Took the new 2014 Glide GX (carbon) down to our canals today for first test run. As you can see from pics the rocker is virtually identical to the LE23 below it on trailer. Board at the bottom is MC14, board on top is 2013 Glide. Rails are also reworked with a lot of cues from the LE ie. softer alot further back.

On flatwater the stability is very high, initial and especially secondary, rail goes to a point and thats it, no rolling. Had Grant out on it as well - he weighs 110kg and he paddled it with ease - he normally rides a 14' Dart and 14' SIC X. I weigh 84kg and I could walk the board and do buoy turns blindfolded.

Stand forward near edge of pad and the nose virtually engages and the tail lifts a fraction - perfect use of entire waterline. The board is way faster on flatwater than 2013 Glide - it accelerates and holds its glide much better - with the stability I reckon this board could even be competitive for me in churned up waters.

Haven't downwinded it yet but if it behaves anything like the LE23 then it should be all time. The LE23 has similar rocker and it's very easy to keep the nose out even in big steep conditions (I've ridden LE23 in everything and the only thing I can't handle is side chop). The LE23 footsteers much more willingly than old Glide and I think a lot of that has to do with the reworked rails which have been transferred to new Glide as well - so looking very promising.

Ideal rider weight is probably heavier than me but I found it so easy and responsive that if I didn't have choice of a MC14' it would be my one board does all. I reckon the heavier riders have a premium board which really surprised me with its flatwater abilities.

I'm sure DJ will provide a wider variety of pics.....and I'll report back when we get a chance to try it downwind.

First pic looks a bit weird as if the new Glide has a heavy undercarriage in front-half - that is actually a board on the other side of the trailer...apologies if pics didn't come out 100%

more pics:

Thanks.. They're the first decent pictures that I've seen.. You're right.. It does look like a big LE... I like it..

DJ

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DavidJohn said..

Thanks.. They're the first decent pictures that I've seen.. You're right.. It does look like a big LE... I like it..

DJ

What he said...keen to get on one and give it the full suite of OFB testing

Great pics!!! Should have mine in 2 weeks..... Hopefully!! Frothing!!

Very nice... great set of photos Peter - thanks for sharing. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing a writeup from someone that's taken one offshore in a bit of wind.

Rode the 14' GX at tonights 1.9km time-trial and managed to do 9.3km/h ave speed. That's a fine speed for any board but actually quite amazing for a 29 1/4" wide, supposed ocean/downwind, board. My best on that TT is 9.8km/h, set on the 14' Jav MC.

Conditions were perfect and I got beaten by a 27" Allstar carbon by 2 secs. It seems that the new generation of "ocean/downwind boards" now manage to be very capable on flatwater (Allstar, Falcon, LE) and now the Glide as well.

Now we just need wind so we can see how it will actually perform on a downwinder. Stepping back to normal standing position of a downwinder, the nose lifts out about the same as the LE, so I reckon it will fly no problem. The rocker is certainly allowing board glide and acceleration so would be very surprised if this doesn't translate into good downwinding.

Peter - that is incredibly fast for a downwind board that is over 29 1/4 inches wide. Looking forward to your downwind run. Let us know how it compares with the 2012/2013 Glide Carbon/AST. I am riding the 2012 Glide AST and a 2012 SIC F16V3. I love both boards but this new Glide has got me thinking.

Picked mine up yesterday after what felt like an eternity waiting. Decided against going for a leisurley first paddle in the 40+ knot westerly that was smashing Sydney & opted to wait until this morning.

Went down to Rose Bay off the boat ramp at the sailing club straight in to the north breeze heading out to Shark island.

WOW!!! Coming off a JM Nav which I rode las season & sold recently, the Glide definitely feels lighter both out of water & under your feet. Quicker to accelerate & maintains its glide & top speed better.

Had a grin right across my mug within the first minute.

The JM is a very stable board, but the Glide definitely felt a touch more stable.

On the return trip from the island, I didn't notice the boat wake coming through behind me off one of the ferries that had just passed on its way to Manly. The little bump picked me up & we were off!! Wasn't expecting that. The JM would never have caught such a small surge. Spent the next minute or two catching the rest of the ferry runners with previously mentioned grin now resembling more of a psycotic evil genious who has just figured out how to take over the world!!

