Windsurf MagazineTABOU ROCKET PLUS 123L TEAM TEST REVIEW 2024

The Verdict

The Rocket Plus is capable of being your comfortable blasting companion or the edge of your seat adrenaline-seeking partner, while always keeping you in control. With a refined gybing technique, the Rocket Plus will keep rewarding you with performance freeride capabilities.

The Lowdown

The Rocket Plus is available in three constructions – MTE, LTD, and their premium construction; TEAM – which we were provided with for the test. Out of the box, the Rocket Plus feels light, and it is generally thinner than others – particularly forward of the mast track. Most of the volume is placed from the hips back, but it still holds a thinner profile. The Rocket Plus may feature less footstrap settings than some others, but the options available to you place you exactly where you need to be to make the most of its outstanding potential. Its deck pads are thin and will keep you in tune with the Rocket Plus, keeping it lively and reactive to the input you choose to give it. It does possess a slightly wider stance, bringing the rider a little lower to help manage larger, well-powered rigs. Its tail remains wide, and when rolling the board over, the Rocket Plus carries one of the more interesting and engineered tail designs, with racy cut-outs to reduce its wetted surface. The cut-outs undercut where the rear straps are placed, keeping the rider outboard and driving the rail, while still keeping resistance to a minimum. With a relatively flat overall rocker profile, its nose does kick up substantially to keep you out of trouble in messy waters. Without even hitting the water, the Rocket Plus carries a personality that screams performance. Add in its angular shades of blue on the deck, brushed carbon finish, and rich red pads and detailing, and it certainly looks the part…

Brand Claim

“Enjoy peak performance and effortless control with the Rocket Plus. This board seamlessly blends exhilarating speed with controllability.”

Performance

Stepping onto the Rocket Plus it feels stable off the plane due to its fuller outline, while it does desire some input from the rider, particularly from the front foot, to get it going. Simmering up onto the plane, the Rocket Plus gives you back what you put in. Direct it aggressively and it will fire you onto the plane quickly and efficiently, or you can choose to take a more delicate approach, taking your time with a prolonged drop and push, allowing it to rise onto the plane at a pace that suits you. Finding the straps feels natural and their perfect positioning naturally sheet the sail in for you, which quickly accelerates you up to top speed. The thin deck pads underfoot really connect you to the board, so you can really feel and drive the Rocket Plus as you receive instantaneous feedback to your actions. Its natural speed is impressive, but the Rocket Plus has several more gears in its locker. You can feel it asking you to unlock them. Give it more power, more drive, and more enthusiasm, and the Rocket Plus really shines, delivering more and more speed, while allowing you to point at impressive angles. Its nose does naturally ride lower than others on test, which keeps it fast in predictable water states. Moving into more challenging sea states in well-powered conditions, the Rocket Plus still impressed with its thinner rails reducing its windage down, while the nose still manages to manoeuvre itself out of the way from any unwanted interactions with chop. Carving into gybes, the Rocket Plus carries impressive speed and control, but it does require a more refined technique to execute fully planing gybes. The Rocket Plus, prefers, and responds, well to positive front foot carving, while your footwork needs to be a little more nimble and slightly further forwards than others on test. However, get this right and you will be rewarded with fully powered gybes that will make you the envy of everyone else on the beach.