Warning - I'm not very good at reviews. Like I'm hopeless at describing wine - a wine either tastes awesome, good, or not so good. So don't expect too much techie stuff from this review of my 2018 Goya One 96L...

After being disappointed by unfulfilled wind forecasts in Perth for a couple of weeks, a mate and I decided to head down to Safety Bay where it is, according to Seabreeze, always honking. And lo-and-behold on Sunday it was already blowing when we arrived at 10am so I rigged-up a 5.5m Blade and my brand spanking new Goya. Straight onto the plane no messing and cranking upwind, the board felt great but a wee bit bouncy in the chop so I moved the mastfoot 1cm forward of centre (and applied more downhaul, of course) and that settled it down nicely. This board flies, even in thruster mode. In fact I don't see why I'd ever bother putting it in single fin mode - but I guess I will one day to try it out. First gybe tightened-up at the end more than I expected, second gybe I remembered to slide my back hand right back down the boom and commit - wow what a difference - this board likes to be ridden easy but it LOVES to be ridden aggressively.

I fanged around for ages both inside the spit and outside where there was some nice wee swell to ride and turn off. The Goya felt brilliant at whatever I was doing. I'm looking forward to taking it out in some small waves and will provide an update then. In summary tho - it tastes awesome!

Disclosure: I'm 188cm tall and weigh 90kg. Other boards are a Goya Quad 106L and a Starboard Kode 109L, both of which are also awesome. Sail mostly Cott and Peli Pt with the occasional venture out at Lano, Yalls and, as of last Sunday, Safety Bay. Competent, not flash. Board bought from our local Perth Goya dealer, which has a fresh consignment in stock.

Wow 5.5 at 10 am on Sunday morning must have been a handful. Down at Avalon I was down and outhauling my 5.0 as much as I could to handle the gusts! Nice review. How does the board compare to the bigger Goya?

Cheers, Jens

Hi Jens - I was well powered-up but the Goya One is so composed (and the Blade is such a good sail) that I never felt I should change down.

The Goya Quad 106 - despite the 10L volume difference the stated sail ranges are very similar - 4.5 to 6 m for the Quad and 4.2 to 6 m for the One. So 5.5m is right in the sweet spot for both boards, but I know that on Sunday I would have preferred a smaller sail if I had been on the Quad. And that's the difference - the Quad is designed with a "big board / small sail" remit - which is what I like in waves as I tend more towards riding than jumping. The One, from my first ride, revels in being powered-up. I am really happy having them both for different conditions.

A quick update on this fab board - I've ridden it in a variety of conditions now at Dutchies, Leighton, Safety Bay and on the river. It does everything well and puts a big grin on my face every sail.

17 second video clip below at Dutchies from 28th December - 4.7m sail in strong winds - a wee jump with a clumsy landing - loads of fun.