JP put out a 111 in the magic ride range this year So I thought I would do a review on it for anyone interested.

1st impression was a truly solid build and quality finish. They seem to have stepped up the quality on the two new Jp's I picked up last week. It is a Full wood version and the other board a Freestyle Wave 85 full wood as well ( JP FSW 85 ).

I've been lucky enough to try out both over the last week. Went for wood as I am looking for a softer ride on ageing knees in heavy chop. To be honest both felt very stiff and I could tell very little difference between the carbon boards I already have. The weight will be touch higher but other than that same feel.

How did the magic ride go? ( sail Fusion 7.2 ) Freeride crossover for those who don't know it.
I ran the stock fin 38 freeride for the session. It went well but in the lighter conditions I wanted a bit more lift. I will get a 42cm for it to get that bit extra lift. In stronger conditions it was excellent. As the day progressed it got a lot windier. It ate up the chop which got pretty big. Early planning was good and it had the smaller board feel these new designs promote.
Speed wise it was good but not like a slalom board as one would expect. I was 1 knot or 2 knots behind other sailors in the 2sec peak. but over a Naultical mile, alpha ( Gybe ) etc. it was right there. The ride is very relaxed and I had full control all the time. No scary moments even in the stronger wind about 20 knots which was well above the limit of it's design. ( I will post the wind chart below for the day)



It does exactly what JP say. Easy ride that was fun and in control. I'll try it out again with a 6.5 Ryde in a week or two.
Here is a pic of the location and board.....very nice board. Very happy with it.

Good report on the Magic Ride ULF, I agree with you the JP Magic Ride is a great board, but I found it to be very fast in a straight line with race sails on it, it is just a great fun board to ride, I have got the 104 and use my evo6 7.8 on it down to my 5.8 Atlas wave sail.

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F2 said..
Good report on the Magic Ride ULF, I agree with you the JP Magic Ride is a great board, but I found it to be very fast in a straight line with race sails on it, it is just a great fun board to ride, I have got the 104 and use my evo6 7.8 on it down to my 5.8 Atlas wave sail.

HI F2, I had the carbon 104 last season as well. Loved it by the end of the season. At first I set it up incorrectly putting on large sails where I should have been 1 metre smaller. I also used large fins where a standard board design needed large. Doesn't work on these new designs. I don't how you go but I found I needed to go a lot smaller than a traditional design board using Fusion and Hellcat sails. This year I'll be a bit wiser with set up. The good news is I now don't have any sails bigger than 7.2 at 85 kgs :)

You must be in very flat water to use a 7.8 race sail. What fin? My guess would be a 37cm max.

Spot on ULF, 37 V/MAX2,but not very flat water, top speed so far with the 7.8 was 34.33.

I rode a 106 All ride with the new 6.5 Ryde last week, fantastic set up!
Great sail, I really enjoyed how light it felt in the hands and the transitions were so smooth. Stayed powered up through the lulls and was still comfy when the wind really picked up.
No slow coach sail either 31 knots on the GPS.
Thanks for the loan Sammy @ WSnS!

great looking board, nice colour!
Does it have the nice fat soft pads on it also? seems like a similar spec to the SB AtomIQ110, tad narrower?

F2' ,34knt's is as fast or faster than many do on full on slalom kit so that's impressive.

ULF did you go up from the 104 so you could get the 7m sails on with more float?
Is there much difference between the 104/111?...What wind strength do you think you realistically need to get it smoking? There is a lot of feedback about how easy these style of thin boards are to gybe, true or false?

These new boards AtomIQ/MagicRide/Gecko have got to be the go for open water blasting.

Timford,
I also have a 2014 Allride 106. Getting 2 Rydes for it 5.5 and 6.5. Haven't ridden it much as I tend to reach for the FSW 101 in open water a bit more. I got it for flatwater spots to go a bit faster in 1 hour freeraces they have up here. 31 kts will do me nicely. Don't like it much faster than that :)

