I've have had the new Goya 2015 78l and 104l Custom Quads for about a month now. Used them in starboard and port tack conditions from waist to logo high conditions, cross-on to sideshore, from 5.3 down to 4.0. I'm around 83kgs. Not really into jumping, more riding.

78L: My go-to board for where I live (Wellington, NZ). Using this when it's 4.5 and 4.0 conditions (which is most of the time :-)). I have only ridden this board in cross-on at my home break. Before I got this I was on the Quatro LS Quad. Here's some thoughts about it:

- absolutely no loss of speed through the bottom turn. To get vertical in cross-on, a bit of back foot pressure's needed at the end of the turn, while holding power in that twisted sheeted out position. With my old LS, I found it hard to keep speed while trying to get vertical, I'd bog a bit and lose speed. So to keep speed I'd have to go less vertical. The Goya lets you put more pressure on the back foot so you can get tighter, and just keeps on accelerating. So top turns feel that much better cos I'm carrying more speed into them, and getting more vertical. All this means **loads more spray!!!!

- you can micro-steer on the face more easily. ie fine tune your approach to the lip without losing drive or speed.

- the new MFC fins are much better than the old MFC ones that came with my Quatro. More flex (but not too much), lots of drive. I had been using the yellow K4 flexies on my Quatro and loving them, as the old MFC ones were too stiff. Now on this new board, I reckon the new MFCs are much closer to the feeling of the K4's.

- much better balanced for dogging along. It's a pretty short board, so I thought it would be more critical to get your body in the right spot to maintain trim, but the volume distribution seems to be just right not to worry too much about where you are on the board.

104L: I've borrowed older versions of this board at Gnaraloo the past couple of years, and fell in love with it for light wind riding. So I thought I should get myself one. I used it at the Tananaki Wave Classic a couple of weeks ago in head to logo port tack conditions on a 5.3. And also at my local in cross-on, waist to head high waves.

The cool thing about the 104 is that it feels so much smaller than that on a wave (I guess like most high volume wave boards these days?). I can dog out when others are on the beach (like you can on a big board) and then shred the wave (like you can on a smaller board). Turns like something 20 litres smaller.

At my local the other day, the waves were good, it was pretty windy, but super gusty. So I rigged a 4.5 on the 104 to give me the float in the lulls. Over the course of the session, the wind kept filling in, and I expected that the board would start to feel too big for the conditions. But nope, it just kept on doing what I asked it to do. I could have happily kept going on it, but I eventually decided to change down to my 78L, not because it was too much hard work on the 104, but simply because the 78 is always gonna give you better turns when powered up.

It's a pretty big gap between the two boards in terms of volume, but funnily enough it works for me just fine.

Hope that's useful guys and gals.

Hi Diggers,

I'm sailing the 2014 94 & 118l Custom Quad nowadays and would pretty well echo your comments. Really impressed with the versatility of both boards in terms of handling wind strength and wave size, cross-off to cross-on. Can't fault them really. Looking at the brochure it seems that 2015 & 14 are the same boards. Is that right?

Cheers, Jens

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Jens said..
Hi Diggers,

I'm sailing the 2014 94 & 118l Custom Quad nowadays and would pretty well echo your comments. Really impressed with the versatility of both boards in terms of handling wind strength and wave size, cross-off to cross-on. Can't fault them really. Looking at the brochure it seems that 2015 & 14 are the same boards. Is that right?

Cheers, Jens

Hey Jens I reckon you're right, the fins look different though.

Nice review! I'm riding the 2015 84l at the moment and loving it too.

Favorite things about it:

1-it planes high out the water with a real playful feel, planning in the same position under powered, powered, over powered conditions.

2-the flow on a wave is great.. feeling smooth through turns and coming out with speed. Something i noticed on all kt boards ive tried.

3-short length makes smaller waves more fun.

I've used it probably a dozen times now in offshore to onshore, 15-40kts and havent felt the need for any other board yet. but havent got it out in offshore bigger than 2ft.

Other things :

-it has a trail kick pad that im not sure how you get your foot on... im thinking gimmick.

-i think the board is heaps better all round with back strap in back holes. Front straps in front position not super comfy and fast for jumping but great for riding. Still looking for the sweet spot to cover both.

-very little room for movement in the fin boxes... i suppose less things to worry about. And I've found you can change the feel of the board quite alot with just the mast track.

At 78kgs i bought this board as an allrounder for travelling so i could take only one board. Was planning another board for lighter winds but at the moment i dont think i need one. And after two 30kt sessions, one in onshore one in offshore i definetly dont need a smaller one.

I think shape the same... fins and straps different.

Interesting re: mast track Barri

Where are you putting it?

In small onshore 2cm back of centre to the tighten bottom turn. Haven't had enough d-t-l to play with it.

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Mark _australia said..
Interesting re: mast track Barri

Where are you putting it?

Mine is right at the front for both 94 & 118, bearing in mind that I use the Chinook double allen bolt system that puts the mast slightly south of the upper limit. In DTL conditions this makes the board really fluid, and makes the most of the rather short rails. I found the 94 really responded to this, becoming much nicer to ride.

Cheers, Jens

I think it very much depends on the sails you ride them with.
I have a Quad84 and use my chinook double bolts most of the time as far back as possible.
Reason: i use the with the Hot KS3 that have a very forward pull. When I grab my Firelight with a Cof E more in the middle, I need to put the mastfoot a bit more forward.

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Jeroensurf said..
I think it very much depends on the sails you ride them with.
I have a Quad84 and use my chinook double bolts most of the time as far back as possible.
Reason: i use the with the Hot KS3 that have a very forward pull. When I grab my Firelight with a Cof E more in the middle, I need to put the mastfoot a bit more forward.

Could be I guess. I use Ezzy sails, which feel pretty balanced to me. I think it's mainly a personal taste issue that's probably related to riding style. I find the board a little corky on the cutbacks for some reason when I put the mast back, and sometimes used to skip out a little on bottom turns, so I didn't persevere with it in that position for long. Since I prefer rail to rail wave riding more than gauging square turns, I think this suits me.

Cheers, jens