I always demo my skis before I buy them. This past season spent over a month demo'ing the Helix, then went to Florida and demo'ed an A3. Good god that thing felt sluggish, seemed like I ran about the same # of buoys but it took so much more effort. As soon as I stepped back on the Helix and felt the freedom I knew it was the right stick for me (right now). D3 was a pleasure to deal with on their demo program.