Yeah it’s a lot of work.
The shakedown race tbh doesn’t change much in terms of who is on the pace, here are my odds:
2/1:
EDO TANAS
KAI THOMPSON
3/1:
JARROD SNOW
KANE DE WILDE
4/1:
NICK KAPULE
GUIDO FERRER
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Just to clear up a bit of confusion above. @Chrisrad99 up there is the owner of F4. I would think he could recognize his own foils. 
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Let’s go race by race. Edo has never taken down a paddle Imua. That’s next right?
So I’ll go Kane, provided he can replace the foil that got shattered at the Voyager race ceremony (falling tree branch)
Kai Thompson. Can’t count him out on a long flat pump inside the reef.
Finn Spencer makes the podium.
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Yeah, spot on. Finn has placed really well the past few years and is due for a podium finish. Kane is hard to beat on his backyard Maliko run, with Kai T. right there with him.
I hadn’t heard about this. Where did you see it?
This will be very interesting. He hopped over for the paycheck. Which I do not begrudge him. There is a very small window to make money in a new sport. But do you really think he’ll be able to podium this year on new gear?
Competitor on the ground.
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He has always surprised me, and had a cracking end of season last year, probably not the candidate for an Imua win but I’d give him a chance overall, especially the channel crossings.
F-one surely is not too much of a performance ding? He did well last year on I guess older Code gear against Kai on Axis’ latest and greatest so he must have the talent.
I am postive he was not on “older” Code gear when he was challenging Kai. But yeah he’s one to watch for sure. I’ll have him “hearted” on my dot vision this year.
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Ok yes I am likely misinformed on specifics, but if he was riding the current Code chunky fuse then I think that is not helping against the Axis titanium fuse, which is to his credit.
I would be surprised to see Code feature this season… hot take! I am currently riding Code, great surf foils.
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My money is on Edo.
Or Kai T, Kane , Nick, Trent, Jarrod………
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Code has made it to the always prototyping phase. I have no firsthand knowledge. But rumors and photos have shown new masts for at least 2 years. I’d be amazed if they didn’t have a race fuse at this point.
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I saw CODE’s new mast, new wing, and new tails under a couple of riders in Oahu leading up to the race. It looked much like the fastest stuff - Hammerhead, Tempo, Momentum. But it still had the same mast-foot and super chunky fuselage.
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yeah with that mast foot, you have 2 options for racers:
- Do what Axis did
- Do what Unifoil did
(yeah I know f-one did the opposite, ruins the joke!)
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Word on the street amongst the elite racers is that Axis Tempo is by far the fastest system. But I think we are seeing F4 challenge that with the hammerhead as a late-comer to the party. I wouldn’t be surprised if the major advantage of F4 comes from the fuselage with roughly 1/2 the wetted surface area and from the mast with 2/3rds the wetted surface area. Once the riders have the right wing and tail, that’s the only other place to look. Axis and Code are kind of screwed with their huge mast-foot system and stuck with large fuselages
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Yeah that looks like a slingshot prototype right here 
. Edo Trent and Nick were on f4 set up.
Seems crazy to me that slingshot try to capitalize on their results on social media when everyone know they are riding other foils…
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I assume we all underestimate how small the community on this forum is compared to slingshots brand reach…
This does make we want to spend some money though (with one of the companies involved).
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Yes personally am glad they are letting Edo compete for the win, they acknowledged it was a long shot to get a foil ready so quickly and I think fair to just jump on a fast foil and go for the win
(For anyone interested, it was argued to death last year along unlimited vs production foils, quite cool to see a production foil going to the top!)
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Zeke Lau is the only pro surfer competing, I had hoped to see John and Nathan Florence entered, anyone know why not?
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The best riders have access to the best gear. I’d you’re a top rider you will have access to whatever you want proven by edo this year.
Nathan and Jj aren’t fast enough to cut time out of their schedules yet is my guess. Top ten is a loss for Jj. He needs a podium to leave the Galapagos and his family.