so I was totally surprised how easy it was to crank down-the-line turns on the bigger faces, with the board never losing speed. The Pyro has a real surfboard feel about it.

This board is fast and fun on the way out, and very 'plug and play', but it still shows great wave pedigree on the way in, and is as settled as you want it to be in the turns.
The 83 is certainly the right size for me and I'm wondering now if this is the best wave board I have ever owned.
A friend of mine has the 105 and, as a bigger guy, he also raves about his Pyro as a great wave board.
I'll report back again, when my 93 finally arrives - in June.

So just another view point... I have a Mako 84, a dyno 105 and have had a nano 1 and nano 2 87. The dyno seems like a simple plug and play board always fast and always kind of making the most of the UK conditions especially light wind at 105.

The Mako seems super smooth, very easy to use, carve, and is simply lovely on the waves but also planes fast and is nice in chop. Now the nano 2 is a different story, i confess in overpowered conditions and when your energy levels are high it's a great board but I don't think it's a great design it's simply too narrowly focussed and not that 'all round' now I kn0w boards have a particular focus but in my mind a well designed board still performs in other areas.

So I am debating what board should fit inbetween a Mako 84 and dyno 105. I was kind of thinking that a dyno 95 means I could get rid of the 105 and just have two boards, a Mako 84 and dyno 95 but I do like the look of the pyro. What puts me off ordering a pyro (well aside form the current wait) is the fact that I wonder again if it's a bit narrowly focussed like the nano but in a different way.

Any thoughts very very appreciated ! Thanks

gorgesailor said..

Hayling1 said..
So just another view point... I have a Mako 84, a dyno 105 and have had a nano 1 and nano 2 87. The dyno seems like a simple plug and play board always fast and always kind of making the most of the UK conditions especially light wind at 105.

The Mako seems super smooth, very easy to use, carve, and is simply lovely on the waves but also planes fast and is nice in chop. Now the nano 2 is a different story, i confess in overpowered conditions and when your energy levels are high it's a great board but I don't think it's a great design it's simply too narrowly focussed and not that 'all round' now I kn0w boards have a particular focus but in my mind a well designed board still performs in other areas.

So I am debating what board should fit inbetween a Mako 84 and dyno 105. I was kind of thinking that a dyno 95 means I could get rid of the 105 and just have two boards, a Mako 84 and dyno 95 but I do like the look of the pyro. What puts me off ordering a pyro (well aside form the current wait) is the fact that I wonder again if it's a bit narrowly focussed like the nano but in a different way.

Any thoughts very very appreciated ! Thanks

Sorry can't help with your question directly, though I have to say I had the same feeling after riding the Nano2... Since you say you had V1 & V2, very curious how it compared to the V1? ... more on topic I think the Pyro would be a great board in between the Mako & Dyno - at least from the description...

So yes the Nano 1 was very different, i really liked the Nano 1, it was still very active on the wave and really loose but somehow it was also pretty quick to plan and generally easier to use. The Nano 2 is just very different, it plans quicker for example if your in the straps early and I'm sure it sits a lot lower in the water and in thruster set up it really can only be described as rubbish, in quad it is far better, whereas the Nano 1 I think was only thruster or certainly worked well as thruster...

Here's a pic of one of the Moreno Twins.
It's such a shame their PWA event - and other Canaries wave events - have been cancelled this season.
We so wanted to see the girls and guys compete again, plus those competitions allow us to see how these perform in pro hands.

Those twins have a VERY upright profile and small tips, must be a rather slippery/skatey set-up with a ton of pivot.

I wonder how they at Severne have achieved such a light weight - 6.05 kg naked for a 93 l WAVE board with FIVE fin boxes.. amazing. Severne does not give details about structure as other brands-maybe best kept secret.... Usually such weight is for 75-85 l range. The Pyro 74l -5.45 kg feather weight!!! -this means lightning bolt acceleration right from the go. My only concern is durability. As for Koester he is on new fins. Rumours say he feels good. I wonder why he has not gone for the plastic K4 craze.. Don't get me wrong I use K4s and love them.

Unexpected first session on the Pyro 93 today.
I thought we might get 5.2m weather but the wind kicked in hard under cloudy skies and I was well powered on a 4.8m.
I've called my Pyro 93 'Simon, the Chubby Stubbie' - because it's my second Pyro (and Simon Lasker is the second Pyro in the Marvel Universe), and because it's a wide board at 60cms within a 221cms length. I've never had a waveboard that wide before.

