2014 Slingshot T Rex

[TomW]

How strange that people are comparing it to Tomo / Vanguard. This board looks more like a regular fish with a cut-off nose, while the Vanguard has a completely different bottom shape (channels etc.): the hull design is key, not the lack of nose.

True.
I have been lucky enough to try both the T-Rex and the Vanguard.
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In short, the Vanguard with is complex bottom shape is just magic... so sharp in the cutback, fast down the wave and so comfortable at the same time in choppy condition... while the T-Rex is fun to ride but more "standard".

Phil
Have Fun & Ride Safe

I looked at Dan Thomsons Tomo boards and understand now that the trex and Vanguard are quite different. Thanks for pointing me in that direction.

[ulx]

i used my 5.4 in various condition know from flat to chop to choppy and clean overhead surf. from 14 to 40 knots. and i am very impressed. such a fun board. turns unbelievably quick, great skatey feeling, easily manageable in all conditions i tried it. and for clean conditions, its nice that you can tame it down a bit by adding more fins. thruster is my favourite though.

it is quite curvy. so it slows down faster than a celeritas or a tyrant. and on the flat it needs a bit more kitepull. on the wave its great, but when you do a bigger bottomturn and go back to the face of the wave you either need the pull of the kite a bit longer or you have to stay closer to the face. which is not really a problem as it turns so fast.

[PinkNorthPride]

With those straight rails and that nice amount of volume, you’re away in a nano second. So no pfaffing and obviously an asset on marginal days. Turning on to a wave (we only rode it in onshore) and you expect it to struggle to find an edge, but no. It’s straight in there. We generally rode it with quad set up and if held a line beautifully, even on steeper head high sections. It really digs in and gives you confidence to put it into sketchier situations. When the T-Rex really comes into its own though is cutting back and in flatter sections.
There is so much float in the tail that it keeps you moving - you just can’t bog it down.. Whereas a standard shortboard can just get stuck when you try and jam it back into the whitewater and bounce of down the line, the T-Rex is game. It’s a lot of fun. Air wise and your probably best off watching the clips than relying on my experience, but it pops up a treat and the wind gets under the board and its wide nose nice and evenly giving a lot of control. And did I miss the nose? Did I catch that significant square chunk up front in the lip at all? Amazingly no, not once.

Verdict
It’s kind of refreshing to have something completely different turn up in an odd shaped box. But even more refreshing to see how beautifully it rides. You don’t have to be an above the lip maestro to feel the love either, it just rips in the onshore. Love it.

Not a bad crit from the UK kitesurf mag, there's more but that's the performance bit the rest they just go on about how it's built and other marketing bollox, that's the relevant bit.

[PinkNorthPride]

And an English Translation from a German Video Test seems to concur