Rider: I weigh about 95kg (210lbs), 6,2 (187cm),Level (intermediate,advanced)
Style: Surf & Sloppy conditions
Build Quality: 10/10
Satisfaction: 10/10
Disclosure: Would love to be a team rider, but no I am not.

Just got my new Prisma.

Ridden in waves below 4foot and mushy slop over multiple days.

Will do a proper review once I have ridden it enough to have a comprehensive view..

Here is what I know so far. Great, fun board. Fantastic flex feel (more like a traditional surfboard). It is lively, snappy and heaps of fun. Good support to the back foot as you come off the top and brilliant "whip" type arcs as you would expect from a quad. Still holds a really good edge off the bottom turn and manages speed better than I would expect from a board that is 19inch wide. I would now say that I prefer the extra width, particularly when on a decent wave.

I have come from riding a North WAM quad and it also is a great board, but at this stage I would say the Prisma has the edge regarding surfboard feel and just delivering a generally predictable, confidence inspiring ride. I know the new North WAM 2012 has better flex then the 2011(had a couple of demos last fortnight), but it is still not as nice as the Prisma feel. My opinion of course.

Love it. As I said, I will put a proper review up once I have ridden it for a month or so. Unfortunately our season is ending here in South East NSW.

Will keep you posted.

ps. I would not choose this board as a paddle in surfboard as it is so thin and lacks enough buoyancy. But that is also what makes it such a hot kite surfing board

holy crap. someone removed the relevant lines lol

what would the relevant lines be?
I haven't had a whole lot of time on this board, but I have had a couple of runs. This board does smoke. Very fast and loose, but feels ultra stable. Can't wait to try it out on some waves with a little more guts. Goes upwind well despite it being so thin. Forget trying to paddle surf a board like this, aint gonna happen unless you weight about 50 kilos! But hanging off a kite this thing shreds. I am not much of a quad guy, generally prefer thrusters, but this board changed my mind.
Bring on the southerlies.....this dead season of noreasters is even deader now.

Select to expand quote

dafish said...

what would the relevant lines be?

I think it is about removing the irrelevant lines in the gear review template. Apparently some people having trouble using the template and get bagged out accordingly.

where is the wind????this is driving me crazy.....

I've been riding the 5'8" Prisma quad for about 6 months now, its great. So fast, and such drive off the turns....I've been riding it with just the front strap, and have worked on getting the gybes quick and flawless...it has really improved my wave riding on both my natural and opposite stances. Main challenge has been finding the right kite.....10m Reo and 9m drifter have really gone well, with the reo having a little bit of an edge performance wise. Have also tried Park's, Torches, switchblades.

Cons - Xenon footstraps are not so good, cheap looking and uncomfortable. Construction is not bulletproof, you need to take some care when riding the thing less you dent it.....I wouldn't think of jumping it like I did with my other Naish fish.

Hey whippersnapper!
Didn't know that they came with the blue fins for that model.
I know you said you are riding the board with one strap...ditch the strap or put the other one on. That is a twisted knee waiting to happen. That board rides really well strapless, and you can wack them on in a couple of seconds if you are riding beach breaks that are closing out or too big and bumpy.
Looking at where you have your straps pinned to the board they look to close and narrow. Widen them up a bit so your foot slides in and out super easy. You really only need them when jumping over sections. If you have two that are lose you can ditch the board easier when you get smashed or drop it on a wave.
I weight about two of you (not quite) and jump my board all the time. 6 months on I have a couple of little pressure dings on the bottom, and a few snapped fins to boot. I think the build is really good...

A whipper snapper!

Gee Mr Fish, seeing as I'm turning 43 years young this year, that must make you....

....somewhere in your Sixties??

.......and about 120kg!!

You must be a Machine!!

Thanks for the advice about the footstraps.....



(ps. that's my 15yo eldest son holding the board in the pics......)

ah, makes more sense as the writing of the post is a bit more mature than the photo. I should have connected the dots better. Still, I have a few on you! :)
Looking at your son he looks like a junior featherweight, hence the jumping comment. Plenty of hot groms around his age that are killing it.
Serious about the knees though...Plenty enough around to testify to that caution.
Rock on
ps I would never be able to get either my 18 or 15 daughter to do a shot like that, and I can see with some reluctance the same look in you boys eye!

just had to promise him a ride.

But he is probably only 10kg lighter than me now, and growing by the day.....this is how he usually treats his boards, hence he doesn't get let anywhere near the prisma most of the time....

ah, so he is one of the ripping little grommets after all! Nice shots....Good to see a family that plays the same game.

yeah, except now he's big enough to steal my boardies and use all my kites....

...anyway, back to the prisma - dafish what fins are you running on it, and have you done any playing around with different fin combo's ?

I took the xenon strap off and replaced it with a Naish one, which has a bit more padding.

Yes I play with various strap combo's, generally just go with the forward one loose to have a bit more control when riding through the chop and avoid the old "slung off the front" crash. Smooth water - strapless. Big ugly days, both straps. Have fallen off the thing plenty, foot comes out, knees are fine.

20 knots, head high waves and a 10m reo is a pretty nice combo on this board.

hey neo,
I haven't done any experiments with other fins, just the stock ones. On my Vidra I have swapped out different makes, but similar flex and size to the originals...
the Prismas that landed here came with a nice black/grey honeycombe, more of a carbon fibre color look....the codes for the back were HC-FL, and the front were HC-F5. The rear are about 95mm and the front about 122mm.
The photo you took made the rear fins look bigger than those measurements that I gave you.
20 knots, good head high waves, 10 Reo, sounds like a winning combo to me!
I think slightly overhead Currumbin with 20 knots would be smoking wth that board. Shame there was no kiting when built my first house in the Currumbin Valley many moons ago. Hopefully you aren't too far north to catch some of that action!