It turns out that everyone in our area could benefit from a chubby stubbie, because it suits the typical conditions we get. Onshore like Pozo in summer, but not always so outrageously windy. A lot of locals here use FSW boards for summer sea breezes, but the Pyro is a proper wave board - it's fast and it jumps like a kid on a trampoline, but it also revels in turns.

I'm running the 93 as a tri fin initially, but will try the twin fin set up once some extra blanking plates arrive.

Initial reaction was that the board planes early and I was soon cruising about as the wind built this afternoon. It then got windier and I realised this board has a second gear, or an overdrive. It's so fast when you bear off to find a ramp!

There's no issue with early planing with this board but the wide nose means you can get going even earlier if you pop the board onto the plane with downward foot pressure and by getting in the front strap as early as you can. So it responds to good technique.

The massive benefit of this board today was we had a rising tide, meaning an adverse downwind current, but the floaty 93 litre board was not slowed by that.
I'm not jumping much because of a bad back, but I already know this board cranks on the wave face without losing speed, and I couldn't be happier, given I want this size as my light wind wave-riding board.

I still need to spend some time with fin placement and fin size - and I'm guessing that the centre 19cms fin plus two 11cms thrusters will work for light wind but may prove to be unnecessarily big for my weight if I want to use this board with a 4.4 or 4.0m sail. (Although I have the 83 Pyro for windier weather and for consistent wind anyway).
I also need to play with mast foot position and footstraps, to find what works best for me. So far, I have the straps in the centre holes and I think I want to move the front strap further forwards.
The straps themselves are very big if you are barefoot - or they are for my size 8 feet (8, UK sizing , 9 USA sizing) . I've got the front strap on minimum for the jump side, but I've set the front riding side much looser, and I always use the back strap on any wave-board set loose, narrow and high - like the Arc De Triomphe .

So this is still a work in progress, and I feel like the new owner of a puppy where we both need to go to dog training classes. It's often the owner that needs as much guidance as the puppy.
But we've already bonded well today. This will be a go-to board for my beach in summer swells. In winter wind I'll be on the Pyro 83.

Here's a picture of my wave beach, taken today.

Jens said..
Excellent picture: very impressionistic! How do the waves look?

Well it's difficult to show action selfies when I'm the local photographer.
I have the same problem at home - where I am not in any family wedding photos, LOL.

But here's one I took earlier, showing typical conditions at our beach. Not today though.

Basher. First pic is amazing. Art. Is it a nuclear power plant?

More nice pictures. Thanks. I can see why you are keen on boards that generate speed quickly and can turn tightly. Looks like a fun onshore spot. Cheers Jens

philn said..
Had a slog and ride session with my 105 L at Davenport in CA yesterday. Smallish waves and long wait between sets plus jet lagged from flying so didn't catch many waves. Tried it with 18 cm Scorcher twin fins. Initially thought the fins were too slidey (unexpected because so big) but quickly adjusted to them and didn't have any problems sliding out after the first wave, so probably just lack of sleep brain. Had some really nice late hits off the lip, board felt nice and smooth off the lip.

Do you find the rake of the Scorcher works okay as a twin? I wasn't a huge fan of them in my Quattro quad either as a quad or twin, that board seems to prefer upright fins (Leon).
My other boards are slotbox and I hesitate to knock the pins off if they aren't going to play well.

philn said..

Grantmac said..

philn said..
Had a slog and ride session with my 105 L at Davenport in CA yesterday. Smallish waves and long wait between sets plus jet lagged from flying so didn't catch many waves. Tried it with 18 cm Scorcher twin fins. Initially thought the fins were too slidey (unexpected because so big) but quickly adjusted to them and didn't have any problems sliding out after the first wave, so probably just lack of sleep brain. Had some really nice late hits off the lip, board felt nice and smooth off the lip.

Do you find the rake of the Scorcher works okay as a twin? I wasn't a huge fan of them in my Quattro quad either as a quad or twin, that board seems to prefer upright fins (Leon).
My other boards are slotbox and I hesitate to knock the pins off if they aren't going to play well.

I don't think the Scorcher suits me. I ended up using a more upright set of fins the rest of the trip and preferred them.

I think I'm going to modify the Leons to use in slotbox then sell the Scorchers. Maybe look at a set of Incinerators since they are quite upright.

The good old Stubby has been great as a twin for me though as well and it has moderate rake, but the tip is much higher area rather than having all the area in the base like the Scorcher.