CWB Prodigy Platinum 140

Rob Stru is the man, so when I strapped this CWB onto my feet, I was ready to hit the Osmosis 5s. Unfortunately my skill level isn’t quite there so I had to stick my regular bag of tricks. After my first cut into the wake I knew I would like this board. The pop is amazing, and is just the type I like. It threw me a combination of both up and out. And the landings... Soft. Landing in the flats was not a big issue due to the size and displacement of the board, and going wake to wake is and will stay, always fun. Now let’s dig down and see what this board is really about.

Graphics & Stats

The Prodigy Platinum comes now in three sizes: a 132, 136, and 140. Connelly was generous enough to send me a copy of the Platinum 140. At just under 7lbs the board provides all the benefits of a lighter more costly wood version (DNA, Ultracore). The board is 16.75” wide with a 9.43” tip and tail with stance ranges from 18-24.5” to fit a variety of riders and stances. Boasting a 3” rocker in a subtle three stage pattern the board will give you some serious altitude.

Pop

After getting in the boat, the first question will always be “how did you like the pop”, or some variation of this. The good news is, the pop is amazing, the bad new is you’ll have to share it with all your buddies once you tell them. The pop from this 3” rocker was amazing and consistent, just the way it should be. From small wake jumps to all out charges into the flats, the board performs like a top pro model. The new Platinum manufacturing technique used by CWB gave this board some great pop off the wake and made for buttery smooth landings. The board released easily for spinning and I felt very comfortable with inverts from both heelside and toeside edges. I’m not a huge fan of extreme three stage boards such as the Byerly, so I was pleased with this shape. Often people will describe boards as fast or slow, which translates to ‘how much effort do you have to output to get the same air/trick off the wake’. The Platinum Prodigy was a little faster than other similar shaped boards out there such as the Hyperlite Premier and provided a solid edge into the wake. So needless to say I was very impressed with this design.

Surface & Lip Tricks

Sliding the wake will always remain a trick that everyone will do, whether you’re a pro or a beginner it’s a trick you’ll never loose. The prodigy is a bit more grippy than I’m use to, but is still very easy to break loose into butter slides and backside slides. The wide squared off tail allowed for great ollie power when “avoiding obstacles” or other lip tricks you throw to warm up.


Areas of Improvement

When I take a step back at the board and look there really aren’t too many changes I’d like to see, but since no product is every perfect I’ll take a stab at what I think would make the board a little better. First I’d like to see the molded center fin removed and replaced with an optional long base fin that could be taken out for an even looser ride. And possibly a little wider board, possibly 17” wide with a stance that could be taken out to 25”.

Recommendations

This board is designed for the intermediate to expert level rider. I wouldn’t recommend this board to a beginner due to the small molded fins and 3” rocker. With proper edging this board will help you take your tricks to the next level.

Visit CWB on the web: http://www.cwbwakeboards.com