AK Durable Supply Co. Phazer 5’4 2021
Reviews / All Round Foil
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At A Glance
The AK Phazer is one of those boards that a couple of years ago you wouldn’t even be able to imagine existing. Fast forward to 2021, and it’s a reality! From a wing perspective, the high volume shortboard design is brilliant. The AK Phazer is also a prone foiling board, kiteboard and pump foil board, depending on the size you go for. In my opinion, they have achieved what they set out to do with this statement:
“The AK Phazer Foilboard is a showcase of our obsession with versatility. We set out to create a single board range that caters to foilers who want to explore as many aspects of foil riding as possible in a single product.”
I got the 5’4 on test; at 65L, it’s right in the middle of the range. On the smaller side for winging and the bigger side for prone foiling. Their website details all of the various sizes and their uses, but it goes all the way from 3’11” and 25L to 6’0 and 110L.
Upon opening, it was immediately apparent that this is a stunning piece of kit. Professionally finished, and I love the blue. It features footstep inserts and a carry handle, which is becoming the standard, particularly for wing boards.
There is a flattish rocker designed to allow faster paddling and takeoffs up to the foil. The concave deck brings your feet closer to the foil itself, giving more control. I also like the kick tail reducing the chance of touchdowns when pumping.
On The Water
I took the AK Phazer 5’4 out winging on several occasions. I chose the 65L version as it is similar in litres to my weight which is 70kg. This meant that it wasn’t a ‘sinker’, but I did expect it to be wobbly. What I found was a surprisingly stable board; this could be due to the higher volume rails compared to the lower volume concave deck.
Size and shape wise I really feel AK Durable Supply Co. have hit the nail on the head. This board was awesome to wing on. I found it was short enough to boost airs and attempt spins but sufficiently buoyant to keep me above the water in lulls or recover if I was about to stack it. It genuinely made me start to question the need for super low volume boards when this was so much fun! To this day, I’m still unsure on that one…time will tell.
Walking down the beach using the handle was really useful and well placed. If you haven’t used a board with a correctly placed handle, you’ll find you look much less of a kook when carrying foilboard and wing at the same time. The footstrap inserts were also well established, with several forward and aft inserts to choose from to make fine adjustments to your foiling.
The board offers incredible versatility, I’ve been winging and surf foiling on it and really enjoyed the ride every time; the more “traditional” nose shape makes paddling for waves feel familiar. On the wing, it makes the board feel smaller than it actually is compared to some of the more boxy designs out there.
Overall
The AK Phazer was an absolute pleasure to ride. It’s clear that it has been incredibly well tested and developed. That’s no surprise when you see the professional riders working on their team, Zane Schweitzer and Alex Pastor, to name a few. If you choose the size correctly, this board can reach several of your foil riding sports, which is a real bonus.
This review was in Issue 8 of Tonic Mag.
For more information visit AK Durable Supply Co.Related
By Jack Galloway
