By Boards UK (28th. August 2006)
 Bill Dawes look at the latest 'new' phenomenon to hit the market, and gives an early-day appraisal of the initial exponent of the group; the new Kona…
What goes around, comes around, as they say - and it's never more true than in windsurfing. Nevertheless, the re-emergence of longboards onto the windsurfing scene wasn't something that many people would have predicted just yet. Indeed, as detailed in the main New for 2007 article, it looks as though 2005-2006 will be remembered as the year when windsurfers reached their very shortest lengths. So why have longboards suddenly started reappearing?
There are actually quite a few factors at play here - nostalgia being one of the biggest. Ah, those halcyon days of the late 1970s and early 1980s, when every lake, harbour and beach was packed with happy windsurfers pottering around in light winds on longboards. Many of the older hands in the windsurfing industry look back on those times and wonder why we can't recreate it. Indeed, in some camps it has become the holy grail - if only we can reinvent light wind windsurfing as fun then people will flock back to the sport (and we'll all be rich!)
Unfortunately though, the world has changed. In those early days there was precious little else you could do if you wanted some good clean outdoor fun, in a portable format that didn't necessarily require other people to help you launch, crew or whatever. Attention spans were longer, too - the fact that windsurfing takes a bit longer to learn than most other sports was not an issue, as opposed to the modern instant-gratification MTV generation ways. But most importantly, in the early days of the sport windsurfing on a longboard in light winds was actually quite a challenge in itself anyway - and then in stronger winds it got really hard! Whereas nowadays, effortless planning is easily accessible to all, and with the best will in the world, drifting about in lighter winds just isn't quite the same once you've tasted the thrills of in-the-straps blasting. Unless you have somewhere specific to go, or other people to compete against…
 Which brings us on to the other major factor behind the sudden revitalization of bigger boards. The current Olympic board (the RS:X) has manifestly failed to deliver the goods as a club racer for the wider market. It seems to be working well enough as an Olympic one-design, but wider hopes that it might stimulate a revival of grass-roots club racking, enticing large numbers of competent windsurfers back into battling it out round the cans on Tuesday nights and weekends - have clearly been dashed. Indeed, it has so spectacularly not happened that it's cast a big shadow over the whole 'hybrid' concept. The original idea was that these boards should fall somewhere in between the planning performance of the Formula racer, and the lighter wind performance of the longboard. Unfortunately though, the resulting compromise seems to be the worst of all worlds. The RS:X is really not that much fun in lighter winds (and vastly slower than a longboard), too heavy to plane early, and substantially slower than a Formula in the stronger winds.
However, hats off to the windsurfing industry for seeing this as an opportunity rather than a reason for gloom. Several other manufacturers have now brought out their own hybrid raceboards, looking to fill the gap (and who knows - maybe nab the next Olymplic board title?) The 2007 hybrid line-up includes the F2 Lighning (285 x 88), the Exocet Pacers (300x80 & 290x70), and the Starboard Hybrids (287x77 & 277x82). These boards vary between 'still quite short' (277 cm) and 'getting a bit longer' (3m) and between very wide (93cm) and 'a bit wide' (70 cm). Although still inferior to the best specialist planning or non-planing opposition, they reckon to provide reasonable crossover performance depending on their particular shape. Their main problem, though, is simply that they lack a forum. Few people are tempted to buy one because there isn't really anywhere to use it. They really need a strong class or club racing scene to slot into - the classic chicken-and-egg situation.
So - though they may well be a valid racing option - we suspect that hybrids aren't the answer when it comes to luring people back onto the water in light winds. Ultimately, the (probably) insurmountable problem is that no shortboard can really be that much fun in lighter winds. This was clearly illustrated in our beginner board test earlier this year. The clear favourites of all our beginner testers were the Fanatic Vipers, which are a little bit longer and slightly less wide than the majority, and maintain heavy vee throughout their underwater length, all of which made them cruise through the chop rather than slap-slap-slap over the top of it. And this is basically the issue-shorter, wider boards aren't ideal for non-planing conditions.