Got back to the sailing club & tried a few bouy turns around a couple of the boats moored out in font of the boat ramp. Felt as though I had to step further back than on the JM to get a nice tight turn going, but it felt way more stable again than the JM.

Paddled back to the ramp to get out & picked the board up off the water with one hand thanx to this years much deeper ledge handle.

In summary, soooooo stoked in this board!!!

The Naish boys got it right this year.

Yep Zeusman, thats why I am buying one.

Can't wait. But it won't be here till late November.

Oh well, at least I will have it for Xmas.

ET.

Sounds nice! I'm really keen to see any comments from people who've seriously downwinded this board in open ocean conditions!

I paddled it in Maui back in June, 20-25knt
Super stable in open water, picks runners with ease.
Not as tall in the water as the 12'6" and handles side on conditions well.
You still need to pick your moments when to step back but it lets you bury the nose for quite a while. We have one on the water in Brisbane and one on the rack in store if anybody wants to take a look.

It guess it's the nose aspect that is still an unknown for me with the new board... everything else looks perfect, but I'm amazed at how often I bury the 2013 glide nose out in the rough stuff. I'm not as nimble as I used to be, but I'm not just standing still either! BrisKites - how do your guys reckon it compares to the old glide?

Luckily I got to paddle the old Glide (original with the higher nose and sharper rails) the next day.

New board is almost twice as stable and in smaller conditions quicker and easier. I was having a few issues on the old model with smaller runners due to the sharper rail edge on the older Glide, this was softened up on your model.

If you go the 2014 model it's probably not as forgiving if you stay forward for too long but that's thats price you pay for a full water length displacement nose board.

The 2014 model seems happy in all conditions where I felt the old Glide only came on when things got bigger and faster and then it was fantastic.

Now that DJ has his new board he's the man to ask though as he owned the last model.

Thumbs up for burying the nose on the old model, didn't know it was possible!

thanks BK - reading a few recent posts and watching DJ's video seems to confirm what you're saying - gotta get back on the board a bit sooner, but in theory it'll be able to maintain the speed to be able to do that. Oh yeah, it's way possible to bury the nose, it's probably my lack of skill since I'm just starting out on this downwind thing, and the conditions here are generally pretty disorganised once the wind gets to 25 knots. I had a few occasions when I'm way back on the board but still got an inch or more of water running across the deck. I like the idea of the extra stability, the 2013 glide is at the limit of what I can handle in cross-crop, etc.

Finally got to ride the 2014 Glide in a decent downwinder - today was gusting north of 30knots and there some pretty decent runners. The board is a hoot and it seems to revel in the bigger stuff. I found it a tad sluggish in the 10-20kn dwds I had done prior to this one but today it was another beast. Worked out where to stand and the board dips into runs almost on auto-pilot and do one step back to keep nose in check and the board just runs and brushes off any bumps hitting front section of board. It really was a revelation - I rode the old Glide on my first run and swapped over for the second run - new one is so much easier to control and you never feel the board wanting to catch a rail.

As you know I'm biased but the board really is fun and now I know the flatter nose works just fine - bring on 45knots....

Hey Peter, good stuff - thanks for the info. Interesting comment about being sluggish in the smaller stuff, I sort of figured that in theory it would've shined brighter in low winds. What do you put that down to?
Of course: No Video = It Didn't Happen.
Bias is good - who wants to take advice from a skeptic

It feels like there's a constant rocker through the whole board allowing you to raise and lower the nose as much as you like depending on where you place your back foot.. There were some steep drops where I was able to get back and raise the nose way higher than you can with the old board (even with it's increased nose rocker).. This tends to also put the brakes on as well but on a steep drop that's not a bad thing.. There is also a feeling of more v over the past two Glides because changing direction is much easier.. The biggest change IMO is the belly under the nose and the super soft round rails in the front half of the board that let the board slide at an angle without catching much like the Starboard Ace and new Fanatic's.. The extra width make secondary stability huge but it does come at a cost because you feel more load on the paddle to get the board moving compared to the narrower boards.. I've got the one paddle stoke take off's nailed with the old a Glide but didn't seem to work with the new board.. It seems like the timing is different and there were times when I thought bugger I missed it and the board is about to slip backwards off the top of the wave then suddenly it accelerates so fast I almost fell off the back like someone had pulled the rug out from underneath me.. It seems to accelerate faster than the old board.. Also with the old shape there was a specific sweet spot to stand for both stability and to catch anything.. With the new board it seems like the sweet spot is much bigger and you can move around the board more without effecting stability or glide.

