The Real World Wave boards underwent a big change in 2008, with a substantial increase in rocker turning them from ‘fast’ waveboards into fully rockered stubby waveboards. This year sees a slight move away from the stubby design, with 1cm of width shaved off the tail and about half that much shaved off the max width, and the same rocker profile.

On the water:

The overall effect of these changes over the last two years is that the Real World Wave has gone from being a ‘fast’ early planing board with a strong freestyle-wave feeling, to now focussing much more on stronger winds and manouevrability. It needs a bit more wind to unstick now, but once up and going it’s very comfortable and easy to sail; the relatively high width and volume offering excellent stability and support without feeling too corky. The moderate vee gives good grip without feeling sticky, and the board rides smoothly and gives excellent control in chop and high winds. Given sufficient space to get the speed up, it jumps well and is nicely controllable in the air. In the turn it’s very loose for its size, favouring tight and snappy gybes and giving an easy-to-turn riding style. It’s very predictable and reliable, delivering good grip and easy top turns at speed. Rather than being an all-out onshore rider, it offers a good compromise between riding in onshore and cross-shore conditions.

Fittings:

Good straps, fin and pads and a very lightweight hull make an extremely attractive package out of the box.

Overall:

The RWW 74 is a very easy and predictable yet pleasingly loose waveboard. Its controllability combined with plentiful width and volume makes it in particular a very safe bet for heavier or less confident sailors in higher winds. Overall, a good all-rounder, majoring on all-round riding performance and good control.