Which is why the longboard has started to reappear. There's no doubt that if light wind windsurfing could be relaunched as 'fun' then yes, it would indeed be a massive boost for the sport. A few more far-sighted voices in the industry are also looking at the awesome boom in popularity of surfing over the past few years, and the resultant endemic over-crowding on the beaches. With literally hundreds of punters competing for even the smallest of ripples, and the first signs of disillusionment (not least from the more proficient surfers who now can't ever get a wave to themselves, and certainly can't see their sport as 'cool' any more) clearly setting in - what a golden opportunity for en masse conversations to longboard windsurfing? All it needs is a few folk cruising round outside the line-up at Croyde or Newquay on a sunny summer afternoon, and there's every chance that many frustrated souls on the inside - having just fought their way out through the 'line-up' of city accountants and stockbrokers on foamies all telling each other how cool they are - might just think "yes, that looks like a whole heap more fun to me" … particularly if said windsurfers can effortlessly catch and cruise a wave on their way in anyway.
The Kona One.
And so to the subject of this review. First seen at the London Boat Show back in January in prototype form, it eventually reached our retailers in July - and we've been putting one through its paces ever since. It shouldn't come as a surprise that it's the product of a French company. France, probably more than any other nation, took windsurfing to its heart in its initial heyday, with a supposed 10% of the population owning a board. While the German brands in true stereotypical fashion quickly moved towards more high-tech (and shorter) realms, the French were just blasting out cheap'n'cheerful blow-moulded big longboards for all and sundry. So Exocet's bossman Patrice Belbeoc'h knows well that he has a big home market to play for. (Interestingly, the 2nd new-style longboard to hit the scene, hard on the heels of the Exocet, comes from fellow French brand Tabou - though there is some controversy as to who thought of the idea first…)
Because the Kona isn't just another longboard. It has a daggerboard and big boxy rails, and yup, it's definitely long - but there are some significant differences between it and anything that has been made before, in an attempt to gain that holy grail. Clearly the modern longboard - if it's going to capture the hearts and minds of the windsurfing populace (as well as hopefully introducing new people to the sport) - is going to have to deliver that bit more than longboards used to.
 The most obvious difference is the massive (30 cm) duck-tail, which brings the fin substantially further forward (actually 50 cm from the tail). The idea is simple. In light winds the board is engaged along its full length, but when travelling at speed it lifts onto the shorter planning surface (with a rocker line taken from the super-successful AHD 310) and behaves like a much smaller board.
The planshape is also very straight-sided and deliberately reminiscent of a Malibu surfboard. Indeed, the board is marketed very much as a multi-sport option - surfboard, paddle - board and windsurfer. And this marketing has been very effective. Judging by the reaction to the launch of the Kona, there's no doubt that les Frogs are on the right track. There is clearly a market for a longboard that does deliver good all-round fun performance in light winds. So - an the Kona deliver?
Before answering that, we need to declare an interest. Basically, there are two sorts of windsurfers in this world - those that have spent a lot of time sailing / racing longboards, and those that haven't. If you're in the former camp, then you've got baggage; fond memories of getting out there on the rail and cranking that board upwind. Days of cruising, racing .. many many miles covered. We all fall into this camp - and it inevitably means expectations. (However, to balance this we made a point of getting people with no previous longboard experience to try it.)
Nevertheless, even with that background, it was an eye-opener just how big - and heavy - a 18kg (it's quoted at 16kg but ours weighed 18) 350cm board feels nowadays. Even before you get anywhere near the beach it raises issues; it's a beast to lift on/off the roofrack and it's a problem to get into the van.
On the water, it certainly feels different. There's on doubt that boards work better for general light wind cruising. They 'glide' so much easier. It's much more point-and shoot sailing. When we had a modern short-and wide beginner board out at the same time as the Kona, it was noticeable that you tended to cover much more ground on the Kona. You slip much easier into that relaxed reverie, just poddling along, not really thinking about the windsurfing, just enjoying the feeling of being afloat. Whereas on the short wide board, after a hundred metres of straight lining you tend to start doing board and sail spinning tricks, a) because the extra width tends to encourage that sort of behaviour, b) because short wide boards are so quick and easy to turn, but c) simply because they just don't feel so good in a straight line.
