Quatro Cube 87/106 2020

Hi all, thought I would share my opinions on my new wave boards, the Quatro Cube 87 and 106. I have previously reviewed the 2017 105 cube , 2019 supermini and the 2019 Pyramid 96. The one board I never mentioned was my 2017 85 cube. To be honest the 85 had become my favourite all time wave board, although it did have some minor faults if I am to be truly honest. It could be a bit bouncy in chop making it harder to carry speed and like a lot of older quad boards was a little sticky at getting planing. However, the 2017 Quatro quads were such great all round wave boards these were faults that were easy to live with . I changed my 105 to the second incarnation of the super mini as the earlier planing and extra speed were very desirable as most of the time I sailed it in onshore conditions and needed the extra drive a tri' fin setup provides. I've never had a chance to sail the 2018/19 quads so when the opportunity arose to have a rip on the 2020 106 I jumped at it. The first thing I noticed was the extra speed, earlier planing and ability to carry speed through chop and lulls better. So when my local supplier called me during the lockdown and asked if I was interested in selling my 85 as he had a buyer I decided to get both the 87 and demo 106 as a sort of lockdown blues buster. As luck would have it, our lockdown ended on a Wednesday, the day I picked up both boards. A storm passed that weekend giving me a chance to sail the 87 in both on and cross shore conditions. Like the 106 the 87 is faster, earlier planing and generally nicer to sail. This translates to a fairly potent combination for both jumping and wave riding. Straight off I feel I'm getting more air on my jumps due to the extra speed and control launching in shore break. When it comes to wave riding the Quatro Quads do not disappoint, their performance in both cross off and onshore only limited by my ability. Loads of grip at speed on the bottom turn and radical enough off the lip to satisfy most wave heads. Another benefit is my percentage of planing gibes is definitely higher a consequence of the board's ability to carry more speed in rougher conditions. I'm tempted to order the 98l version to keep at Cabezo as one board for all conditions, as I weigh around 86 kg I reckon the 98 should cover me from 4.2 to 5.7. I generally feel that with the modern quads around 10 litres over body weight is a good guide for one board for all conditions. Obviously the conditions, ability of the rider, rail shape and board width will affect this rough guide so please don't make a decision based solely on this. Overall I am so far pretty stoked with the new Cubes. Quatro have made the board a nice progression from the 2017 version and retained the wave DNA that their following expect in their boards. I don't want to wax on too much, but the new Cube is like the 2017 version on steroids. Hope you find my thoughts useful if you're interested in a new board. See you on the water, cheers Rob

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philn said..
Hi Rob, great to hear feedback on the new Cubes. I have the 2019 Supermini Thruster 103 L. What will I give up in onshore conditions to gain in cross shore conditions by switching to the Cube 106 L? I mostly sail cross onshore, with occasional onshore, occasional cross shore and once in a blue moon (less than once a year) cross off.

Hi Philin, it's a tough call to recommend changing your Super Mini , I know how good it is in all conditions and just how much fun it is. If you had the older Mini I would definitely say to go for it. There is no doubt the new Cube will be better than the Mini in cross off conditions, plus Quatro have addressed issues like early planing , speed and sailing over chop which was a on going problem with older Cubes ,and indeed with most Brands Quad wave boards . I believe that it is this success which has led to Quatro dropping the Mini from their range. As you rarely get a chance to sail cross off you might benefit from trying different fins, I was running my 103 SuperMini on a 22cm K4 centre fin and 10 cm thrusters. The supplied MFC 21 and 10s also worked great, although it might be worth a go with a 21 scorcher and 9cm thrusters , for a 4.5-5.3 sail, bringing the centre fin well forward and widening the foot straps spread a bit should help the board turn a bit sicker in cross off. I tended to keep mast track fairly central , however it would definitely be worth playing about with it to get the sweet spot for cross off. cheers Rob

