Hi Brains trust,

I'm wondering what I should be keeping my eye out for.

I'm newish back to the sport over the last 5 years. Had a fanatic blast (116) and liked it but most of my sailing is on very choppy if not wave conditions. Blast was uncomfortable. My sub-standard skills obviously part of that equation. Anyway I got an older JP freestyle wave (102) and have loved it. Much more comfortable and controllable in big chop and wave states. Gybes are great with it. Yes, lower volume but also narrower plan, which seems to be the big difference for me with the sea states I sail in.

Q: I guess the one I have is good for some use yet, but what's the modern equivalent of this board? Noting the narrower plan comment.

TIA in any advice.

If you have a good condition JP freewave you want to sell, hit me up!

What year is board ?. Can you post a pic if you don't know ?

Simple answer, all current freestyle wave boards are a modern equivalent to your jp. Other than prob starboard which are wider. The biggest difference with modern equivalents are rocker, some tail shapes and number of fins and position of boxes, straps and tracks.

The width thing is a bit of a modern day furphy. Because everyone says it, it becomes fact. like, sails need more downhaul, or, the rigging dimensions written on the sail are wrong, or, you should ignore the numbers and rig to the looseness or older sails/boards are better. It's one of those legacy things as all boards got wider after 2000 when short and wide beat out long and narrow because long and narrow doesn't suit planning hulls.

to that point let's compare boards of similar volume

2025 duotone blast 100lt width = 62cm
2025 jp freestyle wave 104lt width = 63cm
2025 jp magic wave 99lt width = 62.5cm
2025 severne dyno 105lt width = 62cm

older 102lt jp freestyle wave = 62cm

So in real terms, the problem with your blast is it's a freeride board and not designed for small surf. fortunately it is one of the narrower freeride boards on the market so probably works better than most.

The jp on the other hand is a freewave board and is designed for the conditions you have which is why you like it more.I'm not saying you won't like brand x better than brand y because we all go down that rabbit hole of speed versus wave versus early planing etc etc but I can say most freestyle wave boards can be on your radar which will open up many more options. There is also value in sticking with jp if you like it.

I once rented a Blast at the Garda lake in Italy and I didn't like it all in the chop that they get there. I think it is more deigned for flat water blasting (kind of free-race) rather than choppy bump and jump conditions. From Fanatic the Gecko was a much better all-round board in the same conditions. Lots of fun in a more tradition free-ride shape. :)

I had a JP FSW 2005 which was perfect.
Tried to replace it with many boards but none felt as nice (to me). Not even another vintage of the same board.
Could not believe my luck when I saw the same board advertised.
Maybe wait for your board to become available? Likely to be cheap too.

I had one, was fun but required alot of swimming to get the best out of it

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Gestalt said..
Simple answer, all current freestyle wave boards are a modern equivalent to your jp. Other than prob starboard which are wider. The biggest difference with modern equivalents are rocker, some tail shapes and number of fins and position of boxes, straps and tracks.

The width thing is a bit of a modern day furphy. Because everyone says it, it becomes fact. like, sails need more downhaul, or, the rigging dimensions written on the sail are wrong, or, you should ignore the numbers and rig to the looseness or older sails/boards are better. It's one of those legacy things as all boards got wider after 2000 when short and wide beat out long and narrow because long and narrow doesn't suit planning hulls.

to that point let's compare boards of similar volume

2025 duotone blast 100lt width = 62cm
2025 jp freestyle wave 104lt width = 63cm
2025 jp magic wave 99lt width = 62.5cm
2025 severne dyno 105lt width = 62cm

older 102lt jp freestyle wave = 62cm

So in real terms, the problem with your blast is it's a freeride board and not designed for small surf. fortunately it is one of the narrower freeride boards on the market so probably works better than most.

The jp on the other hand is a freewave board and is designed for the conditions you have which is why you like it more.I'm not saying you won't like brand x better than brand y because we all go down that rabbit hole of speed versus wave versus early planing etc etc but I can say most freestyle wave boards can be on your radar which will open up many more options. There is also value in sticking with jp if you like it.

Thanks for the detailed comment. I'll be sticking with the current board as long as it holds together, I'm just thinking ahead for keeping an eye out for the next. To be clear, the blast is gone. Sold to guy for Narabeen lake, so it'll be great there. Not so good for me off Bulli.

Thanks for the replies. Here's the board, not sure how old so any info appreciated:

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AI.Dave said..
I had one, was fun but required alot of swimming to get the best out of it

This is the moment I fear!

Today's rant ....

If the company uses the term "freewave" to define the category of the board, then that is fine as that category is a crossover board between "freeride" vs "wave".

A "freestyle" board has a significantly different rocker and outline vs a "wave" board... any company that uses "freestyle wave" in their marketing, is lying.

I have a jp 102 just like the pics above. I end up riding the dyno 115 more because it's similar enough and the extra volume helps some in our light winds. The 102 is still a good board to me though. Also have a jp 120 xcite ride that I got my first planjng jibe on from that era of design.

