For the past few weeks I have been spending a lot of time riding the new Spleene ZONE directional board. This board is a completely different ride than any other board I have owned. It took a little time to really dial it in, but it goes upwind almost as well as the Session 141, but requires some work and concentration at first – and of course good toe-side technique. While this board can be ridden in light conditions it takes a whole different technique. It’s very important to keep the board moving, not edging too hard when losing power, and also picking your way carefully thru chop to avoid being slowed.

The ZONE board turns so beautifully and fast on the wave faces and pierces thru almost or rides up over anything when you need it to. The board NEVER tends to pearl, even in the worst possible situations. Surfing down the line is a breeze on this board. Not to be mistaken – this is NOT a board with volume and you need some kite power to make it go upwind. And you can hold down considerable power with the ZONE. It rides differently than a true “surfboard” shape however. The foot straps are exceptional – at least for my feet - and I feel totally locked in when riding, but can kick out if I need to.

It’s a little different riding toeside 50% of the time and I sometimes feel limited in terms of wanting to boost on port tack when riding seaward (since I have it set up “goofy foot”) - but this pushes me to try different things as well. Riding toeside for extended periods of time seems to put a lot of stress on my back foot (left) Achilles tendon, and I find that I ride this board with more weight on my front foot most of the time. The tri fin configurations seem to work well, but I might try 2 fins to see if that speeds the board up a bit. The fins definitely grip the waves nicely though and I always feel really tight to the wave and in control when I want it.

I’ve switched back to a waist harness (from the Dakine Nitrous) when riding this board. I find myself twisting my body stance almost 180 degrees to the kite sometimes and it really helps to wear a chafe shirt between vest and harness so that the harness spins freely while riding toeside. It’s nice when it’s windy enough to use a 12m or smaller kite because the turning speed makes it more fun to smack wave faces with speed and power. I sometimes feel somewhat lame that I am not as comfortable riding regular foot, and I might just reverse the setup and force myself to learn on a mellow day.

This has quickly become a close choice as my favorite board – partially for the way it rides, partially for the change from riding twin-tips all the time. I’ve ridden the ZONE downwind and upwind extensively …some days for 3-4 hours at a stretch….it seems to be on the top of the stacks of boards I have lately. But it sure makes you hungry for any kind of waves to play in.

Ironically I almost lost this board the first day I had it while rescuing another instructor’s student. I had to ditch the board ¼ mile offshore after I had to dive on top of her lines while her kite looped out of control for over ½ mile and then I had to cut all her lines away while we both dragged wildly out to sea. This is a whole story unto itself.