On a recent trip to the cocos islands I was fortunate enough to ride a rather large selection of boards(starboards,tabou,naish,mistral).
Out of all of these boards, two favourites really stood out to me.
The mistral syncro 91 and the syncro 104. These boards really blew me away with their performance. The 91 was the first cab of the rank for me, and ended up being a fantastic surprise after a few days of riding boards which really felt quite different to my own personal equipment. The moment my foot hit the deck of the 91 it was straight onto the plane and felt like a board that I had been riding for weeks, not 30 seconds. It has got very much a wave board feel about it in control and ride but unlike a few wave boards I have ridden in the past it was fantastic for blasting on. Within 5 minutes on it I was out in the middle of the lagoon looking for any bit of chop to get it in the air.
The next day I thought I would try the larger of the two. Unreal!! This board was bigger and got up and going a lot quicker but felt very similar to ride as the 91. The 104 got going surprisingly early in some of the wind conditions that I rode it in, and also never felt out of control when the wind really kicked in. Another thing that blew me away was actually how fast this board went. On a trip across the lagoon from west island to home island it quite comfortably kept pace with the three others I was with and they were on slalom and freerace equipment with cam and no-cam slalom sails, and here I was on a 5 batten 5.7m storm which was quite small compared to the others. The 104 even felt like it could go harder as I was only marginally powered. The fins were really well suited to both boards and were very good at making ground up wind. All the fittings on these boards were 1st rate. The straps and pads were some of the most comfortable I have ever used, the non-slip was great(not to rough, but better grip than other boards),and the easy turn and lock fin bolt system that mistral use was much better than having to try find a screwdriver every time you needed to remove the fin. There is a highly domed section between the front and back straps that your foot just seems to find every time you go for a jibe so the board carves around perfectly and predictably every time.
The reason these boards stood out to me is that I could feel that they would be great to ride in the open ocean swells of home, like cott, mettams, watermans and scarborough. A really safe and secure ride that you could just concentrate on having a good time instead of worrying about what the board is doing. It's a very rare 'do anything' board. Blasting, bump'n'jump, or the occasional light wind wave. Even some freestyle if that's your thing.
The 91 would be a great wave board for the heavier guy, or light winder for the small blokes.
All in all, I honestly could not fault one thing about either board. They did everything I wanted and made the trip great.
If anyone is of the opinion that Mistrals are not a high performance board and are only for the old guys, than I recommend you try one of the syncros. You'll be surprised.

quote:

---

Originally posted by dave.h

On a recent trip to the cocos islands I was fortunate enough to ride a rather large selection of boards(starboards,tabou,naish,mistral).
Out of all of these boards, two favourites really stood out to me.
The mistral syncro 91 and the syncro 104. These boards really blew me away with their performance. The 91 was the first cab of the rank for me, and ended up being a fantastic surprise after a few days of riding boards which really felt quite different to my own personal equipment. The moment my foot hit the deck of the 91 it was straight onto the plane and felt like a board that I had been riding for weeks, not 30 seconds. It has got very much a wave board feel about it in control and ride but unlike a few wave boards I have ridden in the past it was fantastic for blasting on. Within 5 minutes on it I was out in the middle of the lagoon looking for any bit of chop to get it in the air.
The next day I thought I would try the larger of the two. Unreal!! This board was bigger and got up and going a lot quicker but felt very similar to ride as the 91. The 104 got going surprisingly early in some of the wind conditions that I rode it in, and also never felt out of control when the wind really kicked in. Another thing that blew me away was actually how fast this board went. On a trip across the lagoon from west island to home island it quite comfortably kept pace with the three others I was with and they were on slalom and freerace equipment with cam and no-cam slalom sails, and here I was on a 5 batten 5.7m storm which was quite small compared to the others. The 104 even felt like it could go harder as I was only marginally powered. The fins were really well suited to both boards and were very good at making ground up wind. All the fittings on these boards were 1st rate. The straps and pads were some of the most comfortable I have ever used, the non-slip was great(not to rough, but better grip than other boards),and the easy turn and lock fin bolt system that mistral use was much better than having to try find a screwdriver every time you needed to remove the fin. There is a highly domed section between the front and back straps that your foot just seems to find every time you go for a jibe so the board carves around perfectly and predictably every time.
The reason these boards stood out to me is that I could feel that they would be great to ride in the open ocean swells of home, like cott, mettams, watermans and scarborough. A really safe and secure ride that you could just concentrate on having a good time instead of worrying about what the board is doing. It's a very rare 'do anything' board. Blasting, bump'n'jump, or the occasional light wind wave. Even some freestyle if that's your thing.
The 91 would be a great wave board for the heavier guy, or light winder for the small blokes.
All in all, I honestly could not fault one thing about either board. They did everything I wanted and made the trip great.
If anyone is of the opinion that Mistrals are not a high performance board and are only for the old guys, than I recommend you try one of the syncros. You'll be surprised.

---

dave.h
I find your comments very accurate as I have a Synchro 90 (04 model)that I bought for light wind days. I was sick and tired of sitting on the beach with my JP 72 Litre wave board watching everyone else carve up the waves.
I've found it a very easy board to ride;it will ride waves but has enough speed to grovel out in very light winds.It does point very high-great when other wave boards are losing ground on light days.Due to its width it seems to float over incoming white water.The synchro is stable and easy to handle when the wind gets up(and I've still got my 5m up) but it will also carry a 6.4 in the light stuff. The synchro is a versatile board that is wave orientated enough to ride down the line on good sized waves. It has greatly increased my time on the water.

Spot on Dave,

I ride an '04 Syncro 103 ltr and just love it. I ride mostly in Port Philip Bay which can get very choppy and a fair sized swell. The rocker on this board makes it perfect for hammering out through this messy water in very comfortable style. Also good sized fin allows for this board to make excellent ground up wind. I was recently on a holiday at Lake Garda in Italy and was fortunate enough to trial the 2005 JP board range. My weapon of choice was the Super X 104. Maybe my harness lines were not set right, but I did not enojoy this board very much at all. While it was blisteringly quick (probably faster than the Syncro) it was all too prone to spinning out. It was then that I realised how good my Syncro was. Keep in mind that sailing conditions at Lake Garda are far more tame than that of Port Philip Bay. All in all (while I may be a wee bit biased) the Synco is a great board and adaptable for all types of conditions and sailing styles.

Cheers