Attention, you are now leaving the freeride zone! The JP board doesn't just look the biggest on the beach, it's so wide that you can barely reach the opposite foot strap to pick it up, almost like Formula or iQFOiL boards. The board and the concept with the 56 mm fin is also not designed for small, light people - if you don't weigh at least 85 kilos, you don't need that much volume, fin area and width. However, large and heavy surfers have the perfect opportunity to surf very large sails well trimmed - and with a sporty riding experience even in light winds.
The nose stays down
The 7.8 sails in the test comparisons are to be regarded as the lowest sail size; the 8.7 sail, which was also tested, harmonised much better. This also means that the ratio to the fin, which seems too large at 7.8, is correct. The biggest fear of the test - planing, going into the straps and "bang", the board flies away from your feet in a strong gust - is completely unfounded. Even powered up with the 7.8 mm sail, it maintains a flat but high planing position without any major leverage or capsize forces, even with a lot of pressure in the sail. The nose remains stable at the bottom, the wide board hardly wobbles around its longitudinal axis and is easy to control even in rough wave conditions.
In the planing phase, the even longer boards slide passively more easily, but on the JP shape, one or two short pumping strokes help to get the board sliding just as early. Then again, the wide planing surface is of course perfect for long gliding. However, you should ideally have freerace experience or advanced freeride riding skills, as the jibe also requires a wide split and tight radii are hardly possible. On the other hand, the board glides very stably right up to the jibe exit - with plenty of volume and tipping stability even at the tail, so that every jibe can be completed dry and safely with a straight face. Blast, Thommen or Eagle The JP Shapes look livelier and more playful in comparison and offer similar performance. The biggest advantage of the JP shape is the use of very large sails, up to ten square metres.
Conclusion on the JP-Australia Super Lightwind 166
The JP-Australia Super Lightwind is the perfect planing base for sporty surfers who are looking for an easy-to-ride early planing board for very large sails and don't want to struggle with bitchy race slalom boards, which are significantly worse in passive planing and much more difficult to control.
Technical data Duotone Blast E/LAB 185
- Volume: 185 litres
- Length: 253 cm
- Width: 90 cm
- Weight: 9.2 kilos*
- Price: 2999 Euro
- Info: duotonesports.com
*surf measurement
