Size: 6'6 X ? X 2 5/8
This unusual board was a 5 fin Bonzer copy made in France. I'm told the company is quite large by European standards I'm told. I came with Lokbox removable side runners and a 7" Tru ames bonzer fin. It was quite unusual with a black spray bottom red deck and white pinlines.
It looked like it would be quite a bit of fun with it's forward plan shape and wide tail. Ooh how looks can be deceiving! Paddling for the first time, it felt like it was pushing water and it took real effort getting anywhere.
The defining feature of a bonzer is its projection out of that first bottom turn. This board just faded at the bottom of the wave. Consequently after that it was usually just down the line.
Examining the fin set-up with my ruler pin pointed the problem, the centerfin was not the required distance from the runners. With my ruler in hand, I realised that the fin box was in the wrong position too far forward from the tail. There was no way this board was going to work unless some modification was done. I cut back the base of the centre fin so that it overhung the deck at the back by 1.5". This improve teh performance marginally, but it was no Bonzer.
The board looked pretty cool but the deck started to dent far more quickly than normal. It was obvious that this blank was shaped by a machine which took too much foam off the deck. Heel dents appeared after every session.
For a bit of fun I took out the 5 bonzer fins and put in 2 lokbox keel fins. It actually was quite a fun board then! But if I wanted a fish I would have bought one.
Avoid this board at all costs!!!!
Rating: 1/5