We have another DWer on today and the guys at the shop are letting me borrow it again..

DJ

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DavidJohn said..We have another DWer on today and the guys at the shop are letting me borrow it again..

They should just let you keep it at your house
Interesting comments on the board - keen to see your second impression.

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foamballer said..

Hey Peter, good stuff - thanks for the info. Interesting comment about being sluggish in the smaller stuff, I sort of figured that in theory it would've shined brighter in low winds. What do you put that down to?
Of course: No Video = It Didn't Happen.
Bias is good - who wants to take advice from a skeptic

The sluggishness comes from the extra width - with the 23LE and to some extent the older Glide you can accelerate faster with your paddlestroke (DJ touched on this as well) - so where I could pull myself over bumbs on the LE this was not as easy on the new Glide in the lighter winds. But yesterday when the wind and bumps where up there was plenty of push in the ocean to make the board go virtually by itself.

I initially also felt it had a wider sweetspot but yesterday I found a spot just behind handle where it would get into most runs and if they weren't steep you could stay there and just fly - only needing a step back on the steeper stuff - really to easy.

Here is a pic - video to follow

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PeterP said..Here is a pic - video to follow

Obviously having fun..
Good explanation - that all make sense... thanks
let's see that video

What's the update on availability of the 2014 GS boards anyway?

Video from yesterday:
.be

The board does seem to go along quite well on the smaller stuff! Thanks for sharing.

I'm still riding (and enjoying) my 2011 14' Glide, and have one of the last 2013's (GS with the 2014 colors) on the way up here. Looking forward to taking it out for a few demo paddles over the Fall/Winter, and then maybe getting a 2014 shipped up for next Summer. Still trying to get more folks around here interested in down-winding, as having a partner would certainly help with the logistics of it all! Not to mention keeping my stock of boards reduced

Thanks Peter, that's a good little clip. Yeah you seem way back on that board, but still seem to get into that last runner pretty easy. So given a choice - is this now your 'go to' board for heavy downwinders?

Th

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foamballer said..

Thanks Peter, that's a good little clip. Yeah you seem way back on that board, but still seem to get into that last runner pretty easy. So given a choice - is this now your 'go to' board for heavy downwinders?

That's a good question - to be honest, I'm not sure. It seems to go better the more it blows, and it's definitely easier to control so if I was looking for an easy day without worrying about working too much then I'd go with the new Glide. In terms of outright speed I do think I'd be slightly quicker on the narrower 2013 Glide just because I'm light enough to ride it efficiently. I would choose new Glide over the 23 LE at my weight and skill level because on the LE I work too much and am actually overall slower because I spend too much time bracing.

I think my go to board for all conditions is going to be the new 26 LE - it will have the perfect mix of ease of use and speed at my weight (85kg) and skill level.

The new Glide is really aimed at making downwinding accessible and easier for the bigger guys - and it happens to be nice and quick in flatwater as well.

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PeterP said..That's a good question - to be honest, I'm not sure. It seems to go better the more it blows, and it's definitely easier to control so if I was looking for an easy day without worrying about working too much then I'd go with the new Glide. In terms of outright speed I do think I'd be slightly quicker on the narrower 2013 Glide just because I'm light enough to ride it efficiently. I would choose new Glide over the 23 LE at my weight and skill level because on the LE I work too much and am actually overall slower because I spend too much time bracing.
...
The new Glide is really aimed at making downwinding accessible and easier for the bigger guys - and it happens to be nice and quick in flatwater as well.

Sounds ideal - I'm 100kg. That's an excellent point about bracing - I find I'm bracing on the 2013 glide quite a bit and so its hard to keep the momentum - I'm pretty sure I couldn't ride anything much narrower. Thanks for info... now I just got to find out when the GS will actually be available !

They should be able to ship this month - so landing Nov/Dec latest

This is how it goes in our normal DW conditions.

DJ

Foamballer,

I have one ordered and I am told mid November.

There is a waiting list I am told. I was advised to order one so I got one.

ET.

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E T said..

Foamballer,

I have one ordered and I am told mid November.

There is a waiting list I am told. I was advised to order one so I got one.

ET.

I was told they are due here late Oct and be in the shops early Nov.

DJ