After just receiving my JP 6ft 8" wood edition foilboard as described in Piros earlier post I was finally able to try it out & compare it to what I am used to riding, my Coreban 7ft 31.5 115L paddlleboard that I converted to a foilboard.
My weight at 80kgs. Height 5ft 10" Average to good fitness at 59 years age.
To my disappointment the wind was blowing! So arrived at a beach with the most shelter to find it was still blowing offshore at a rate of what I would judge at at least 20 knots gusts. Was sooo frustrating for up to 11/2 hours getting blown around & at times unable to paddle against the wind!
So on the water I jumped onto my knees & paddled past the group of prone surfers to save any embarrassments falling off this thing. As it is well below the comfortable size paddleboard that I am used to.
Once away from most eyes I stood up. So here is my review in short.
Stability: Only slightly less than my Coreban & my Sunova 8ft 3" x 29 wide 110 litres SUP. So I was very relieved as I was unable to demo this foilboard before buying. I believe this size board on average would suit an average height rider up to a weight of 80kgs. From there stability would start to become more difficult.
For a one board quiver for most conditions I would have chosen the 7ft 115L board. But even the 6ft 8" board seems to be doable at this stage & I am comfortable with it.
Paddle speed: Well the JP feels as if it has 3 speeds compared to the 2 speeds of my Coreban. That is my Coreban is a dog to paddle before catching a wave so have to position myself as the wave breaks due to the Corebans excessive nose lift that initially pushes water before the foil starts to lift the board.
The JP continiously speeds up whilst paddling on the swell before the board leaves the water surface. Most likely due to its angled chined rails & its lightness. Much lighter than my Coreban. The JP feels like it is air filled.
Riding: More nippy, responsive, reactive. It feels more like the difference between a shortboard & a mini mal. The JP is the shortboard & the Coreban due to its heavy weight is like a mini mal. Even though both were on the same NP foil I found a riding difference where I would have to react quicker to correct any differences in ride direction especially & mainly in the nose up or down direction.
Just after lift off I would level out & then find the board would then want to nose down causing me to level it out again making me trying to correct the porpoising instead of cruising level. I put this to the boards lightness & me being used to nearly a year of riding my Coreban. Plus I was only riding in thigh high to waist high waves. I think at a higher speed the board would cruise straight as I had noticed on the bigger waves.
The JP will be much easier to throw around with experience. So impressed with that.
Pros: Great design. Very stable, good paddle speed on swell & reactive surfing. Looks great.
Cons: You need to find a wedge!!!!! But I knew this before my purchase. This would be so disappointing if you didn't have anything to pack up the foil plate mount at the tail end! Lucky I had a piece of 5mm thick chopping board that I had prepared the day before I surfed. Other wise I would have been frustrated trying to ride with the board nose up from level angle. Which I had experienced.
I think a 5mm wedge would be about right.
If JP supplied the wedge with the board then this wouldn't be my complaint.
Maybe the tail rocker was designed for wind foiling. But no excuse for surf foiling unless wedge supplied. A bit like purchasing a bike without a seat. Haa!
I found that a right size wedge that contacts all of the mating surfaces of the board & foil mount plate is hard to find. I don't believe there should be any gaps if using bits of packing & washers. It doesn't absorb the full load.
So I will be making one probably from epoxy & fibreglass matting.
Overall I am very happy with my purchase. Its suits me fine & love it.
Oh I forgot to give full specs of the JP foilboard. It is 6ft 8" X 26 wide at 96 litres. Cheers.
Also another minor con I didn't mention. A deeper grip handle would have been perfect. But its ok.
Nice review , thanks !
I don't see the wedge on the photo is that right?
I wouldn't mind if JP would supply a few wedges ...
The tailrocker is very nice to pump the board up when catching a mellow wave but no wedge is no go for me..
I will attempt another downwinder today with the JP 7'0 and the Gong XXL and a 6 mm wedge this afternoon....
