Review: 2019 Severne Dyno 115

NOTE: This board was loaned to me by Revolution Board Sports / Severne in Osborne Park, WA. I am not sponsored by Severne or got any financial endorsements to write this review.
Overview
Severne advertises the Dyno as a Free Wave board that takes design hints from their Nano waveboard line. You can read the advertising copy on their web site so no point repeating it here: https://www.severnesails.com/freeride-sails/severne-dyno





I have tested the 115 Dyno over the last couple of week in conditions ranging from small down the line float and ride wave sailing in Gnaraloo to overpowered bump and jump blasting. The wind ranged from 15 to 30 knts. I used 5.3 and 5.7 sails exclusively.

I normally use a 118 Goya Quad for light wind wave sailing and a 103 Fanatic Tri-Wave (thruster setup) once the wind is consistent enough. I have used a number of free wave boards from other brands over the years. However I find there very few good options in the 110 liter+ range.

Design Features
The board comes with a thruster fin setup (Powerbox style centre fin / SlotBox+ style for side fins) and 4 foot straps. Both the fin screws and foot strap screws use the same size hex key (or allen wrench style) you use to tighten battens on all Severne sails. In my opinion a considerably better choice then the slot head or philips heads styles used by other brands.



The foot straps are very comfortable and easy to get in and out of. The footpads are comfortable and provide solid grip. The deck otherwise has good grip. The front strap can be setup for either wave riding (inside) or free ride (outside). The back foot straps can be either setup as a single middle strap or two outside straps.





The air vent is one of those auto valves you don't need to take out while the board is not being used.



The mast track is relatively short and the centre position is marked with a circle. I found the centre position worked well for both the 5.3 and 5.7. So just set and forget.

Overall the design features clearly show that this is a board that was designed by people that actually use the gear they make themselves.



Bump and Jump sailing
The compact shape of the board means that even when you are not on the plane you can firmly stand behind the mast base. The board needs active input to get on the plane (as most wave oriented boards do). I found that pointing a little downwind and pumping the sail allowed me to easily step in the straps and get going. Once on the plane the board accelerated quickly. The compact outline and relatively high volume tail allows you to stay in the straps even in lulls. The stance is compact and you don't need to place your back foot between the straps to go upwind.

The overall stiffness of the board combined with the wide nose does mean gives you a very direct feeling ride. It also means it's quite hard on your knees in really rough chop.

I didn't feel I really hit the maximum speed potential of the board. This is actually my biggest criticism with the 118 Goya Quad. It's great on waves but when on the plane you definitely get a sense that you quickly hit top speed. Not so with the Dyno. Probably a combination of having the Thruster setup and less rocker.

I would have liked to test the board with a bigger single freeride fin and the straps set in the outboard position.

Wave sailing
The wide nose and high volume tail make getting over white water super easy. The higher volume tail is also great when landing jumps tail first. I found the board floated a little bit quicker and got back on the plane faster. The light weight combined with the compact size make rotational jumps effortless.

Once you get on a wave you quickly forget the high volume of the board. It's very similar to the Goya 118 Quad in that respect. The difference though is that the rocker line is a lot faster. This makes it easier in float and ride conditions to get enough speed on the wave to stay ahead of the whitewater.

The higher volume tail does need a bit more input on cut backs.

The beveled rails on the front of the board mean you never really catch the edge. I find this is often the problem with higher volume boards in waves and I would say this is probably one of my favourite features of this board.









The bevels make jibing even when overpowered a breeze. No matter how hard you push the edge the board just turns and keeps turning.



Fins setup / trim
The 24cm centre fin in combo with the 12 cm thruster is a good allround option. I do think the boards range can be extended by adding a 22 / 11 thruster combo as well as a 27-29 cm free ride centre fin for blasting.

My only criticism would be the choice of the Powerbox for the rear fin. This somewhat limits your options for wave fins. I do wonder if a slotbox would have been better.

Overall the board has a lot of tuning options and I think it would pay to play around with the foot strap position as well as different fin sizes to find what works best for your conditions and riding style.


Conclusion
This board in my opinion stands out from the Free Wave crowd. The compact shape combined with design features that show attention to detail make this a great light wind board for heavier riders that lean a bit more towards waves.

I would say for a 100kg+ the ideal sail sizes are 5.3 to 6.2

I have tested the Goya One 115, Fanatic Freewave 115, Goya Quad 118, JP118. I think the Dyno beats all of them.

You will need to give this board a bit of time to get used to though. It does feel very different to any of those boards or any other board I have ridden for that matter (including Fanatic's Stubbies).

In a nutshell the Dyno is a lot of fun.

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snorkel692 said..
Great review! My only suggestion is that for single fin blasting I'd opt for a bigger centre fin- mid to high 30s and I think that is where the power box comes in handy. Mind you single fin blasting isn't so relevant at Gnaraloo??!

Good point RE the larger fin. To be honest I haven't sailed a board in single fin setup in quite some time. You are probably right in that a 32+ cm centre would be better, especially with a larger free ride sail. My primary interest in the board was for light wind wave sailing and it does that extremely well. The flat water blasting for me would simply be a nice added bonus.

Hey Stehsegler , goya quad 118 - was that 2018 latest shape ? if so , how was dyno better ? ... Tri-fin dyno suited better to lightwinder also - i'm presuming / suspecting your finding tri-fin config a better lightwinder set-up ... , what aspects was goya 118 better ?

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seabreezer said..
Hey Stehsegler , goya quad 118 - was that 2018 latest shape ? if so , how was dyno better ? ... Tri-fin dyno suited better to lightwinder also - i'm presuming / suspecting your finding tri-fin config a better lightwinder set-up ... , what aspects was goya 118 better ?

From what I have been told the Goya Quad has gone through a couple of revisions. I have the 2014 model. The 2016 has a slightly less rocker and the 2017 is different again with less volume and a different outline. Unfortunately I haven't been able to test those two newer models.The Goya is a wave board first and foremost. It does that extremely well. Once you get on a wave it feels more like a 95ish liter board. Because it is a wave board it obviously won't plane as early as a free ride board. Using it with two bigger rear fins allows you to loose the sides and use it as a twin setup. It reduces the drag slightly in lighter winds.
The Dyno 115 in my opinion sacrifices some of the wave aspects in favour of straight line speed and it's planing a touch earlier then the Goya. I think the thruster setup helps reduce drag for light winds.

Any boards in the 110+ liter range from other brands such as a Fanatic, JP etc that I have tested felt more aimed at low wind bump and jump riding rather then waves.

I think the Dyno sits somewhere in between these two board categories. One thing of note is that in choppy conditions the short shape of the Dyno combined with the double concave in the front results in a harder ride. The Goya softens chop a lot better. The Dyno needs a bit more rider input in that respect to avoid sore knees by the end of a sail... but maybe I am just doing it wrong.

I agree I think the power box centre fin allows for the free ride option better than a US box would. I haven't struggled to find useful small-wave/ mush fins for powerbox- currently using the standard fin mostly though as it works really well in the small/ onshore conditions here.

Hello Stehsegler, your hat in the video seems very comfortable for surfing. Is it a special brand?