Thanks to Dave Kissane who is demoing one, I got the opportunity to use the new WOW (Walk on Water) 'dug out' 14 footer in the Bondi to Watsons Bay ocean race on Sat.

Being 27 inches wide I was expecting it to be a bit of a handful but the 'dug out' deck made the board incredible easy to balance on. I am not that up on what works for ocean paddling/DW but have been lucky enough to paddle quite a few different boards.

This one is the easiest I have paddled when it comes to picking up the limited runners on offer and the dug out section does not have a ridge so it would be easy to step back in windier conditions.

Most of the DWing we do in Sydney involves paddling past massive headlands with lots of backwash - not to mention cross swells, chop etc; so a bit of stability is a real plus for our conditions. The race on Sat involved about 8km of cliff paddling and the backwash was pretty intense. The WOW handled it very well and the only fall I had was from looking around and losing my balance.

It seemed quite fast heading upwind over the last 3 km and it seemed to keep up with Neelie on the ACE who was in front of me for most of the race until the last few hundred meters.

The board is very light also which seemed to help with getting on to the very limited runners on offer. A couple of the boys on the 17 foot sics reckoned it was impossible to catch anything!

Overall I reckon this is a perfect board for someone who wants a board that can do a bit of everything - flatwater race, DW race, cruise or race your mates DWing on the weekend. Very stable for it's width and with the dugout being flat it would be fine for taking on some pretty hardcore winds as you could get right back if necessary.

I am keen to try the 25 Ace now and see if I can stay upright

Finally - the first downwinder of the series. For this particular course, a southerly is better than a northerly. The SUP course is modified to reduce the distance to about 11km. The final paddle around South Head to Watsons Bay is inner harbour beaches. Probably better to keep your eyes front past some of these secluded spots
The pointscore (best 3 races with 20Bs being double points) is looking interesting at this early stage:
Open - Steve and Sam are in front. Sam is looking to unveil his secret weapon this weekend...hint...it is yellow....
Girls - Neelie leads but can she stay on the Ace in the tricky water along the cliffs.
o40s - Steve Floyd and Stu Murray will be the ones to watch. But look out for Will Anido (and Casso) who I expect will be making their debuts this Saturday.
o50s - Race 1 winner, Goaty, has his sights firmly fixed on the Doctor in January. He will be hard to beat if the wind gets up.
There is a little bit of admin involved in this race - as with any downwinder, so try and buddy up to work it out...