Thommen's concept is to keep things simple - the X range of just 8 boards covers all aspects/windspeeds of what real windsurfing is all about. They pledge to not update the range every year, only when the shapes are genuinely improved, and this board is marketed as able to adapt to all conditions that a 4.06.5 can offer.
ON FLAT WATER
The Thommen is quite a flat and thin shape, and feels like a smooth, comfortable cruiser rather than an out and out blaster. It is both quick to plane and has a good top speed when really wound up, but it's also happy to settle a little and cruise along, making it a really nice and easy ride, smooth rather than demanding in nature. It gybes well, capable of coming out with speed around a long arc yet you can also crank it round tightly too - it's certainly an easy board to gybe. It jumps very nicely; particularly floaty jumps where it hangs in the air with great balance. It's also a surprisingly good freestyler; although one of the longest boards in the test it's still pretty good in the aerial department and the thin rails bite well through carving freestyle.
IN WAVES
It feels a bit stiff on a waveface, but if you give it the effort it can certainly be made to waveride, gripping well in the bottom turn and delivering a slidey style off the top.
FITTINGS
We liked the straps and the 22cm fin was of good quality, but we thought it fared better when we fitted a larger (26cm+) one, particularly when used with bigger sails.
POPULARITY
While it didn't make the top of anyone's list, it fared averagely well with both test team and guest testers.
OVERALL
It definitely feels like it's trying to be a board that can do everything, for someone who's too busy to either have a whole rack of boards or isn't really into any one specific aspect of the sport. And overall, it actually achieves this pretty well, although rather than being a true multi discipline board (an extraordinarily difficult design challenge!), its essence is more of a comfortable and capable freeride with allround pretensions and a very wide wind range. A solid bet for anyone who doesn't have wave performance too high on the agenda.
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