Just to illustrate what I meant about the paint. By now it has bubbled up underneath the board like acne. Btw this board has seen no heat or sun, we don't have it here :)
And then it just chips off in big patches not been banged on rocks or anything.

I mean sure it doesn't affect the performance but for a 2500 EUR product I would assume the paint stays on for a while. Can you imagine buying a bicycle for the same money and after 20 rides the paint starts to fall off...

Hanstholm said..
Tanel contact your shop or local distributor. This shouldn't happen and be a warrenty case. If the warrenty is exceeded the distributor and Severne should know that their paintjob is sh.!

I have to revise my statement a bit. The bubbles look very much like osmosis (hope thats the right translation) and thus incorrect storage. I had only looked at the pictures with the paint flaking. Sorry

sprayblaze said..
I have a quadwave board from a different brand, almost 5 seasons now trashing and bashing with no remorse- watertight, rigid,no dents, soft spots only scratches here and there (if you look for them). Countless times I had to travel and store it wet in mold infested board bags and basements. No osmosis, chain reactions,dermatitis etc.whatsover. Paying 2500 euro and getting this is disgusting, I can't believe that at Severne are that sloppy. If I were them I would send Tanel a brand new board without asking any questions.

Agree 100%

Thanks for the feedback. Yup, I have started the process...will see what comes out of it.
I have other boards cared and kept the same way no problem so far, some go through 5th season already just minor scratches from usage.

Bit tired of the quality issues to be true. I have bought 3 boards in last few years. All different major brands (Tabou, Starboard, Severne).
If this goes under warranty, witch it clearly should, it would then be the third out of three. One had manufacturing error, second had faulty construction design for whole product line and now this.

Some bad luck, sure...but one would expect the paint on the windsurf board to be water and humidity proof at least.

Last session was really fun on it, it's a fine shape and I don't care too much about how the board looks now. But as I don't get my boards for free I expect certain level of quality in exchange of my hard earned cash.

No wonder it's called Pyro... Never see this type of stuff before as if someone used a heat gun on it.
On my JP Freestyle from 2016/2015 paint is very bright and a lot of it and in tiny spots around the tail deck it fell off. But spots are so small that not really visible to an uneducated observer..

Baser, Osmosis... Based on its definition can you please describe events/physics that could take place here? Thank you.

Basher said..

Board bag Osmosis is a real thing in the rainier and cooler parts of the world. You can see examples in many brands and it's not about their paint choice.

I hear you yes, and thanks for explaining. Indeed seems to be the case with the osmosis.
But I wouldn't be convinced it has to be that way. Out of 10 different boards I have owned over the years, this is the first time it happens. Same kind of care and usage. That I don't consider luck. So I think something can be done about it after all...

And paint shedding off in patches maybe connected to the osmosis maybe not. It happened before I noticed the bubbles or anything but not really studying the board that close before and after every session id nothing happens to it. Besides, I have seen Severne boards loosing paint like mine and these boards in rental have never seen a bag nor stored wet. And next to it there's another board 10 years old, with far, far more usage and has just regular scrapes and scratches.

So far the information back from the store is "we have seen couple of more cases like this, were declined as warranty cases".
Will wait and see what the final answer is.

There's always an explanation why things fail. I hope the explanation doesn't become an excuse but something to learn and improve on.

philn said..
My Pyro came with the thruster set, which I really disliked when I first tried the board. I switched to twins and loved the Pyro with twin fins. Now that I have a few months of experience with the Pyro I decided to try the thruster set again, and I didn't hate it like I did the first time. But the twin set up still felt earlier to plane and better on the wave. So my question is what kind of conditions are thrusters better suited to? When will I be better off using thrusters vs twins? So far the only scenario I can imagine is a wave like Pacqasmayu?