Yeah. Camarillo. The photos with the foil attached was just before I went out to test without a wedge. Then I came back in & stuck a piece of plastic chopping board on the mount. It was in a rough wedge shape from a previous failing to cut a wedge but ok to use to get an idea of the thickness needed.
I will experiment on making one from epoxy & some matting in a mold of kids plasticine. Should be simple enough as I had made go pro attachments out of it.
Or I may go & buy a bondo, (putty) spreader wedge at my local auto supply shop & see how that goes.
I want a wedge that will cover most of the boards surface.
I have only put a washer under the back of the plate on the 6-8 but don't even worry about it now , definitely does not need a wedge the 6-8 boxes are very flat it's the 7-0 that needs wedging. Just try a washer and don't worry about the forces the board and boxes are bomb proof.
Thanks Piros. You have had much more experience than me on this board & foils for that matter. And I believe you have ridden other brand boards as well to know the difference.
And I didn't think JP would have overlooked this.
It was just my second ride between strong winds where the front of the board seemed unusually high when riding. Maybe it was the strong wind blowing against me. ?
The wind did subside just after I installed the 5mm wedge and it felt better with it.
So now what I plan to do is get varying thicknesses of wedges from 5mm down. When I feel comfortable with what I hope no wedge. Then I will try my custom 7ft board with wedge to feel the difference. And then adjust it as well.
I am hoping to get the same feel of both my boards so I won't have to try & adapt when changing from one board to the other.
Cheers & thanks for your comment.
Had another 3 sessions on my JP 6ft 8" with NP foil. At my weight of 80kgs 5ft 10" tall. 59 years age. Who is comfortable on paddleboards of 29 to 32" wide at 7ft to 8ft 6 long with 110 to 125 litres volume. And my experiences so far is this:-
Lake entrance with 20 knot side wind chop & running tide with waist to shoulder high waves with side chop in different directions from wind & swell. Bouncing off a breakwall. Stability was OK until hammered by the chop at its worst. Wave count was approximately 70% to falling off 30%.
Beach break similar to a point break due to waves breaking over a sandbar in fairly deep water just off a lake entrance with breakwalls.
Affected by sideswell & entrance current plus lumpy chop that moves water in different directions. Wind on day 1 was about 10 to 15 knots side on. Wind on day 2 was only 5 to 10 knots quite smooth surface.
Wave count was only 30% to falling off 30%. Why? I am quite sure it was the lumpy chop & moving water. Made worse from increasing wind adding to surface wind chop.
So far I have found that off shore wind at a beach break that breaks close to shore only produces small surface chop even when the wind blows quite strong so stability is quite good due to facing it when catching waves & small chop doesn't knock the board around much. So wave count is ok unless the wind blows too hard up the face of the wave preventing you from the drop down. But even then stability was ok.
Same with entrance side wind chop only producing small surface chop. But the swell with wind chop bouncing off breakwall creating lumpy chop decreased wave count & increased fall offs.
But when in more open water the wind chop increases in size, tidal flow out of an entrance increases surface chop. And wind from the side increases chop size which further decreases wave count.
So again in my opinion for a person with my size, age and ability. I would definitey recommend the JP 7ft 115litre litre board as the one & only board for most conditions.
Would I have been disappointed if the 6ft 8" board was my only foil board? Yes I would be. But I definitely am not due to having a 7ft board at 115 litres 31.5 " wide. That can handle most conditions even when all other paddleboarders have left from being too uncomfortable. Waves for myself, Yay!
Would I recommend the JP foil boards? You bet I do. Sooo light & strong construction with added strap & sail mounts. Heaps of foil adjustments.
Excellent stability for volume. Great performance, easy to turn & recovery bounce on a purpose nose dive. All boards don't recover from a foil breach.
So if someone asks me what board for a 75kg and above person? I would definitely say "The JP 7ft 115 litre." But unsure if I would recommend it to someone at 95kgs & over?