Long story short: No, at least not in the latest JP range.

It seems to me that board tech has followed the ailments of their customers. As riders age, there's a demand to make boards more comfortable.

Your board looks circa 2007/08 ?. Full wood sandwich. Back then, most owners went with FWS, because it was comfortable and cheaper (than the full carbon boards). I owned a 2011 JP 85 FSW Pro (single fin). Full carbon. This board was fun, fast and did my highest jumps. But it gave me a bad knee in my late 30s. So, then I brought a 2014 85 FSW FWS (single fin). S-glass construction I think ?, a new construction design. Wider tail than the 2011, flatter deck, but similar dimensions. Still very fast, but more comfortable than the previous FWS's.

I now have a 2018 79 FSW Pro and a 2023 78 FSW Pro. Very short boards. Again, much more comfortable. They are both slower, which is fine by me as I get older and sicker. The chop isn't getting smaller.

I've got two FSW Pros in 2018: 79 and 94. Apart from reaction and float, they feel approximately the same.

If you can get a 2014 model FSW FWS, then get that. Should be same shape (length) and feeling at your existing board, but more comfortable. However, I owned two 2014 FSW FWS boards: the 85 (which I still have), and a 102. Completely different boards. The 85 was fast and excitable. The 102 was a slug. I hated it. So, sold it to a mate, who also hates it.

I brought the 2023 79 FSW Pro two years ago. It feels identical to the 2018 FSW Pro 79. The 2023 model is heavier than the 2018. Fine by me if it's a stronger/comfortable shape.

(I know you're not looking at 79/85L, but just to give you an idea).

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AI.Dave said..
I had one, was fun but required alot of swimming to get the best out of it

Entry rocker too steep. You'd think Gnigler would have known better.

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jn1 said..
Long story short: No, at least not in the latest JP range.

It seems to me that board tech has followed the ailments of their customers. As riders age, there's a demand to make boards more comfortable.

Your board looks circa 2007/08 ?. Full wood sandwich. Back then, most owners went with FWS, because it was comfortable and cheaper (than the full carbon boards). I owned a 2011 JP 85 FSW Pro (single fin). Full carbon. This board was fun, fast and did my highest jumps. But it gave me a bad knee in my late 30s. So, then I brought a 2014 85 FSW FWS (single fin). S-glass construction I think ?, a new construction design. Wider tail than the 2011, flatter deck, but similar dimensions. Still very fast, but more comfortable than the previous FWS's.

I now have a 2018 79 FSW Pro and a 2023 78 FSW Pro. Very short boards. Again, much more comfortable. They are both slower, which is fine by me as I get older and sicker. The chop isn't getting smaller.

I've got two FSW Pros in 2018: 79 and 94. Apart from reaction and float, they feel approximately the same.

If you can get a 2014 model FSW FWS, then get that. Should be same shape (length) and feeling at your existing board, but more comfortable. However, I owned two 2014 FSW FWS boards: the 85 (which I still have), and a 102. Completely different boards. The 85 was fast and excitable. The 102 was a slug. I hated it. So, sold it to a mate, who also hates it.

I brought the 2023 79 FSW Pro two years ago. It feels identical to the 2018 FSW Pro 79. The 2023 model is heavier than the 2018. Fine by me if it's a stronger/comfortable shape.

(I know you're not looking at 79/85L, but just to give you an idea).

Thanks, all good info, very helpful.

2015 same construction/colours/appearance as 2014 FSW FWS models. Not sure about 2016/2017 ?. But my 2018 boards were a tech change (I believe). Haunt the Buy/sell section. What you want will eventually pop up.

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mathew said..
Today's rant ....

If the company uses the term "freewave" to define the category of the board, then that is fine as that category is a crossover board between "freeride" vs "wave".

A "freestyle" board has a significantly different rocker and outline vs a "wave" board... any company that uses "freestyle wave" in their marketing, is lying.

I love a passionate rant !!!

you can do freestyle on a wave board, which I think is the idea here. Typically the flatter rocker fsw boards make better freestyle platforms.

and a freestyle board is lots of fun jumping in the surf. Although I get your point that a freestyle board isn't going to bottom turn

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jn1 said..
2015 same construction/colours/appearance as 2014 FSW FWS models. Not sure about 2016/2017 ?. But my 2018 boards were a tech change (I believe). Haunt the Buy/sell section. What you want will eventually pop up.

It wasn't so much the tech change. Which was only in the pro line.. the wood construction continued and was only dropped in 2000. The smaller 2014 models got more v up front which is why they were softer.

i think all of the differences you describe were due to shape changes and footsteps position changes as every year they tweaked the boards. That resulted in some that were more freeride/freestyle focused and then some that were more wave focussed. Which was the same at starboard and fanatic.

there were some absolute standouts along the way depending on which bias you prefer and some that were slow to plane and not liked very much.