Beginners to wingsurfing in particular are often reluctant to buy a pure wingfoil board. In view of the retail prices and the question of whether the fun of the new sport will last, this attitude is more than understandable. With the IFoil Crossover model, manufacturer STX now wants to launch an affordable multiboard (€799) that is suitable for various sports.
With a length of 7'8 (233 centimetres) and a volume of 170 litres, the board should offer enough buoyancy for people with no previous water sports experience to make their first wingsurfing attempts. The STX IFoil Crossover is not only designed for use with a foil, but also for wingsurfing in light winds. To make this practicable, boxes for small centre fins have been installed in the underwater hull, which should reduce lateral drift to a minimum.
The aforementioned fins should also benefit the suitability as a children's windsurfing board, because even when fitted with a sail, the lateral drift in light winds is kept to a minimum. A thread for the mast base plate has been installed in the deck for mounting the sail. Due to its compact length - from a windsurfing point of view - the board should, in our experience, be easy to turn even with small sails under 3 square metres.
Based on the features and board dimensions, the STX IFoil Crossover, which weighs just 6.3 kilos, could be well suited as a children's windsurfing board, as well as a light wing board for wingsurfing and as an entry-level board for wingfoiling. However, we would put a big question mark behind the proclaimed suitability as a SUP, because with a length of just over 2.30 metres, good directional stability is likely to remain wishful thinking. However, as a SUP for kids or a bathing island for the summer, you should be able to have a lot of fun with the board.
If a test model is available this season, we will present the STX IFoil Crossover to you again in a short driving report on the website.
More information until then HERE on the manufacturer's website. If you are looking for other boards with multiple uses, you will find HERE a large test with several models for waving, windsurf foiling and SUPing.
Manuel Vogel
Editor surf