That's such a big discussion that it's almost impossible to answer for a specific board.
There are however some basics:

1) Fin choice is often about personal preferences. But often if you find you don't like one set up at first, if you persist you might find it grows on you. And that's because you become used the new body stance applied to (or adapted to) that fin set up.
2) Changing fins and fin set ups, inevitably changes both the total fin area used and the position of that fin area at the tail of the board. If you shift fin area back that usually makes the board more 'drivey' for speed and jumping, and if you shift the fin area forwards the board turns in a tighter arc or becomes looser on the wave face.
3) The key thing about a thruster set up is there's usually a longer fin used at the board centre, to give extra drive. This longer fin - as with a single fin - levers the board tail at speed, and sailor weight used to counteract that leverage or torque load results in a vertical lift which then allows the board to plane higher off it's tail. So in theory a thruster set up is faster, and maybe earlier to plane. Equally, using too long a fin in the back end of the board can mean the board starts to tail walk at speed on windy days, because of too much lift.
4) The twin fin set up is fast because there are only two tip vortices adding drag (unlike three for the thruster, and four for the quad), so this set up can also be the earliest to plane. It's also the least 'drivey' because if you apply heavy back foot load acting sideways on the tail of the board then that load can push out one fin creating an air pocket for its parallel neighbour to follow in. So the twin fin set up is the loosest set up underfoot. Some sailors love that tail looseness, whilst others hate it. But of course you can also experiment with different shaped fins when going for the twin set up.
5) Quad set ups feel 'planted' and quads can be slow to plane but I don't notice that issue with my Pyros. You get a lot of drive from four fins and the four relatively short fins provide very little torque at the tail, so the board is unlikely to overpower or tail walk in windy conditions. (Although watch out you don't fit too big a fin pair if increasing on what is supplied - I'm thinking of using smaller pairings in mine, shorter than supplied).
6) The Pyro is a remarkable design in that it seems to work well with all three fin set ups. The key is to experiment and to see what works for you, or for your particular wave.

Basher said..

leto said..
No wonder it's called Pyro... Never see this type of stuff before as if someone used a heat gun on it.
On my JP Freestyle from 2016/2015 paint is very bright and a lot of it and in tiny spots around the tail deck it fell off. But spots are so small that not really visible to an uneducated observer..

Baser, Osmosis... Based on its definition can you please describe events/physics that could take place here? Thank you.

Board bag Osmosis is a real thing in the rainier and cooler parts of the world. You can see examples in many brands and it's not about their paint choice.
You finish your session and have a wet board which you don't want to drip in the car. So you zip it in a board bag.
In theory we use bags to protect the board or to protect the car.
But even if the board hull has dried, the straps will still be wet.

The board bag then bakes the wet board, keeping it in constantly humid conditions, and eventually the lack of ventilation causes this reaction UNDER the paint. it's not water drops causing the problem, it's moist air getting into the laminate.

A scientist might have a better explanation than I can give but it's to do the with glass laminate as much as the paint - and we ex boatbuilders certainly know about osmosis in yachts. It also occurs in fibreglass swimming pools, usually those that are not drained over the winter.

Try Googling 'boat osmosis'.


For sure, we pay a lot of money for our windsurf kit and there's nothing more upsetting than this.
I personally never use board bags, except when travelling on aircraft.

Yep totally agree with what Basher said, I try not to use board bags.
So I don't think it is the brands fault or their construction.

It's maybe a bit weird to bring this old thread back to the top of the pile but the PWA wave event is on at Pozo right now and this is perhaps the first time we have seen the Pyro in action at the onshore wave break break it was designed for.

It's a shame they only have small waves so far, the Pyro seems to be the most numerous board in use and on the beach!

Koster was using a board with different graphics.

It's now Sunday evening and the end of the 2022 PWA Pozo wave event.

The Pyro has won both the men's and the women's title at Pozo today, something that we've had to wait for these past two years due to the lack of competitions.

Koster won the men's fleet despite a late charge from Marcilio Browne.
Daida Moreno won in the women's super-final, with her sister Iballa taking second place on the latest Severne wave board - which we were told is scheduled for an autumn launch.

