Peter Thommen, Bjorn Dunkerbeck’s board designer, has introduced a new
range of slalom boards. In the past Thommen designed boards that ruled the
speed, slalom and race courses so the new RS range is bound to create
interest. Peter Thommen takes up the story.
“While designing the new RS range we wanted our boards to deliver top
performance and control around the course – on all points of sailing. Just going
for flat out down wind speed doesn’t cut it in competition – and it doesn’t do for
everyday sailing, too. Conditions vary and you want to feel confident in your
board’s ability to handle whatever gets thrown at you.”
“The RS59 is a fine example: it gets up to plane real quick, handles a very wide
range of sail sizes and delivers performance on all courses.”
“I designed a new outline: fairly short and compact without going to extremes
that would impair the versatility. It features a moderate tail width that delivers
plenty of power and thrust but doesn’t overpower the sailor in sudden guests or
rough conditions. Also I slightly modified the rocker line: by lowering the nose
and some minor changes in the aft section and so we reached our goal of
creating a board that would sit steady and low while remaining nimble and
reactive under one’s feet.
The bottom shape takes over the concept of single to double concave with
stabilizing lateral bevels that also help to smooth the transitions while going into
manoeuvres due to the slight increase in Vee-angle that develop towards the
front section. In order to increase the range of use and the versatility of the
design we do not use cut-outs in the very tail on the smaller boards of the
range. The RS59 is aimed at every day’s slalom sailing and racing in a wide
range of conditions for regular to heavy sailors (lightweights may want to check
out its smaller sister, the RS54).”
