Howdy All,

A quick heads up to all the quad enthusiasts out there, the new Jimmy KWAD series will be out shortly - late October.

Two sizes -

9'1" X 30" X 4 1/4"

8'7" X 29" X 3 7/8"

The bottom is flat to vee in the back.

Front fins are 5 3/8" and back ones are 4 3/4".

Here's a few pics.

And litres too please

Hey Courts,

Thanks for the extra dimensions. Do you have any more info, like what conditions they are going to be best for, who has influenced the design (team riders?) etc. We don't seem to get a lot of info on the JL brand over here on the East coast.
From the photos the rocker looks pretty flat (especially compared to the Mano), the tail is "different" and it seems like a lot of fin. I'm a big fan of the Mano so I trust JL's judgement but I'm interested to know where these boards fit into the range and more importantly, if that 8'7 will fit into my quiver

Hi Thomo and Rod,

Thanks for the questions.

Those two proto quads have been ridden in a variety of waves (reefs and beachies) up to about head high - head high and a half.
EVERYONE who tried them out on Maui loved them. They all said that they were really loose.
They haven't been tested in any decent sized waves because they haven't had any for a while but JL reckons there's no reason to think that they wouldn't ride some nice waves well.

The rocker is very similar to the Mano boards but without the nose kick. They have a real nice tail rocker.

The Kwad was a design JL wanted to try - when R & D was going on for the Mano's we threw around making them available with a thruster AND quad option but realised that one would always be compromised.
Post Mano design completion JL still wanted to make a quad. A number of us who work with JL on boards were sceptical of quads from experiences with quad surfboards and towboards - where they had tended to like down the line lateral surfing and sometimes felt like the were 'on tracks' or hard to break out of a line at speed.
In hindsight, I personally was probably exposed to poor quad examples as I have since ridden some excellent surfboards set up as quads that a free and loose.

All feedback has them as being VERY stable too while paddling.

Tail is a simple swallow, great for the quad set up and no complaints during testing of the board being over finned either.

JL sees them as the 'go to board' for waves up to head high and a half, for riders who like performance based SUPing - a loose back third of the board yet stable to paddle around on and a nice entry rocker for early roll ins to waves.

They go for $1999.00

Hope this helps

Courts

No worries Hilly, whenever you're back on deck - hopefully sooner than later!

You're going to be frothing like a grommet by December

I agree Thomo, the Goldy would be perfect for them.

Yes please I also would like a nice comparative report with the Mano...
Sizes compare to each other, easy of paddling etc..
If possible throw in also the Striker!
Bye Jankie

after seeing the colours of the new kwads I hope they look better in real life ,! great looking board but !!!!!! omg really ????????? these throw back 80's colours, MAN!!! for 2 G's dunno the new striker looks better value sorry jimmy if we still had red thumbs you would be sin binned ,any way just my 2 cents

Purple and Magenta are pretty terrible but Ice Blue seems nice!
I will let you know as I ordered them in that color..
Bye Jankie

Sic shots Courts thankx

See you late Dec for a demo

Think I might be a 9 1 type of build

Greg said I can ease back into waves

Hey Courts, I heard that there is no stock till mid Jan is that true ??

Hi Courts,

thanks a lot 4 your feedback :)

b. regards

Tortise,

The alternate Oz colours are the standard Jimmy Lewis red, ice blue, yellow,white and green.
The red, blue and green come with white pinlines in the nose and the yellow and white come with black pinlines in the nose.

Pic below to give you a better idea of this.

Jimmy does two paddles - a Kanaha and a Peahi. They are Jim Terrell/Quickblade paddle designs - Jimmy helped Jim out and in return Jim let Jimmy use his Kanaha and Peahi shapes for his paddle range.

The Kanaha blade is 9" wide x 18" long (110 sq in.) and the Peahi is 9" wide x 20" long (125 sq in.).





The Peahi looks long and slim but is actually a much bigger paddle than the Kanaha. Maybe that what you are calling the 'Slim Jim' as Jimmy doesn't have a paddle called that.

tortise said...

sweet when you get a chance mate , i would be stoked if you could take a few photos of the new colours and post them also do you have the new black style jimmy paddles i think it's called the slim jim i'm stoked with carbon but my shoulders are crying out for fibre glass !!!!!! so if you could post a few stats on those bad boys I would pretty jazzed

I think the paddle your talking about is the new quick blade.. It's called the slim jim.. It's a bit smaller the the QB slim line..

Belly

Hi,

My kwad 8'7 arrived just in time for the holiday.
For a intermediate 6'1 185lbs (add wetsuit, paddle, winter booties, sometimes helmet...), the float-ability is on the edge.

First impression in the water: Small and missing volume (I was used to 130lts, now 110lts). "I've made a mistake." It was a choppy tough day.
As I got myself familiar with the toy, I came to find it friendly. (Someone more heavy, in my point of view might consider the 9'1).

It was my first time in a quad set:
- when you row, it goes quite straight ahead and fast for it's size.
- It's looose down the line, very fast.
- You can glue to the wave wall.
- When you're waiting, facing a wave, and want to turn to catch the next one, it's a little more stuck.
- Since the volume is not that big, you go for a late drop, but due to the it's speed and nice rocker, you don't pearl.

I'm still unveiling it's features but in short I'd say: Uauuuu!

Happy new year to ALL :)

I also stop to use Carbon paddles and only use fiber paddle.
They do bend but you get use to it very fast and they are so much better for my shoulder..
I do paddle almost every day when is busy and after 2 days in a row with the Carbon my shoulder were so painful. Now is OK.
Bye Jankie

PS. in over 2 years I haven't broken a JL paddle at my school for teaching or from renting them..

Really impressed with the 9 1, at 105kg easy to paddle great glide but surfs a treat.

Well worth a demo

Ordered a red one