Hitting the market last year, the 104 (along with the smaller 94) was Exocet’s first foray into the world of freestyle.

On the water:

Exocet is a brand that has majored on fast boards (and more recently, longboards) along with some very successful all-round and wave shapes like the Cross and X-Wave. Unfortunately it seems that their first shot at a freestyle hasn’t been quite so successful. Being a relatively large board – the longest on test, with quite a wide tail and nose – it’s very stable and predictable for non-planing tricks. However, it was the heaviest board on test (nearly a kilo heavier than the four lightest) and for a flat rockered board it lacks ‘get up and go’. As the pictures show, it does respond given commitment, but all the freestylers agreed that it lacked pop compared to the other boards, and didn’t spin or slide particularly well. In freeride mode it lacks excitement but goes upwind particularly well and gybes predictably. Wave use is limited by the flattish rocker and large size.

Fittings:

The fin is extremely large and should only be considered for freeride or old-school freestyle. The straps were criticised for not being easy to make big enough and not giving a very secure connection. Popularity It was bottom of the wish-list for every tester.

Overall:

Although it can be made to do the moves, the I-Style doesn’t really offer the same level of performance as the other freestyle boards in the test. Nor did it offer any particular advantages for freestyle over the much more all-round freemove boards.