had my first paddle on this board this arvo. trained on a borrowed ace 14 this morning.

what i expected- could be tippy and i wont like the fin.

what i got- a lot more stable then the ace 14' even at only 12'6 long. this board is pretty fast. time trailed my usual. equal to any other board there abouts and probably the fastest 12'6 for me- well the ones i can stay on and paddle. handled chop very nicely paddling back into the wind.

i liked the 2012 race, but always thought what if it was narrower and the nose a bit narrower too. throw in a dropped standing area- not too deep and thin walls to allow for a wider stance if you desire= all star 12'6 x 25".

another way to look at this board is a combo race and ace = 25' all star.

a narrower nose then both these boards but the semi canoe deck high volume nose smells of ace while the last half seems like a race cut and paste job.

i really like that race and all star 25" rounded nose into flat pretty quick with tucked edged bottom rails.

i'll try to get into some surf soon on it.


and lastly- the fin. stuck it in the centre and paddled off with the phillips head screwdriver in my boardies convinced i wont like the fin and the position will be wrong.

didn't touch it. but i will see how it goes for me in the surf etc. this years red hexlight type fin seems to have more foil than the white dagger of last year

my impressions at this stage are a very good all round 12'6 as per the race but faster. certainly the board looks amazing.

so with this board and the 14' more refined version2 of alain's dc is making me now looks like happy canoeing here we come. can't wait for that after tasting a little dw ing delight on it the day before it went to nz

turn coat- yep.

seeing as no rules look like being made i'm pretty sure most of us will be on them with in 2 to 3 years




cheers

ps i'm liking them too