Recently I was lucky enough to be able to purchase the highly understated Nick Moloney's old Naish MC from Core Boardsports in Jan Juc. Google Nick Moloney if you don't know of some of his achievements! He truly gave me an extrordinary deal but I wasn't going to complain. Firstly, Nick is an extremely experienced and competent waterman with lots of experience and representative supping so whatever he's had as his personal board is going to be top end. I'm a competent surfer, fair paddler for my age but have had lots of back and hip problems recently. Without having even jumped on the board, I decided to try and do a Downwinder with some of the best people in Victoria and probably Australia DJ, Justin, JC et al. Silly move, always spend time prior to taking out a new board in moving water to find it's sweet spots and to establish your stability requirements. I had a very sad time that day Downwind wise, I'd forgotten my normal leggie, reef shoes (O'Neill), and as it was the day prior to my hip replacement I'd dosed myself up on enough pain killers to drop a horse. I probably shouldn't have been driving let alone doing my first downwinder on this board. Suffice it to say although I could see the enjoyment of Downwinding, I didn't experience too much of it. Luckily the boys always take care of Newbies so I didn't suffer too badly. And for that I must thank the whole crew, well done, organised and supervised.
Since then I've had my hip replacement and can only extoll the virtues of the MC. I've recovered extremely quickly but still have a few moments where I have to be careful. I consider THe MC's secondary stability to be equal to, if not better than the 12'6" x 31 inch Fanatic Carbon Fly. After two sessions on the bay in the last week, (about 2 hours in total) in around ten to 15 k winds I have not fallen off once and have been afraid to estimate what speed this board can do in a straight line. I have discovered the sweet spot is at the handle and now recall I was standing 18 inches forward of that point for the downwinder
. I also discovered it was more comfortable standing in a slightly staggered surf stance. This helps offset the effect of side chop. Some very minor stance adjustments need to be made when paddling sideways to the direction of the chop because you sit so high out of the water. It really is only ever a light shift of weight required rather than a major correction. It's actually possible to steer the board by applying minimal pressure to the rail on the side you want to go. I feel really lucky to have purchased this board as it will only improve my fitness, balance and eventually when my hip has completely healed, my ability to downwind when I get the chance. It's a very logistically time and work intensive pastime
. If you've got a bit of ability and want a really quick board that will extend your abilities and then reward you, then this or the 2014 equivalent is the board your looking for. Thanks Nick at Core Boardsports
