Boardseekermag Forums :: BOARDSEEKER MAGAZINE

gary boates Wrote:
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> I have owned the JP Twinser ProWave 84 since Sept.
> 21st/08, and with 24 years of annual six week
> vacation wave sailing on Maui behind me,  I feel I
> am qualified to pay comment on your findings.
> First let me say that overall your testers did a
> very fine job testing! As well, it was good to
> have a single fin as a baseline. And finally, the
> duration of the test gave it great credibility. I
> have just returned to Canada from over two months
> on Maui, having ridden the exact JP 84 Pro Wave
> you have tested every windy day while there, I can
> say the JP is indeed a very early planing board
> for my 85kg. weight! This early planing ability
> turned into real speed, not only when compared to
> other twinsers but when up against all  boards
> encountered while on my reaches upwind and down,
> to and from, the reef. Your overview comments are
> spot on with just a small missing comment relating
> to the board's capabilities to go straight
> downwind while on the waveface. As you know, off
> the wind angles are used in big wave sailing to
> position oneself as the wave jacks up, and with
> Uppers reef, during the reach to the beach. The
> board was totally immune to negative fin
> behaviours and thus was just a dream to 'max
> out'on a broad reach. 
> 
> It was so fast and rangy sailing on an extreme
> broad reach that on one particular powered 5.0
> day, the board testers for a North American
> magazine were cheering and shouting as I flew up
> to the sand. In retrospect this was one of the
> most positive and fun attributes of the JP
> Twinser. This was perhaps overlooked perhaps due
> to your venue, or perhaps your editor! The second
> 'extra' surprise was the absolute stability of the
> downwind nature of the JP. It was of great benefit
> in this regard as one must go virtually dead
> downwind while on the lip, getting as quickly as
> one can to the best spot on the long waves of the
> Northshore Maui before beginning to bottom turn.
> This attribute gave me extended capabilities to
> adjust my position relative to the appearance of
> the wave as it jacked up, reshaped and changed its
> speed (deeper out on the reef the waves are
> faster). I was very pleased to find the 84 Pro
> Wave was my 'one board' Maui solution so much so
> that it even fit into the back of my Mazda 3
> rental with fins in! 
> 
> To my reckless and trashy style of sailing
> (expert's comments) and under my weight, the stock
> fins never felt overpowered and the board itself 
> did so only on those few days with 35 - 40 knots
> of wind at Uppers reef Kanaha (Maui)while I was on
> the superb new Goya 4.5 sail. 
> 
> I did not see mentioned a few observations I made
> in the company of some of windsurfing's greats.
> Leading edge at base of fin to tip of tail was
> exactly 33cm. (13 inches) on all boards that I was
> able to measure - custom 79? litre Quatro, 09
> production Quatro 81, custom Mistrals and custom
> Tabou. My board, the JP84 ProWave, had 3cm more
> tailkick then the '09 Quatro 81. And it had a
> whopping 36 cm of dead flat under the rider where
> the Quatro had a continuous centreline rocker
> throughout. In my nontechnical opinion I believe
> that the JP's shaper used this flat for early
> planing and the increased tailkick for off the top
> abilities. Finally I will mention a small negative
> perception that in over two months of sailing
> bother me just once. In mast and a half high surf,
> and after three days of this wave size resulting
> in a wicked current, the drop felt squirrly due to
> this current on the 3m. waveface itself. I could
> not get the board to 'lock in' and thus did not
> risk a visit to the lip that particular day. So
> coming from the 2008 JP 79 Pro Wave shaped by
> Richard Greene I was concerned that I may not be
> on the best suited board for Maui conditions - I
> quickly learned to use the rail more in the
> bottomturns and all my fears vanished into huge
> smiles! Thanks again for a very valid test!