FEEDBACK : GONG SUP 7'8 Karmen FSP !!!

I was not really comfortable entering the water for fear of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but thanks to the stability and speed of the Karmen, especially in prone position to pass the impact zone, I I was quickly reassured. In a few minutes I was in the line up and I measured my alignments with the dune. It was very bad at the beginning of the session with hollow and intense waves. The first series raised the hair on my arms, especially after seeing surfers fight to make their entry into the wave, but in 7’8, the Karmen is a sliding machine. She took on all the waves that I could reasonably take, without messing up any take-off, and with a good margin of safety. Her behaviour is super clean and without any (bad) surprises, which is very appreciable. You forget about the board and get to focus on the exploitation of the wave. With the mounting of  the waves she became more stable and the waves dropped in speed and intensity. I was able to chase some beautiful waves, Coolas style, and never too far from the curl, without forcing the pace of the wave. Moreover, I realised that this Board works best when we do not force the supports and you let it find its own pace. Even with its large volume for my 75kg, it remains very fine and precise in driving. Rear foot on the ail, she blasts out turns endlessly. More than its acceleration, what is remarkable with this Board is the conservation of speed, which allows to exploit a wave of take-off to the last little bit of foam. I find that the FSP construction further highlights the natural softness of the Shape. At the take off the rush of energy is channeled and we feel no effect of ‘guiding’ as with the Curve which was harder to rotate cleanly when it came full bore down the wave. Conversely in the smaller sections, the softness of the Shape makes that there is no break in the carving phases so that you continue to link them without having to pump to relaunch. Today I tell myself that I could not do without this Karmen FSP in my Quiver! It is the perfect complement to the smaller Carbon Boards.”