Radar 2017 Season Preview

Radar year in and year out has proven itself an ever growing force within the waterski industry, now seeing itself at the top of the consumer podium neck and neck with HO, while the rest sit behind and watch these 2 heavyweights go head to head. Last year we saw a rejig of the Vapor ski, to a ski that kept it's speed, but increased it's ability to pivot off it's apex quicker, cutting time from buoy to buoy. We also saw Radar release it's competitor to HO's Freeride, and it was a genuine breath of fresh air, with what was a dismantling of how a Freestyle ski acts and built to accomodate beginner and free-skiers alike, with larger late spots, while an alternating sidecut or BentVee as they call it allowed for consistent and effortless cuts at slower speeds. So after changes on the top end and bottom end, where to from here? Well as much as the Katana and the Butter Knife were a big change at the bottom end, there are always teething problems when a whole new shape comes through, so minor changes may be seen here, though nothing drastic. Though we should definitely expect a change in the mid tier, completing the top to bottom transformation of Radar's range. Does this mean that the 8 year reign of the Senate and the Lyric comes to an end? Of course not, the name has become synonymous with the Radar brand and i fully expect it to stay, though with Radar's advancements in technology, i expect changes to not only reduce weight in the ski but also allow for more freedom through the cut and a cleaner turn. While this ski will take the Senate to the next evolution i don't expect all 3 constructions to continue, while the Alloy and Graphite have always been hits, the Lithium may have seen it's day. With 2 years on the shelves the price for the ski leaves a lot of people deciding that it's easier to step up to a Vapor of a cheater construction. So that's what i expect to happen from the ski's currently in the range, though i wouldn't put it past Radar to add a completely new ski into the range just as HO have both the CX and TX, I imagine that with an update to the Senate we would also see a ski fall into that 30-32 mph mark in a completely new shape. Radar do things differently though, so don't expect simply a wider bodied Senate, but more of a tailored ski most likely building further on the new Bent Vee Technology that exists in the Katana and Butterknife. For the boots, this is one thing that Radar constantly excel in against the rest of the market. With the likes of fully lasted closed toe boots, that also feature the highest quality heat mouldable liners, intuition liners, they show no reason to need to change close to anything on this front, bar minor teething adjustment to the Hybrid Rear Toe plate. Possibly slimming the footprint and developing 2 sizes, as the one size fits all design left a lot to be desired if your foot was any bigger than an US11. Well that's all we can guess from here on and until we are given further information at Surf Expo in Orlando in September, we can now play the waiting game.