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O2P said..Thanks for this great video.
I plan to ride my first sessions on Kalama 10x28 end of february in Brittany (France, around La Torche spot), i'll share my first impressions.
Center fin will be 4.56 height (F6 honeycomb US box), with similar height fins on the edges (whith more carbon inside).
I'm a light rider (70 kg).
I share my feedback after first sessions with Kalama Performance 10x28@121 liters.
In comparison with my 2 precedent longsups :
- Starboard 10'3x28,5@ i guess 140 liters (from 2010's shape signed Scott Mc Kercher and Svein Rasmussen)
- Lokahi 9'6x27,5@118 liters (2017)
Unbox reactions :
- well built
- very light
- volume repartition is very regular, similar to a classic surf longboard, there's no excess of volume under the feet.
- The tail is thin but looks very large, will it be too large for a light rider (I'm 70 kg) ?
Fins : kind of hybrid thrusters- Carbon FCS1 laterals that i know well (used a lot on a Superfrog longboard 9") - with adapters FCS1 to FCS2.
- Futures F6 Honeycomb central US box
Session#1Conditions : beachbreak, 1 meter to 1,50m waves steep and relatively fast, left and right, 15 knots offshore, 8 surfers, lots of space.
- stability very good
- paddling to the peak is in the average speed, nothing outstanding. Pass through the white water very well.
- confirmation that there's not so much volume under the feet : the water comes near the pad at the level of the feet, where nose and tail are clearly out of the water, i appreaciate that.
- first take off : sensation to do 2 strokes less than with my 9'6x27,5 Lokahi (@118 liters), it takes really easily, the turnability is present even without being on the tail, sensation to not force to turn which is a key point.
- The light weight gives vivacity at the take off and on the wave. First wave = big validation.
- Kick tail looks generous so no worry to nose dive on late take off (i mean relatively late, wich is not my favorite sport on a 10')
- Some cross feet to the nose which is just enough wide.
- Another point to note : thanks to the thin rails, this big baby stays in the pocket easily than my 2 others Sup with more generous rails.
- I had the sensation to ride my 9" surf longboard in a Sup.
- Boards showed me friendly use and carving potential in bigger surf, promising.
- I'm much less tired than with my Lokahi 9'6x27,5, no subject with balance.
Session#2Conditions : beachbreak, 1 meter wave not fast, 10 knots side shore, alone in the water
- Early take off in less power wave is present, it's really fun to ride and i know i could go even in smaller waves and keep fun.
- The board stay reactive at the end on the wave, no "go straight" mandatory when you go slow, you can still play a little turn and move.
- I valid my paddle height at my height (1,73 m), which was a bit too short with my 10'3 and ok with my 9'6.
- As ex-funboarder, following Dave Kalama story since the 80's, riding one of the creation of a waterman i deeply respect is an additional pleasure.
Session#3Conditions : beachbreak, 2 meters waves steep and fast, 25 knots side-off, short gusts at 40 knots, few surfers in the water.
- my stability has been immediatly compromise with the wind, i felt unsafe with turning back to the beach during gusts.
- I swimmed several times and having a good leash and a lighter board than before made the pression on the leg lighter, a good point.
- I had difficulties to relax and breathe deeply, so i decided to make several breaks on the beach....and the wind started to move the board on the beach....not good.
- Conclusion : i could not ride a board less than 28 in hard conditions, i've to fold more my legs and i would not go out again with too strong winds, it impacts too much the security and the take-off.
Session#4Conditions : Beachbreak, 2 meters waves steep and fast, 15 knots side-off, short gusts at 30 knots, some barrels, 70 surfers in the water, crowdy.
- a backwash was present and a bit annoying to paddle to the peak and was even noticable in the waiting zone.
- stability was OK in this lighter winds (but still challenging).
- I was waiting around 15 to 20 meters earlier than surfers, but they were present all 4 or 5 meters as a line of penguins to avoid just after take-off ! Source of stress, but i hade some good early take off, even if the strong wind was confusing the game : i lost many waves i was sure to take. I've avoided also some too risky late take-off. Timing was challenging but interesting.
- On those fast waves, i didn't had the sensation to have too many volume, the rails kept under control, but with this crowdy day, i was more riding toward the beach and tried to manage the explosion of the wave than making bottom + roller.
- This session was not easy for longboarding but if it had been less crowdy, i could have had much more fun (even if i'm not a big fan to deal with more than 15 knots on a sup and steep waves).
- Decision of the day : buying rail savers, i've been rolled many times and the paddle goes easily hurted the board in those conditions. Also when paddling, with a bit a stress with the crowd, the size wave and the wind, i saw my paddling being much less accurate than in Session 1 and 2 were i felt at home.
Overall, this Kalama answers to what i was looking for : longboard versatility + low volume + turning ability.
Fins choice is OK, i won't use bigger center fin to increase stability.
Now, i would like to share some pics of the tails of my 3 sups : Starboard round tail (my first wave sup, which became my flat sup, on the bottom), Lokahi small square tail (wave sup replaced by Kalama, the black on top). Interesting to visually compare thin to wide ratio and volume repartition.
1fox
> 9 months ago, 25 Sep 2021
- for SUP long boarding I am mostly on a smaller Jimmy Lewis HP (9x29x120l) these days.