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ursblank said..
Hi Rob,
Thanks for the interesting review of the new Cubes! Have you ever sailed the 2014 Goya Custom Quads? If so, how do the new Cubes compare to them? I really like my old Goya quad because of its great allround behaviour which is why I still own it. But it's getting old...
Thanks, Philipp

Hi urs, I have not tried the new Goya 4's although I had a rip recently on the Custom 3 in Cabezo on a biggish windy day. When I returned it to its owner, a real Goya fanatic we spoke at length about the new Custom 4 versus the older versions. He is of the opinion that the Yellow version was his favourite until now. It is widely accepted that the last Goya Quad, the green and black one felt small due to its narrow width, a lot of sailors were put off a bit because of this, despite the fact that in the waves it was a awesome performer. The upshot of this is , however , that Goya pulled out all the stops to make the Custom 4 the best Quad Goya have ever produced. This guy is a really top sailor and he cannot speak highly enough of them . I know if he were to answer your inquiry he would defiantly say to go for it. I don't want to mention his name but he is a guy who's opinion I really respect . Personally I feel that both Goya and Quatro plus a lot of other brands have (finally) got to grips with the multi fin concept and have been shaping the hulls a lot better over the last 5 years or so. Prior to this it seemed that a lot of boards were basically single fin hulls with extra fins stuck in. It stands to reason that Quads and Tri-fin boards should improve every few years (with the odd exception). If your budget stretches for the new 4 then go for it.
Cheers Rob

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Nerdburger said..
My Quatro 98L quad turned up today, put it with an 5.8 Ezzy wave. Great looking board, wind was super gusty SW, 10/25 knots at Flat Top, woopi, NSW, so not ideal. I look forward to more sessions to get it dialed. Hopefully tomorrow when this southerly front settles in !!??

Niiice!!!! Look forward to hearing more about it after u have had a few sessions on it

Robo,


Mate I've only have 3 sessions on it so far in rubbish conditions, with work and a lack of decent wind of late. The two sessions I've have been gusty cross off, 12/25 knots and small swell and one cross on 15/18 knots. I used it with 5.5 & 5.8 ezzy waves. I'm 88/90 kgs, And an intermediate wave sailor.
Its fast, turns well, I like it, but haven't had enough variable conditions or a decent Waves yet to sail, really to get a proper feel for it. Hopefully the next 2 weeks heaps of sailing for me.
Ive got JP ultimate waves 94 and 102 L and the Quatro 98, could really be a one board option for me for 95% of my requirements wave sailing the Aussie east coast. I'll need a 90/94 litre wave board for the nuking east coast days and WA trips when sailing 4.5/5.0 weather I think. But I think the 98 cube from 5.0/5.5/5.8 sails to be ideal.I'd think 87/98 would cover all your requirements, 106 L must be huge for you weight, just my 2 cents ??

Robo,


Ive had Great session in side shore and onshore, with 5.0/5.5/5.8 sail. Board planes early, handles chop well, jumps well, feels great on a wave, looks killer. Big fan. One board quiver for me if needed from 4.7-5.5 m, for our conditions. I haven't had it in serious dtl, but I believe it's more of an all rounder and than a dedicated dtl shredder, eg the Quatro pyramid.

Robo, Im sorry my smallest sail is 4.7, and at 90 kgs, I can wave sail 25/30 knots. In the future I'll buy an Ezzy wave 4.5, to add to the quiver.
Bring my sails from 4.5 /5.0 / 5.5 Most used (5.8 if super light or blasting conditions), for my 98L.
If you could sail your super mini 103 down to 4.2, I'm sure the 98 cube could easily do it, again I believe it's less corky and thinner rails in the tail, and less volume etc.
Probably not ideal, but doable for a one board size, for your requirements and as a bonus, feels and sails like the rest of your quiver.

Should be a good experiment. Previous iterations of the Cube worked well as twinzers.

Philn is right. I use my 2017 95L Cube mostly as twin with 17.5cm Black project fins and it sails amazing.

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stonny said..

