Last week I had a quick paddle on the new 10'6" Kalama and took these pictures.
btw..I could only test its flat water performance and how floaty and stable it is.
The bigger 11'6" Kalama is a great board for a beginner or a large person but if you're under 85kg or if you're after a second board for your wife or kids this would be a good choice.
It's a great looking board...It felt pretty light but I don't think it's as light as my old Naish 10'6".
The center fin is much smaller than its bigger brother. This should help with turning in the waves.
The rails are very meaty and full and I'm sure this helps with its stability.
Even towards the tail the rail remains very full so you don't get much water flowing over the tail like some boards..This should help with the board speed.
The rails are also pretty sharp towards the tail and should give good bit in turns and also good release again helping with board speed.
The full length grip deck is nice with the center area being nice and grippy..The little red arrows are also a nice touch and help locate your feet position.
My biggest gripe with the Kalama boards is that they don't have any hand hole for carrying..Untill now..After my paddle I stopped off at SHQ and they had new stock just arrive with a hand hole...Hurray!..Note that the hand hole is nice and deep..even deeper than the Naish hole..and much deeper than the Starboards.
My next biggest gripe was how bad they chipped along the rail from paddle bashing..Well they say that they've fixed that problem also with stronger rails now.
I noticed that they have a sticker warning about rail damage tho.
I was interested in the bottom shape..Most boards have a concave feeding into a v in the back half of the board..This had no V..I think it's the first board that I've seen with no V at all.
This pic shows the concave in the nose area.
The concave seems deepest under the standing area.
Even way back where the center fin goes there is still a slight single concave.
I think this single concave and the full rails is what makes this small board so stable..The Bonga is a similar size but has a rolled bottom and stepped rails..This helps with surfing but makes the board very wobbly and unstable for most people.
The board is 10'6" x 27 1/2" x 4 1/2" and I'm 90kg and it floated me fine..When I wobbled it it stops instead of wanting to roll over like the Bonga..It seemed fast to paddle and you could hear the concave working as it tried to force air under the board..I did a few step back spin turns without any wobbles..I think not having any V in the tail helps reduce the wobbles doing these turns.
I hope to try it in the waves one day soon and I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns..That bottom shape would make a wide board too stiff but because it's pretty narrow, especially in the tail so that should help with rail to rail turns.
I guess we'll see..Anyone else used it in the waves?
DJ
Great Review, DJ. Very descriptive. It's good to have all those photos - just like being there.
