Hi Guys,
I'm lucky enough to have the new carbon 12'6" glide javelin. I have had for a few weeks now and in a few different conditions so I thought I'd share my thoughts based on my experiences.
I'm 165cm and 75kg, come from a windsurfing and kayaking background. I previously used to paddle a 12' glide so most of my comparisons are against that but I gave paddled a few other boards as well.
Appearance
At first you look at it and with the displacement bow, the swept backwards angle of it looks a bit different and my impression was that it was a bit of a gimmick to stand out a bit from the crowd. The boxy tail section raised my eyebrows a bit as well, I thought why have so much volume, a bigger board means more material and more weight. So I was a bit doubtful.
The deck is sunken just a bit and sort of curves up at the edges to give you an idea of where your feet are. It is only small on in the middle of the board and on the back there is a non skid deck paint similar to star touch. From what I remember it is a bit more aggressive though.
Otherwise the Finnish and construction looked spot on, similar to other naish products I have owned previously.
Paddling
On the flat
I paddled it the first time and noticed the difference in feel of stability to my old board, If you had your weight in the centre of the foot pads it was similar but as soon as you moved forward to put the bow to work in flat water it was a bit different, sort of rolly but not unstable.
At first it took a bit to get used to but after a couple of short paddles a butter smooth day presented for me to paddle around an island on a protected waterway that I used to paddle regularly on my old glide. It is about 6.5ks and at the end I had knocked off 4:30 mins of my previous best time in similar conditions.
Very impressed.
In the sea with 15-20kts downwind
Now conditions were a bit Cross-On for the length of the paddle so had to work out a little across the wind to get a better angle to come back in. On the way out the board pierced through the chop and handled it well. A few rollers took me for a swim when the hit side on but that was to be expected.
Now I sort of thought that the skinny piercing bow would be a mess of nose dives but surprisingly it went really well, and the boxy rails would allow me to correct if I caught a rail while on a runner where as the old glide would catch and there would be no recovery. I had more runners that day than I had ever had before in similar conditions. It felt a bit more like a 2011 14 glide with the ease it picked up small waves and the distance covered while on the wave was similar as well. ( I have only paddled a 14 glide a few times and once in similar conditions)
So my opinion is the 12'6 javelin is a vast improvement on what naish offered previously. It is fast in the flat and all indications are that it is going to be competitive in downwind conditions. I think that it fills the gap that naish had previously and puts it right up there with the red fanatic and the like.
I cant wait to see how it performs in race conditions.
I recommend anyone who is looking at buying a 12'6 race board to have a look at this one and demo demo demo.
Hi Matt,
That was a great review of the Naish 12'6 Jav, thanks for sharing ! :)
Sounds like you've got yourself a great board, and this info will certainly help others when they are looking at getting a 12'6.
the 12'6 javelin how do it compare with last years 12'6 catalina? Is it faster in flat water?
Not sure on comparison to the Catalina. I haven't paddled one. I would say that it would have to be similar or better as. You wouldn't think a big company would discontinue a model that was faster than the new model coming out. Maybe some one else has paddled the two?
What's the difference between the 12'6 Javelin and the 12'6 Glide apart from the width? Not sure which one to get? I can't demo either of them and never owned a race board before. Any advice??
Was struggling to find a decent pic to represent the differences
Take a look at the post from DJ a while back - www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/Review/Pics-of-the-new-126-Naish-boards/
Hi,
Ive got both and use them in my school.
The Jav is sweet for me at 75kg and the glide feels too big.
Paddling side by side the jav is noticeably faster, but for a bigger bloke say 85-90kg and looking to cruse recreationally the glide will be a winner, especially on its price point compared to the jav
If you read French, a little test of the Jav' in BOP conditions, with real surf
www.forumdesup.com/t4434-naish-javelin-12-6
The speed of thisboard in the BOP racing seems to be really good with Kai Lenny just winning another event on it and againt some big names as well!!!
