Surfladle

I changed from an RRD freestyle/wave 78 to the Twinser 82 looking for an all-round wave board covering say 4.5/5.0 – 5.7 and ‘wavier’ than the freestyle/wave. Overall I really like this board, a lot, and have had a fun session every time that I’ve used it. It goes well in a wide range of conditions, is light and seems well made. It is quite wide (57.5cm) so easy to get going and sail.
Once you get used to it the board planes fine, probably due to the width and light weight. It jumps well, though you have to push less with your back foot on take-off and landings are softer with the twin fins. The wider nose is probably a bit of an advantage in the air in lighter winds and a bit of a disadvantage in stronger.
Straight line speed is fine for me and upwind is good and gets easier as you get used to the board.
I find that the twin fins give the board a better high wind range than a single fin and definitely have felt much more in control than I expected on this wide a board when over-powered with smaller sails. For me it’s perfect with 4.5 to say 5.3 ish and OK with 5.7. If I wanted a board for mainly 5.7 weather I would consider bigger/single fin, but for mainly 4.5/5.0/5.3 and occasional 5.7 this is spot-on.
Gybing and turning is where I think the twin fins are an advantage – a bit of foot pressure and the board turns off or up-wind very easily .
Took a bit of getting used to wave riding the board but now I really like it in onshore and cross-shore wave riding in our mushy waves. It’s a wide board so won’t be as tight turning as say a 54cm wave, but I think that it’s very good indeed for our conditions.

Dave is a local to Shoreham but also sails the Welsh coast line.

Reviewed by Dave Jones