Hi Guys,

I took possession of a 14ft Hobie Elite race yesterday and got so excited that I had to paddle it this morning to get a feel for it.

Woke to a very windy and rainy morning but thought Mosman would be a bit sheltered so parked up east of the yacht club and dropped the board in the water with only a surf fin that would fit it (Bummer, fin was missing when I got it). It didn't matter, I was pumped for a good paddle.

Straight away I jumped on and it felt really stable, in fact more than I expected from a 28" board. I paddled east along the shore just getting a feel for the board and trimming it. It didn't take long and I felt comfortable on it. It didn't track quite as straight as I would have expected but I am thinking the surf fin may have had something to so with it.

There was almost no turbulence from the tail of the board when in the right trim and the nose was hypnotic to watch as the water peeled apart and little "plips" or droplets were launched an inch or two directly above the bow due to the shape of the reverse nose shape. After about a km, I turned downwind and just had to have a go. Despite the inevitable paddle back upwind , I gave it heaps and off we went.

About 500m into the DW'er I started looking for chop. I was heading pretty much straight down the river towards Lucky Bay. First runner and I felt too far forward, the nose went under and I panicked a bit and jumped aft to save it. The nose came straight back up with no course deviation, so I crept forward again and inch at a time to see the effect each time I picked up a small runner. Eventually, the right spot to be was just ahead of the handle and the nose and complete foredeck was happy to be up to 3 inches underwater at times and with no loss of speed or stability or any sign of falling off the little runners, I just maintained my position and got some great little rides. The chop was very short period and no bigger in height than about 14inches from trough to crest at most, and yet I was riding these tiny waves and rode far too far downwind as I sought more runners .

Eventually paddled across the wind to come in a couple of hundred metres downwind of the boat ramp round from Point Walter. the cross chop paddling wasn't any more difficult to maintain balance and I managed to get across reasonably quickly to the shore where I turned back into the wind. 20 knots + of Nor Westerly wasn't a lot of fun and I decided to reduce windage for a spell. Paddling on knees I managed to make fairly good ground quickly and got back on my feet when I got to the jetty at Point Walter. I paddled past the spit, then again turned West towards Bicton and rode a few more runners until I could paddle in the lee of the Northern headland across from Bicton. I hugged the waters edge along the river until I got back to the boat club just loving the quiet and focused on my stroke.

Overall, really impressed and felt the board a lot more "loose" that I had thought it might be, perfect for surfing small waves I reckon and will put that theory to the test in due course.

Bummer no one else was out and about for a paddle, I had no one to woohoo with, so I just did it on my own. Must have looked like a goose. 6'3" tall dressed all in black, woohooing riding 12 inch waves

I loved it. More please!

DM