Windsurf MagazineGOYA CUSTOM 4 PRO 89 TEST REVIEW 2024

GOYA CUSTOM 4 PRO 89 TEST REVIEW 2024

The Verdict

Really coming to life on a wave, the Custom 4 Pro loves to surf. Rewarding the rider with a natural flow to suit the wave’s pace and critical sections. It is very much at home showing its performance pedigree on a cleaner wave face.

The Lowdown

Like a spark, the lively yellow of the Custom 4 Pro immediately catches the eye and brightens up the beach and waves. Available in its pro construction with plenty of sizes that have been subtly tweaked to provide a consistent ride across all of them, which is a really nice touch from Goya as they provide performance to suit riders of all weights and conditions. The Custom 4 Pro comes with MFC slot box fins in a pure quad setup, the fins are placed right beneath the back strap with a little tail extension behind it. The rails at the tail have been thinned out, and that volume is shifted into the shoulders of the board, giving slightly fuller rails up front. It has a slightly flatter rocker line compared to the others in the group, designed to provide earlier planing and to accelerate you into ramps and turns. There is still plenty of nose and tail kick for it to sit in the curve of a wave comfortably and avoid burying the nose. On the bottom, there is a pronounced vee double concave all the way down into the hips, which morphs into a double concave and finally into a single concave at the fins, which keeps the board fast with the water flowing nicely through the fins and out behind its swallow tail.

Brand Claim

“The Custom 4 Pro is the ultimate Pro Model custom wave board, as it is not just the shape but the same off-the-shelf board our team chooses to ride and compete on.”

: Marcilio Browne riding the Custom 4 Pro: photo: Fish Bowl Diaries

Performance

The biggest board, yet still one of the lightest on the test, it instantly feels light in the hands. Floating out off the plane, the board carries weight well and tracks upwind nicely. The board slips onto the plane with ease and reaches its top speed almost instantly, allowing you to pick your path with agility and ease. With the rear foot strap quite far back, take your time in locating it before slotting your foot in to maintain control. Out past the whitewater and pushing hard upwind, it rewards you with some impressive angles. The extra volume in the shoulders of the board makes tacking effortless and comfortable, all contributing to getting you into prime position quickly and efficiently. With a slight adjustment to your sailing line, the Custom 4 Pro carries speed through the lulls well as the tail extension gets to work. Sitting on the crest of a wave, it matches the speed of the wave well, allowing the rider to look down the line and accurately time the initial acceleration down into the pit of the wave.

: Pic: Fish Bowl Diaries

The Custom Pro 4 loves a wave and wants to play, turning both off the front and back foot. The fuller rails upfront draw out the turns at the bottom, while the thinned-out tail provides a nice snap to the top turns if you want it. Playing between back foot and front foot style riding, you can make the turns super hard and vertical for a last minute smack to the lip or slightly more drawn out if you have a bigger wave face to play with.

: Brawzinho

The Custom 4 Pro adapts to the pace of the wave and the sections presented to the rider. It works well in cross-to-cross on conditions; however, the Custom 4 Pro excels in waves, which pack some punch with a smoother wave face typically found in cross-off conditions.