Hi Jonesy,
No I just got it to go with the 7.2 in open water for the hell of it ( looked like a sweet size in the specs ). I only used the 104 with a 7m once then after that used 6.1 and 6.7 only. I still have a Starboard F111 in the garage I used with 7.2 last season so extra float has never been a thought. It's hard to say what wind to get it smoking. That depends on the fin really. I would say a solid 13 gust to get going on the stock fin and then it keeps going through the lulls once planning. I really need to try it with a 42 fin. Ragnar has one in powerbox so I will do that next 7.2 day and see how it goes.
Is there much difference between the M104 and M111, yes the 104 is quite lively when really powered up and had a bit quicker feel ( it was Carbon ). the m111 is a true freeride. You I won't get a special 2 sec on it, but it reaches well and goes up wind the same as my Futura. With Haggar and Rags on Saturday it was business as usual. sometimes they got away and sometime I catching them on the reach. Our times on Sat are nearly identical excepting the 2 sec. They were faster. 20 knots NM's at queens is good for that size and swell.
Gybing, they are easy and again the alpha was the same as Rags which is how it has always been. For a first ride it ripped around fine. I will alter the footstrap position before next ride. I had the rear straps to far back.

How's the new FSW85.

Very nice. We had 28 knot gusts that day and I used 5.6 Combat. Average wind was 22-25. Perfect for our spot. The Powerbox fin was a big plus getting around the reef. We only have ground swell, not true waves but i could turn it as well as a Kode wave 92 on them. Heres a pic. It is actually red but the camera in the phone made it orange. I don't know why that happened.

Re gybing I have an excocet Xcross 115ltres 75 wide potato chip style.. So easy and smooth to gybe ! Very forgiving too at times i stuffed up and put the pressure on the windward rail halfway through the gybe.. It was so forgiving it allowed me to fix that and gybed beautifully!
The Tabou Rocket would have turfed me off for that one! I imagine all those style of boards would be similar.

Had the Magic Ride 118 out on two days at Hawkes Nest a week or so ago.

First day was 10-15 kts up at Jimmys Beach with 40cm Select & 6.5 Maui.
Once I got the setup OK it planed very easily & did an easy 23kts on downwinder back to Winda Woppa.

Second day was in 10-18 kts E/N/E in the chop out from Winda.
Going out it was easy to launch off the chop & stay in control.
Coming in with swell & chop there was no hint of rail or nose catching. Very forgiving & controllable for a wide-ish board.

Thanks to Anne & Sam at WSnS for lend of a great board

I had the good fortune recently to sail this board on a windy day on Moreton Bay, so I thought I’d offer my opinions too.

Where we sail is quite rough, being open bay conditions with 15 nautical miles of fetch in all directions. The bay is shallow too, so it tends to chop up pretty badly, with a meter plus of chop being normal on any sailable day, and frequently bigger. There’s a cross chop also and the whole place often resembles a washing machine – even in light winds. Because of this it’s nice to have a board that performs well but can also handle the chop without delivering a bone-jarring ride or attempting to throw you off every second wave top.

I was interested to try the 111 because it is a wide board for its volume at 72cm. It’s also reasonably short at 239cm. I sailed the board under my Ezzy Cheetah 6.5 on a pretty choppy day with a stiff breeze approaching 20 knots at times. The fin was a Black Project Type R of 37.5cm.

As you’d expect the board was very stable under foot and planed easily with all that width. What was a pleasant surprise was the handling and control in the waves. It really wasn’t phased bashing out to windward through the lumps and the ride was pretty smooth.

I haven't sailed such a wide board before, so if felt a long way across the deck when gybing, but the curved plan shape means it gybes very easily. Just lean on the rail and around it goes. It felt easy to set the gybe into the wave trough too, so it's pretty maneuverable for a big board.

The fin was probably a bit big for the conditions but the width of the board helps you to hold it down and it was easy to pilot flat out through the chop. The rails underfoot are nicely curved for a freeride board with a bit of a slalomy feel. This make a nice combination with the outboard footstrap position and contributes to feeling as though you can drive off the fin - the kind of sailing I like.

All-in-all I really liked it. I haven't had a chance to sail it in light winds yet to see what the bottom end is like, but it seems like a perfect Moreton Bay board.

So after today's conversation this sounds like the board I should get.

I'm saving for one

I'm going to buy a Magic Ride pro 111 or 118 to brush up on my duck jibes, flat water 360s, body drags etc after confining myself to slalom boards for a few years. I've tested the 118 in wood But haven't ridden a 111. I'm 78kg. You might think after 32 years of sailing and racing I would be able to decide and I think I have but I' d like to hear from anyone who has ridden or owns a 111 or 118. I hope ULF, F2 , IKW777 comment.

Hi Paul, long time on see, I have the 104 MR in wood and I will say it is one of the best freeride boards I have ever been on, it is just a great all round board, fast very fast, great in chop and small waves, takes sails from 7.8 down to 5.5.