To keep things as simple as possible, the manufaturer have decided not to equip the board with a sliding mast-track - the board just has a 35cm finbox track. If you try sailing upwind with the mastfoot back, it's much slower and less well-balanced. (This is where that previous longboard 'baggage' comes in to play - the board has such nice big rails that you instinctively just want to get out there and really crank the board upwind.) So in non-planing conditions you're best off putting the mastfoot quite a long way forward (2/3 to fully) in thetrack, as this means that when you kick the daggerboard down to go upwind, you can get out on the rail reasonably comfortably and the board goes upwind very nicely. It wouldn't match a proper raceboard but it's not bad, and if you've never sailed anything longer than 280cm before you'll feel a huge difference. It's great being on something that genuinely does offer fairly good light-wind upwind performance; your sailing very quickly becomes more '3 dimensional' - especially if you have somewhere to explore.
Having the mastfoot a long way forward (and the extra length of the board anyway), does all mean that tacks are much slower and more labourious than on a shorter board. However, its gibing - in both light winds and strong - is substantially better.
The Kona's not particularly quick to plane - you can feel the drag of the duck-tail while other boards are easily popping up onto the plane all around you. However, this is probably the only real area where its performance was notably below that of short, wide boards. If you're sailing in planning conditions then you're best starting with the foot at the back of the track and sailing it upwind on the plane rather than with the daggerboard.
OTHER LONGBOARDS
As well as Tabou's Windstyler, which has a similar duck-tail to the Kona and is of similar width but slightly shorter (325cm), BiC are bringing out what they are calling the Hybrid but which is 'moderately long' and 'quite wide' at 308 x 82 and actually sits between the other hybrids and the 'quite long boards'. Starboard have a similar board that they are calling the Phantom. Will these offer better crossover performance? Will they catch on? Will the competitively priced BiC Hybrid do for the hybrid / longboard what the Techno did for the widestyle or the Techno Formula did for recreational cruising / racking ? Hopefully we will be able to answer some of these questions in the coming year.
Finally, taking the longboard story a step further into totally new realms, is the very interesting addition to the market of the Starboard Serenity. At 455 x 60m it's an 'exceptionally long' and 'pretty narrow' board and is refreshingly pure in its aims, namely simple non-planing performance. It has no daggerboard but the fin is massive (70cm) and placed well forward, complimented by very deep vee in the hull. By Starboard's own admission, sailing it is "a balancing act that some sailors may find too challenging". It sounds like a modified Div 2 longboard for those of you who have long memories, and just as hard as those displacement hulls to sail, Maybe the best crossover answer is to put one of these on your roofrack next to your early planning freeride / slalom / formula. It's back to the drawing board for the garage racking system though.
Once up and running it feels very nice - smooth, nippy (surprisingly quick in fact, as long as you're well powered up) and as said, it gybes really well considering its size. Obviously you have to watch out for all that nose up front, but if you an crank it round off a bit of swell or a wave, so that the nose is kept well clear, you can really fire it round beautifully on that relatively narrow tail. It is certainly far more fun to gybe with an 8.0+ a big wide-tailed modern early-planer / marginal winds board. If you've got a smaller board to hand for use in planning conditions you're probably going to be on that instead, but if the Kona is your only board it's certainly very useable in stronger winds. That's the great thing about a longboard - you can put pretty much whatever size of sail that you want onto it!
