For 2008 Airwave is proud to carry the full line from Goya. We have used and own both the boards and sails and are very impressed. We are sure you will be to. Give us a call to learn more about availability.

On the water: The ONE 85 is very much a moderate waveboard design, with a fairly wide nose suggesting a slight leaning towards smaller waves and freestyle. The tail is easily the narrowest on test, the length at 231.5cm easily the shortest, and the max planing width easily the narrowest. The planing flat is also the shortest with a 141.2cm point but the tail rocker is relatively moderate at only 4mm.

Not surprisingly then, it was clearly a strong favourite in the waves, and just as clearly the slowest to get planing in marginal 5.7m weather. Much less predictable was the really balanced feel and sensible volume distribution that made it feel much more comfortable and less twitchy or specialised than ‘big waveboards’ can often be guilty of.

It sits quite low in the water and has a secure, manageable nature rather than feeling fast and flighty, but it blasts and rides chop comfortably. It’s happy enough in flat water and keen to perform stronger wind freestyle but comes into its own in swell – or, better still, waves. It’s a great jumping and riding board, agile, easy, predictable and controllable.

Range: It will take up to a 5.8m, but its ideal sail range is 4.7- 5.5m and its ideal water state is coastal so there is clear overlap with smaller waveboards. It can handle almost any (stronger) windstrength or water conditions if required.

Fittings: A very sensibly sized and decently performing MFC 25cm fin. The deck is nicely padded and domed. Straps are comfy and easy to adjust, but don’t easily go either very big or very small and the top velcro strap is flimsy.

Popularity: One of the top three performers for nearly all the guest testers, and very popular with the testers too. Although this is partly attributable to the fairly windy test conditions which so suited to its nature, it’s also clearly merited.

Overall: A board that can fulfil many roles, but its strengths are definitely biassed towards coastal conditions or high wind freestyle, and towards reasonably well-powered sailing. Accessible enough to be considered a ‘high wind board’ for late intermediate to advanced sailors, yet it can equally be considered as an ideal lighter wind (but very much wave-oriented) complement to a small waveboard for advanced to expert sailors. A very classy feel and highly recommendable for manoeuvre / freestyle / jumping style sailing in medium winds.

RRD
Many times a test winner over the past few years, RRD have wisely not made too many tweaks to this extremely successful design for 2007. This year’s board sees the nose lift a little earlier and a little higher, a considerably wider nose and more vee in the underwater shape. However, that all-important fast-tail is still very much in place. The Freestyle Wave range has been expanded to 5 different sizes for 2007, spanning 78 to 110L.

On the water: Early planing and acceleration is excellent, right up there with the freerides and other fast-tail boards, and it blasts comfortably on the longish flat, going upwind with ease. Compared to other boards that can blast comfortably in low powered conditions, the RRD feels extremely ready to jump or manoeuvre. The nose rides high, and the board feels loose and keen to turn.

In waves its natural speed and acceleration combine with the high nose and very reliably grippy tail to give excellent jumping, even in quite low-powered conditions. While not in the same league of manoeuvrability as the two most wavey designs in this test, it can certainly be thrown around extremely hard, flowing easily through tight bottom-turns and slashy topturns. Its gybing performance is versatile and reliable. Freestyle suitability is very good with the long flat, wide nose and tiny duck-tail all helping. The only real area where performance suffers is in rougher water and stronger winds, when the wide nose can get quite bouncy at speed, and lighter sailors reported it becoming unsettled.

Range: Although it will take up to 6.0-6.2m if you want to concentrate on more freeride performance, it works best in the waves with sails of between 5.2 and 5.8m. In stronger conditions it starts to get a bit bouncy and hectic, but within its ideal range it provides exceptional versatility.

Fittings: Most sailors loved the spongy deckpads, though some felt they neutered the feedback the board offers and flattened the deck a bit. (Last year’s model had superb toeraisers; whatever happened to them?) The straps are comfy and the 25cm MFC fin suits the board well in its ideal mid windrange. Use something a little bigger for the most marginal winds, although this is somewhat less easy now that RRD have gone over to classic box fitting this season in these smaller Freestyle Wave sizes (78 & 86L).

Popularity: Made most guesters’ top five including a first and a second and was much liked by all the testers (one of whom has since bought one).

Overall: Another killer board from RRD for exploiting marginal coastal conditions to the max. The fast-tail rocker ensures that you will get planing with as small a sail as possible as soon as the wind allows, while the unusually pivotal and manoeuvrable feel gives excellent riding potential. Great jumping and good freestyle complete the mix. Compared to last year’s board it feels a bit bigger and slappier; a higher weight carrier and better for freestyle, but a fraction down on control.

It is quite a windstrength-specific design, though. Rather than a do-it-all strong wind allrounder, it’s definitely a board to maximise coastal sailing fun in lighter winds and be used in partnership with a proper waveboard to take care of the more solid conditions.