McConks is all change fo this season! We’ve known we were going to be totally revising our inflatable range in 2024 for a couple of years now, so they’ve been a long time in the making. And we’ve been taking feedback about possible improvements from our coaches, guides and instructors for the last couple of years. Our boards have been used in some of the harshest environments, on unsupported multi day trips in Scandinavia and Scotland for example; perfect environments to test boards to the limit of their ability.
We’ve used that feedback to design what we think is the best specified multi day touring board on the market – The Go Explore Grande Tourer or GT.
This marque will be available in three lengths – 11’4, 12’8 and 14′.
The GT is designed for maximum stability and rigidity during tough multi day expeditions. With a V-nose hull and nose runner, and a rocker and waterline designed to keep you and you gear stable in the toughest of environments, this board has the volume and shape to keep you and your gear safe whatever the weather throws at you.
In those marginal conditions when wind and swell are conspiring against you, you need your board to be as stiff as possible to keep you and your gear safe and stable. But when you’re unsupported, and on a multi day exped., you need it to be light and strong for portages and recovery. The only technology that meets these requirements is Machine woven X weave fusion technology, especially with a 27PSI pressure guarantee.
We first tested V-nose technology in 2019 on our race inflatable boards, but this is the first time we’re using the technology on our touring boards. By cutting a small v-section in the drop stitch fabric, we can create a displacement V-nose on the hull that cuts through swell and chop much more efficiently than a planing nose. This improves straight line speed, effort and tracking.
We’ve been using tail release edges on our windsurfing, surfing and race iSUPs since 2018. 2024 is the year that we bring the technology to our touring boards, making them faster and more efficient.
We still don’t know why we’re unique in offering a 2+1 fin box arrangement with our inflatable touring boards. It definitely offers the most flexibility in a range of conditions.
The centre fin has been upgraded to a a genuine AIR7 V5 box – a split box that makes rolling or folding the board much easier, but still allows fins that only fit full length US box fins.
Our side fin boxes are parallel to the centre box – so designed very specifically not to increase drag. And they allow you to use two 7″ side fins rather than the centre fin if you wish – meaning the board will sit horizontal when placed on the ground loaded with gear – preventing your stashed gear rolling off.
The side fin boxes also allow you to use shallower fins (1″ and 2 available as an additional purchase) along with a shallower centre fin (3″ or 5″ available as an additional purchase), increasing tracking when paddling shallow waters.
With 8 D-rings on the nose, connected by a removable strong bungee, you’ve got plenty of space to store gear. The PVC under the bungees is special grippy PVC that will stop your gear moving around in those toughest rough water conditions or when you’re portaging. It also comes with a 6 d-ring bungee storage area behind you, and with multiple additional d-rings integrated with handles. So no matter how much gear you need to carry, you’ve got options! It goes without saying that our d-rings are triple adhered and every single one rated for 50kg of load. And any metal components are marine grade stainless steel, so can deal with any environment.
When it’s been a tough paddle and you’re exhausted, sometimes you need extra help. And just sometimes, having that extra handle in the right place can feel like an extra person helping you. Every extra handle adds weight of course, but we’ve kept the weight down by using webbing only for our additional handles. The centre, nose and tail handles are wrapped with neoprene for comfort, but the additional functional handles are just webbing.
Like our d-rings, the handles are triple layer, and every single one is rated for 75kg of weight, so no risk of ripping the handles off during carries.
We’ve also included a comfortable shoulder carry strap with every GT.
The GT is equipped with two M8 mounts, one at the nose of the board, and one forward of the standing area. These allow for multiple accessories to be attached – such as an action cam on the nose, and a drinks holder, for example closer to the standing area. These are compatible with the Ram Mounts accessories range like our existing touring boards. But we’re also providing two different converters so you can convert easily to eg. a standard tripod insert. The best of all worlds!
Oh, and did we tell you, our GT is compatible with our new deck cover and deck bag? More info on that soon, but here’s a sneak peak:
All of our GT boards will be 6″ thick and 32″ wide.
If you want a thinner or narrower board, you’ll need to wait for further details of our Tourer and Sports Tourer range.
If you’ve got any questions, post a question on our McConks community page where we’ll happily share further details.
We’re also relaunching our Go Wild (whitewater) and Go Anywhere (all-round) range very, very soon. Keep watching for more details.
And yes, they will all be available for preorder at a discount, ready for delivery before the Easter 2024 holidays.
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