 The board comes with an all-over EVA deck covering, even on the rails. This is the beginners / family option, and also for those wanting to do a little rail-riding!. So-can the board function as a full-on family / all-rounder? It's certainly OK, although complete beginners will find the width of the modern dedicated beginner boards substantially easier. The Kona's 70cm width - although actually much wider than all but the very last few recreational longboards that were made - feels very comfortable for recreational sailing, but this was always going to be a compromise. If they'd made the board wider it would have improved the beginner / teaching performance, but meant extra weight and less stronger windspeed and manoeuvrability. However, for general cruising whatever the weather, it's definitely superior.
So what about its much-vaunted surfing ability? This is a tricky one. It can certainly be done - if you're already a very competent longboard surfer and you've got some smallish, not too steep waves to surf. However, it's so much heavier than a regular surfboard - and so much thicker - that it takes a lot of effort to turn, and you'll need to learn the techniques. Basically, you'll get better rides on a proper surfboard, but it can do it if you're into the challenge of mastering it. However, for surfing beginners it's certainly very easy to get stood up on and ride straight in on the white water, and on a board this big you can catch even the smallest of ripples. Apparently it can be used OK for paddle-surfing (standing up using a canoe-type paddle to propel yourself forward and catch waves) too, although this isn't something we've tried. By the sound of it, like the surfing, you'll get better rides on dedicated equipment, but you can certainly do it if you're up for the challenge. The bottom line is that the Kona is a windsurfing board - and that's obviously what it does best! But the fact that it can be used for things like surfing and paddle-surfing can only increase its appeal to those that don't want to be carrying (or investing in) too many different toys.
One area where we're less convinced is in its wavesailing capabilities. Although we haven't actually found it in the manufacturer's bumf, some folk seem to be under the impression that the Kona could function as an entry-level wavesailing board. There's no doubt that you could use it to sail out and catch waves back in, in non-planing or marginal planning conditions, much easier than you could do on smaller boards. You can whiz backside along the wave, and try a few wiggles.
 However, properly waveriding a board this big (particularly if you have any ambitions to got frontside) takes loads of effort and technique, and is nothing like waveriding on a smaller board (it all happens so very slowly, for starters). Plus which, if you get wiped out, there's an awful lot of board in the water (or air!) - there's a serious safety issue here. Jumping it is also not for the faint-hearted. All these things an be done, but are rally not advisable for the inexperienced. So we'd really not suggest anyone views the Kona as a route into wavesailing!
And then there's the racing. Tor Bakke, now President of the Kona Association, set up the Kona as a one-design class, and have guaranteed that the design will never be changed in any way for at least five years - although only subtle - if needed at all. They have developed different sized OD rigs to accompany for various body weights. (7 battens, no cams). Apparently they had 200 boards on the water at the French Nationals, and it worked superbly. Again we'd have loved to have seen a sliding mast-track (we suspect that as racers get serious on it, they will find their own ways to move the mastfoot!) but otherwise, yes-this is definitely an area where the board could excel, as it's comfortable in such a wide range of conditions. It remains to be seen whether the OD racing fleet idea will catch on here in the UK. It'd be really nice if it did.
In Summary
It's going to be very interesting to see how this catches on, both with other manufacturers and with the public at large. The idea of having one board that can be sailed enjoyably in light or strong winds, used to teach friends and family, surfed and paddle-surfed, and raced around the cans at the local club as well, certainly sounds pretty good! Old-timers who grew up sailing longboards will certainly enjoy sialing the Kona More recent converts will find it interesting and different. The acid test though will be whether they want to keep sailing it. Because this is ultimately the bigger issue: Is it actually possible to wind the clock back to a time when large numbers of people will be fulfilled by light wind sailing? Can that holy grail be found? Our guess is that it would need the racing option to catch on properly before we start seeing Kona sales in serious numbers. Here in the UK it will also depend on whether other manufacturers follow suit. Exocet appear to have already cornered the market in France, but this side of the Channel, if other decent options start appearing, too much choice may make it difficult for an od fleet to get established. Anyway, it does certainly appear that Exocet have managed to tap into an unfulfilled need, so our congratulations to them. And if you're in the market for a board with decent light wind performance that also offers a fun set of challenges for other conditions too, then there's certainly now something in the market for you.
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