The new Joker arrived for me today, after having been riding the new 09 JP Freestyle 99L board for the first part of the season. I thought it would be hard to beat the JP board, which improved my spocks instantly.
First of all, the Mistral just looks plain awesome. They really have their graphics department doing some sick work, cos the board looks sexy. The straps actually have 2 screws on each end, which is cool because it stops the straps from twisting, which is really cool.
On the water, the first thing I noticed about the Mistral is that it feels smaller than what it is, 99L feels like a 90-92L, exactly the same thing with the 76L Twinser from Mistral. It chop hops much smoother than the JP, and flicks around just as fast in spocks, if not faster.
I am super stoked with this board, definately more new school than the JP, much better in the slidy spinny tricks. Spocks and Vulcans and Spock 540's are performed with eaze and speed.
Can't wait to do some flakas, when I finally learn how to do them.