If I was asked by someone at 75kg and below I would definitely say "The JP 6ft 8" 96 litre"
So what does the 75kg person choose? Well that comes to ability in stability. If they like to ride paddleboards less than 100 litres then the JP 6ft 8"
If they like to ride paddleboards over 100 litres then the JP 7ft.
Hope this helps those trying to make a decision. Especially the one buying online & who wants only one foilboard.
Great. Useful update. At 5'11" ( you've got a couple of years wisdom and KG power on me. I'm more than happy with my 7' as my only foil board in all conditions. I'm often out in cross winds with chop and currents (which make a big difference IME). Settled on my foil ( Naish L wing mostly) position slightly further forward than your set up there. Great boards. Mine has coped brilliantly with all the learning curve knocks, a bent mast and snapped leash.
Nice to read about your experiences Seajuice
What is the biggest problem on the 6'8 when it is windy and choppy?
Its shortness 6'8 , its narrowness 26" or or low volume 95 liter?
I weigh 85 kg and for me my JP 7'0 is a very easy to balance, I feel it is long enough, wide enough and has enough liters.
And that is why I am looking for a shorter board and thanks to your review I won't get the JP 6'8
I am thinking about getting the JP Flying V 5'10 , 28,5 wide 105 liter as a second board.....
Select to expand quoteCamarillo said..
Nice to read about your experiences Seajuice
What is the biggest problem on the 6'8 when it is windy and choppy?
Its shortness 6'8 , its narrowness 26" or or low volume 95 liter?
I weigh 85 kg and for me my JP 7'0 is a very easy to balance, I feel it is long enough, wide enough and has enough liters.
And that is why I am looking for a shorter board and thanks to your review I won't get the JP 6'8
I am thinking about getting the JP Flying V 5'10 , 28,5 wide 105 liter as a second board.....
Camarillo. Its narrowness combined with volume. Is the biggest problem. But was still surprised at how it floats my weight. I think it feels slightly corky.
Sometimes I did have nose & tail burying due to me trying to balance left & right. Maybe you might experience some of that with a shorter board but in my opinion it wouldn't be a major issue with better stability.
I think the Flying V would be more stable than the JP 6ft 8"with the 28.5 width combined with 105 litres. So good choice as a second board. No good having 2 boards at 115 litres hey.
Maybe if its stable enough it might be your only board.
I think you mean the JL Flying V. Not JP Flying V.
Maybe Jimmy Lewis boards Australia may be able to comment on its stability.
yes I meant the Jimmy lewis Flying V 5'10
You have to give your 6'8 some more time, a few more sessions and your muscle memory will kick in.
Well had a few more sessions in different water conditions.
So I think this should be my last review on the 6ft 8" JP foilboard & NP foil combo.
Wedges? Well as I have found it is up to the rider. Good riders don't seem to need one. Due to their hopping paddle style to get the board up off the water surface easily. But for me so far I have found a 4mm or 5mm wedge to be nice due to my normal paddleboard straight paddling. Although I do get into the surf stance way before catching a wave. But I don't hop the board as I do so.
Stability? Is still excellent for its 96 litre volume & 26" width. I would now compare it similar to an allround paddleboard of about 105 litres by about 28 to 29 wide at 8ft to 8ft 6" long. In normal conditions.
I surfed this board on a quite normal beach & basically stood up for most of my 3 hour session & stayed comfortable for my 80kg weight. The wind on this beach did gust at times of about 20 knots but averaged at around 10 knots. The wind doesn't seem to bother its stability. But water movement does as it did out off a lakes entrance with an outgoing tide / current with side swell from passing breaking waves & bounce off the breakwall giving up to 1ft high lumpy chop. So if you have waters like this then the 7ft JP foilboard would be better. My second session on this water did improve though but the wave count would have been more on on the 7ft 115 litre.
As for the NP foil. Still excellent. Stable & fast. Plenty of lift.