Pro wave sailors do not have to sail production boards at PWA events but most do stick with the production shapes - in this case which they themselves helped develop.
If you saw Koster on a different colour board that was/is his 99 litre Pyro but in next year's graphics, and it's the size he uses in very light wind, usually with the 5.3 rig.
In the final he was on his 4m sail, so there was no shortage of wind on the last day. The pictures from today will confirm what size pyro board he was on - probably the 83.


Somebody mentioned that the boards shown in the pictures I posted (above) were just there for show, perhaps on loan. But if you actually watch the live-streamed Pozo event footage (still available via the PWA channel on YouTube) then you'll see just how many sailors were on Pyros. And this is no surprise, given that Koster now lives at Pozo, plus many keen wave sailors will, like me, have two sizes to use.
This week there were more Pyros on show and in the photographs than any other board.

The kids seen on small versions of the Pyro are indeed on genuine Pyros because the shape has been scaled down to suit junior and women's sizes which are available to special order. Obviously we're not going to see 58litre wave boards on the shelves of our shops nowadays, but the production line at Cobra does allow individual sizes to be laminated along with the standard/bigger size ones.
In the UK we do have to pre-order them, and it can therefore be a six month wait.

I thought the picture of all the juniors in a Severne Pyro team worked really well, and JC has since done a similar picture with the Fanatic Duotone team, with most of their junior sailors on Fanatic Grip boards.

Hopefully we'll also see how the Pyro fares at the Sylt event, if that is confirmed for later this year.

DunkO said..
that's great, any chance they'll be tested at wavesailing locations?

Capo Verde was more wave than wind iirc.

www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=38&tx_pwaevent_pi1%5BshowUid%5D=324&cHash=32858c99d47b5c135886da106a5e3ecd

PhilUK said..

Basher said..

Pro wave sailors do not have to sail production boards at PWA events but most do stick with the production shapes - in this case which they themselves helped develop.




But if you actually watch the live-streamed Pozo event footage (still available via the PWA channel on YouTube) then you'll see just how many sailors were on Pyros.

From the Capo Verde thread.

Basher said..


What we do know is that the typical Euro wave board, designed mostly for onshore conditions, and with a relatively flat rocker for early planing, is not what you want at Ponte Preta. You need a bit more rocker to fit in the curve of the wave, and some tail kick.

I'd say it seems that the pros pick a board which works best for the spot.
A local here has a Pyro, 95kg, and he likes it and sails better on it than his previous boards. But you are kidding yourself if think most pros stick with production boards.
No need to watch the video. In the results, 5 men & 4 women sail Severne, they might be using production Pyros, or they might not.
I think you are getting carried away with 'the stoke'.

Well your post implies I'm contradicting myself, when I'm not. If you watched the live stream for Cabo Verde, Koster was criticised for using the Pyro in its production shape. They did find that the rocker line didn't fit well in the Ponta Preta wave, but that's similar to the issue all sailors have when they go to Cabo Verde or to Maui to Sail Ho'okipa.
As most of us sail more real world conditions does that matter?

The 'stoke' about the Pyro is that it cleaned up this week at Pozo and it's a board that thrives in typical European conditions whether you are 100kgs or 55kgs.
But, for sure there are other boards, including four other wave shapes in the Severne range.

It's just great to finally see the Pyro come into its own in the conditions for which it was designed. It's a shame we still have so few dates on the PWA wave tour to see how it performs elsewhere. I understand that Tenerife's wave event has been cancelled for this year.

Koster still likes the twin fin set up, but it depends on what size board and where.

If you check out the Pozo photos on the PWA site you'll see his various boards on the beach and ready for action, with the smaller ones set as a twin.
Yesterday he sailed the Pyro 87 and, yes he went for the tri fin set up.

(I use my two Pyros as a quad, or as a tri fin, or as a twinny. But both size boards work in either of those three set ups. The tri fin is probably best for jumping because the longer centre fin allows the board to ride faster on its tail.)


if you look at the Cabo Verde fleet as a whole, most sailors were on production boards. Same at Pozo.

From the PWA Sylt event, photo by JC: