I sailed the demo for several days, using Wally and Mistral rigs mainly.
It's a lovely board. It seemed faster than a hybrid generally, allowing for the fact that they were using sails 1-2m bigger. It can be chucked around like a slalom board in strong winds and goes almost as well as a conventional longboard in light winds. It's quick to tack in light winds which is important for me; maybe not for others.
However it is not faster, as a racing proposition, than a Raceboard or IMCO; a fair bit slower in fact. In testing we found it to be a bit slower than a Wally (using Wally rigs) most of the time. A Kona owner 'round our place agrees that his Kona isn't as quick in light winds. Despite all the talk, no one has repealed the laws of physics that dictate that more length and less width is quicker unless you're on a flat out plane.
But given a good wind and a reach the Kona is way faster than a Wally and possibly quicker than a Raceboard; there's talk of 33 knots on a Kona while Raceboarders here are getting 31 or so and Wally sailors 25 knots. So for a simple all-wind chuck-around board with a good blast of speed the Kona does the job really well. For really good light wind performance, look for a Raceboard/IMCO or a Wally.
I was surprised at the performance of the smaller Tabou Windstyler in a planing breeze; I thought it would be too short to be a longboard but it felt nice. However, from the little light wind sailing I did, and the general dimensions, I can't see it being as nice as the Kona in the light stuff which takes away some of the reasons you'd go for a longboard. BTW, the SUP we also tried just did not want to go, upwind, downwind or reaching. I'd say an original Mk 1 Wally without centreboard would beat it in every direction on flat water (of course the SUP would kick ass doing what it's supposed to do in the surf).
Have just ordered one. Seemed to me to fit the general bill of versatility and hoping some one design may start up over here in the future. Waiting for the board to arrive so will let you know.
Chris comments are very accurate.
I have just got one. I am still a learner but in 3 sessions on it I can now sail upwind tack and turn in 10knts without falling in. I am 93kgs and uphauling is easy so I am pretty happy with the boards stability and my progression. I will be trying one of the sort wide beginner boards next week so after that I can provide a comparison as a starter board.
However I was out in a fair chop yesterday and had trouble with stability and getting going. Mainly due to trying to uphaul with my back to the oncoming waves.
Hope this helps.
Hi Mr K,
Kona One:
70cm width.
49cm (measured) tail width 30cm from the planing part of the tail.
46cm fin (powerbox)
Probably 8Kg heavier than a slalom board.
For me (84Kg) with 7.5m, planing threshold is about 16 knots realistically.
In my opinion not as early planing as a light wind slalom board and won't stay on the plane like one either.
