Just yesterday, Leogarto Burt came to visit me at Monkey Cove. While working on a wave, he broke out his new HP5 Surfboard. Right away I noticed how cool looking this board is. It has a great thick feel, too, without a bulky feel and shape that looks fast just sitting there in the water.
The performance of this board is in a word Awesome! The feel and ability to make razor sharp cutbacks is amazing. As far as animation goes, he’s nailed it! The animation changes when cutting back into and up the waves with your avatar maintaining balance just like you would in Real Life (RL) surfing.
Although the board has some modifications to be completed, I really enjoyed the experience. It’s definitely a really fun ride. I didn’t have an opportunity to explore the features of the board, but there are a few key elements I noticed within seconds.
First, there's is virtually no belly time. While interacting with the wave, you spring to your feet almost immediately. The second observation is that the board has better control then the HP4 boards. Some new riders have had expressed difficulty in the “touchy” nature of the HP4. I can assure you, there is a great balance between the old and new here. New and experienced surfers alike will love this board.
The HP5 board will be tested at the next Associacao Brasileira de Surf no SL event and then go on sale later in April.
Syx Toshi is the owner of Monkey Cove sims and Surf Shop 6 and a regular contributor and sponsor of SurfWatch. You can link to Syx' blog by clicking the sponsor logo SS6 along the right side of SurfWatch in the sponsor section.
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2 comments:
I had a chance to test a loaner from Kimmy Jigsaw and I agree with you assessment that this is a huge evolution for HP Syx. I look forward to riding this board in the next ABSSL comp on 4/4. Nice job Leogarto, keep up the good work.
I totally agree, I'm having loads of fun with my HP5 board. Great detailed animations and realistic physical feel! There's one thing that's puzzling me though. The instructions notecard describs a number of moves that involve triple hits on the up-arrow key, like an "Aerial" for example. Try as I might, I've never been able to pull any of them off. Any hints on those?
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