You're a little bit lighter than me so I thing the 111 would be big enough. Any bigger might get a bit ponderous for the moves you want to work on.

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F2 said..
Hi Paul, long time on see, I have the 104 MR in wood and I will say it is one of the best freeride boards I have ever been on, it is just a great all round board, fast very fast, great in chop and small waves, takes sails from 7.8 down to 5.5.

Hey F2 and Ulf, the MR sounds great. How would you compare it to something like the Starboard Carve?

PD...111 will be better for what you want to do. I had the same option to get a 111 or 118 but went for the 111 as I find 72 wide big enough for me at 85 kgs 5'11.

PhilSWR... Carves I haven't ridden for years now so I can't answer that. I have no idea on them. The last one I had was 2004 so I'm well out of date. I have a Futura 111 (2012) which I love. I have two complains on that one.
1. Outboard strap position is not outboard enough.
2. stance is to wide between the straps. ( bigger sizes ie F 133 suck because the rear strap is not parallel to the stringer line. I kicked the front of the rear strap all the time)
Other than that the Futura 111 is a fantastic board.

So why JP Magic rides now. I like the strap position a lot better. I like the straps themselves a lot better. I like having all powerbox fins right down to my 85 ltr FSW. Makes changing fins a breeze between boards. And I don't need a heap of US and Tuttle fins crossing over each other like with Kodes. The Atomic has powerbox now. What a joke three different fin boxes in Starboard range now. For years they wouldn't put powerbox on Kodes ( where it would be very good ) and now it is on Atomic of all boards. Anyone with carves, futuras or Isonics will need another set of fins.
The Magic ride outboard strap position is actually out board and back where I want it. The stance is naturally where I want to be = comfort=more enjoyable sail. I haven't had a chance to test it in lighter wind yet with a 42 fin. Will get back when I do.

You have remember with windsurfing we are all very different. Our likes and dislikes vary greatly. If you can test one do it. It's the best way to find out.

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F2 said..
Hi Paul, long time on see, I have the 104 MR in wood and I will say it is one of the best freeride boards I have ever been on, it is just a great all round board, fast very fast, great in chop and small waves, takes sails from 7.8 down to 5.5.

Hi F2, Thanks for the encouragement on the MR. Sounds like we know one another. Couldn't see your name on the Seabreeze Bio. but my guess is you're Jeff. Am I right?

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ikw777 said..
You're a little bit lighter than me so I thing the 111 would be big enough. Any bigger might get a bit ponderous for the moves you want to work on.

Hi ikw777,
yes I had pretty much decided on the 111 for that reason. I want a board I can throw around a bit. The 118 was very heavy (it was wood). But I was a bit concerned that the 111 might sacrifice some early planing over the 118, even tho' in the pro it will be much lighter.

Hi Paul, my name is Geoff Ringe,and I have sailed with you many times, I lived at Terrigal for a long time and also sailed at Gosford a lot back in the good old days when we all had F2 boards.

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F2 said..
Hi Paul, my name is Geoff Ringe,and I have sailed with you many times, I lived at Terrigal for a long time and also sailed at Gosford a lot back in the good old days when we all had F2 boards.

Hi Geoff,
I thought it was you. Yes I remember sailing with you at Terrigal and Gosford. You shifted to Lennox and I tried to look you up there twice. I have asked about you twice recently. In September talking to Dieter in. Caloundra and talking to a guy and his wife (windsurfers) we met on the beach at Hervey Bay (he sells windsurfing gear - can't think of his name - he knows you). How are you? Still sailing of course. Huge part of my life still. There's been a bit of a revival down here with speed sailing at Budgewoi Lake on glassy water. Often 10 - 15 Guys there. Amazing speed you got out of your MR 104 ! That's about the same as my PB on my JP Slalom 66.

Cheers
Paul.

Thanks for the advice and comments guys. I bought the MR pro 111.

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PD said..
Thanks for the advice and comments guys. I bought the MR pro 111.

Good one Paul you should like it, be down your way in February on our way to Lake George.

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F2 said..

PD said..
Thanks for the advice and comments guys. I bought the MR pro 111.

Good one Paul you should like it, be down your way in February on our way to Lake George.

Sailed Magic Ride 111 pro twice now. Great board, planes in 12-13 knots with Sailworks Retro 7m, glides over chop with mast base back in the track, gybes are so easy, makes bad gybes good, good gybes perfect. JP should be promoting it properly to experienced sailors instead of emphasing its's appeal to intermediates.