Rob0104 said..
I've just had 3 days cross off at Magheroraty, 2 on the 106 5.0 and 1 on the 87 4.2. On the 106 I had K4 16cm scorcher centre fins and 8cm shark sides. I am pleased to report that they preformed extremely well, fast, early planing and great on the wave. In fact I'm so impressed with the setup I've ordered 15 centres for the 87. For onshore I'm going to try 17cm scorchers and run the board as a twinser . If this works well I can also use the 16's on the 87 cube as a twinser in onshore conditions.
If the 106 cube needs a bit more zip on light wind days I'll swap the 8cm sides for 9cm , this should be enough extra lift for marginal 5.7 days. Watch this space as I'm extremely curious as to how my cubes will preform as twinsers.
cheers Rob

Hi Robo. Just wondering, what was wrong with the stock MFC fins that come with the board ? I have the previous model Cube in the 86L and I find it goes like a dream with the stock fins with sails from 5.3 down to 4.2.
I've heard good things about the K4 scorchers so I would love to know how they perform compaired to the stock fins. Cheers.

Hi Stonny, I never really had a problem with the stock MFC fins supplied with the boards. Although usually when putting a big sail like a 5.7 on my 106 or old 105 slightly bigger thruster fins than the supplied ones helped. However, they are a older design , and interestingly I noticed some sponsored sailors were switching to the MFC K300 quad setup instead of the supplied stock MFC's. In a visual and handling comparison with the K300's and K4 scorchers appear to be very similar to each other. On the water they both sail extremely well, fast, early to release , good grip and turn well. I would say both out preform the stock fins , by how much is hard to say. The main advantage with the K4's is the price, if you grind out any MFC fins on a rocky shore or hit something in the water (happens most people from time to time) replacing them is not cheap , and you probably could buy 3 K4 sets for 1 MFC set. Anyone I know who has switched to either the K300's or a K4 setup generally don't go back to the stock fins.
On another note, I've been sailing my 106 as a twinser in onshore conditions a lot recently. I have to say I really like how the board handles. A bit quicker off the beach and has a slippery feel which is a lot of fun in messier conditions.
I will get around to trying the 87 as a twinser but every time I sailed it the conditions were seriously nuking and I felt I needed the thrusters for a bit extra control.

Hi all,
just found this interesting thread while I could not found the answer of the question of what I should buy as a big 2020/2021 lightwindboard for sideon - sideoff (French atlantic coast and Caboverde west coast/75Kgs for 8-12knots wavehigh 2-5m). My favourites are the Quatro Cube Pro 106 and the Goya Custom Quad 104. The 106 Cube is a little bit shorter, which would be better for my Quiverbag - the goya 104 looks nicer to me and I could get it for a cheep price. But those features are quite irrelevant on water...
More important are the characteristics on the wave. Does anybody knows the differences of this two boards - especially in this big sizes?
Would be very gratefull for some input from you.
Thanks a lot & greetz from germany,
Marcus

Hi Marcus,

I can give you some indirect feedback on the Goya 104 based on the 2015 model. I've been using this as my light wind board for the last 5 years or so and it works really well. I'm a fair bit heavier than you at 94-96 kg and I'm typically using it in 12-20 knot conditions, depending on gustiness. I've sailed it in large swell (1.5 -2 x mast) plenty of times over the years and it can definitely handle that, so no problems on that front. I see that Goya have made the 2020 model both wider and longer, so I guess that it will be even more of a float and ride option.

Yr Vol Length Width Tail Depth
2015 104 229.3 62.2 39.2 13
2020 104 232.2 63.1 41

Anyone else got any feedback re current and older models? 2018 seems to be a bit different, The 2018 104 looks more like the 2015 94!

Cheers, Jens

Hi Rob, Do you reckon that the Goya might have the edge in cross off down the line, while the Quatro will turn more powerfully and hang in longer in onshore conditions, or are they more or less the same? Cheers Jens