Simmer Style - Frugal Review 11/11/2013
Simmer Style is pushing out a whole new style of sailboards for 2014. Much shorter than before (210cm for a 77 litre), these boards look like something between a surfboard fish and a Starboard Evo. The Frugal, meaning among other things un-wasteful, is indeed a nice looking board full with promise, but is it a board that excels only in small waves like a fish, or can it also handle bigger down the line waves?
I was the lucky person to be one of the first to have a crack on the Frugal in West OZ. Being much smaller than my good old Evo, this board should turn a lot tighter. The first day was a small Spot X day. With the quad set up and back fins all the way to the front, the Frugal really came alive. The board planed easy despite it???s size, especially if you move your weight a bit backwards towards the tail. The turns are sharp and the board quickly snaps around without losing too much speed. In matter of fact, the drive on this board is awesome, perhaps due to its wider outline (56.5cm) and tail. The result of lots of drive, sharp turns and quad like looseness made me very excited and keen for more.
However, on the other hand it also made me a bit concerned. How does a lively board with lots of drive handles bigger and hollow waves?
So a few days later, and 700 km further north I was ready to find out. A medium size swell was grinding down the reef with waves up to loco high on offer. Before going out, I moved the back fins slightly backwards for increased control. The first few waves I avoided putting too much pressure on the rail, just to make sure that the board was holding the line. However very soon I realised that this was not necessarily as the Frugal was holding the turn beautifully without having to nurse it, despite the slightly choppy conditions due to the new swell and on-shores from the day before.
The next day brought glassier conditions and I really started to get used to the feel and capabilities of the board. The on tap acceleration by moving your weight combined with the tighter turns due to its size and swing ratio for quick top releases made the Frugal a joy to ride, something that did not stay unnoticed by the usual crew hanging out at the car park.
Conclusion:
Simmer Frugal could well be the stick to have this summer. It turns tighter than any other board I have ridden and gives a great feeling at top turn release. Go for the 77 if you usually ride a 70 litre. Have a go swapping and moving the fins around to learn the capabilities of this extremely reactive board, especially on more full on days. Finally, get used to getting more out of the wave than ever before, due to its tighter turning circle! Oh and yes, make sure you pick up a wider board bag when you pick up your new stick at your local board shop. For more information check out:
The writer, Mick Steffan does not have any financial interest in Simmer Style or the Frugal. He is however a Severne team rider and used to be sponsored by Simmer Style between 1992-1996 before moving on to Tiga, F2, Blue Juice and Starboard.
Hi Ola,
Standard fins that come with the board.. quad set-up..
Oh yes, forgot to give you the link to simmer:
www.simmerstyle.com/error.aspx?aspxerrorpath=/2014board/Default.aspx
Regards
Mick
Hi Mick,
Nice review, reminds me of my Sweet Potato surfboard. Are they as loose and fast as an Evo/KodeWave twin or more like a traditional quad and take a bit to get going?
D
I hope you are all having a nice christmas break. Warmer than here in Sweden I suppose. Here is some Frugal action from this week in close to freezing temperatures
photo Sven Wesley
Select to expand quoteuweh said..
same to you...and would nice to hear some review about the 99 liter frugal...
Here is from Jim Brooks-Dowsets facebook. He runs a shop and sells Simmer, but it might be worth a read still. In particular since he also runs a custom brand so I hope he's not too biased.
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I got this review from Jim off the new Puravida ipad app (try it out, there are other interesting info on there too). I think he sailed the Frugal quite a lot and also sails many other boards, so I value his opinion.... in particular when it is this favorable.
Here's my review after sailing the 88 & 99 extensively:
The Frugal is simply one of the most exciting and intelligent bits of board making I have come across to date, and more so because it targets specifically the most common conditions the average wave sailor will go out in across Europe I would say!
The shape is short, wide, fast and very lively! With the fins & straps further back and the 'cut off' style tail you don't notice the width at all, in fact it makes such a sharp and aggressive turn with ease that it feels tiny and ultra responsive under foot. This is largely due to the tail width actually being quite narrow compared to the wide point giving stacks of turning curve on the rail!
The arc of your turn can be drawn out, tight or even tweaked and changed as you go along! Bottom turns can be whatever you need from quick clew first onshore moves, to fully laid down on a nice clean offshore day! Like wise the top turn can be delivered to suit, except the board excels when you just push hard and make for a real 'snap' and kicks out spray on demand!!
In small mushy waves and very average conditions up to clean hollow offshore head high surf this board delivers the goods better than any other I have ridden - FACT! In the hands of an experienced rider it just shreds, and in the hands of any progressing rider it makes it so easy to improve and.....well SHRED!
I am 88 kilos on average and generally use the 99 Frugal as my light wind and onshore/small day board. This is because the extra float/speed and looseness makes these conditions so much fun and literally doubles my wave count - gybing on to the face and planing out clew first is like second nature on this magic carpet ride.
If it's onshore and windy but small then I'd use the 88, but as a customer purchasing two boards I think most people would get on best with the Frugal as their bigger board for average days, and keep the smaller board as a more down the line model. I ride 85 to 90 litre Quad Wave board with the Frugal 99 as it's bigger partner - this covers 99% of my sailing in the UK
On the bigger days these shorter, fishy style boards can come a bit unstuck! Up to logo high is ok if the wave is not too quick, or if you are particularly into this style of board, but the average rider will find the tail too wide and a little lacking in control on the bigger/choppier faces above logo high, though not impossible when you know the board! This is by no means a criticism, just part and parcel of what the board is designed to do, and certain conditions simply are meant for a more down the line shape!
Set up is key as well, for example the mast track is quite far back on the shorter rocker, and for most conditions I found the sweet spot was at 125cm from the tail on the 99 and 123 on the 88, this helped engage the rail nicely in bottom turns without ever skipping out and was quick to release and plane upwind. I like this setting for all conditions, but you may want to slide it back just a little in onshore if you prefer the feel.
The shape works well in Quad or Thruster, but I felt that Quad set up was just by far the loosest and most aggressive on the waves especially in small cross-off days. You can turn very hard and tight and it's very reliable with no real risk of skipping out and great acceleration to aerial off anything!! Don't under estimate how easily you can tune these boards with the fin set up though and do follow the Simmer guide and experiment to find what you enjoy the most or tweak it to suit the conditions.
In short this board has been a revelation and represents a real breakthrough in modern wave sailing which I am sure other brands will be soon to follow! I've never had so much fun on small clean days and onshore, and certainly never caught so many sick waves in a session.......for any rider of any ability in the waves it's a real 'hero' board masking little slip ups and helping you drive your wave sailing forwards with extra confidence!
The Starboard Blackbox (also reviewed on the APP) is the only real alternative in the 87 litre only size for now with quite a different feel and style - if you can, get to the beach and try these boards, YOU WILL BE SURPRISED!
