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Surboards with a Mako (OR) bottom.

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juandesooka
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Re: Surboards with a Mako (OR) bottom.

Postby juandesooka » Tue May 13, 2014 7:48 pm

kazi wrote:Thanks everyone for your input. :)
I learned allot from this thread.

I'm really enjoying the challenge of learning to ride strapless. I just need to understand what my limitations are and what conditions are best and that will take some time.

I definitely hope the time spent riding strapless will improve my surfing (non-kiting) in certain areas.
Honestly, I think people may have a tendency to take these specs a little too seriously ... we are being towed around by a big motorboat in the sky....could pretty much use a cafeteria tray I figure. I learned strapless on my 6'6" surftech.....plenty good enough (the only negative being, so much board in front, quite slappy in the chop)

Transfer of skills to regular surfing: you can practice doing bigger and more vertical turning, over and over and over...that is a useful transfer. Floaters too. If you have an interest in riding switch stance surfing, definitely can help with that! For me, I only carve left foot forward in kiting....a goal this summer is to learn to surf switch, meaning toeside with "wrong" foot forward...seems crazy foreign to me, but the advantage would be frontside surfing both ways. The other thing I want to work on is strapless airs....something I have never remotely considered surfing, but the basic skills seem similar. :lol:

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Re: Surboards with a Mako (OR) bottom.

Postby tswierkocki » Tue May 13, 2014 9:29 pm


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Re: Surboards with a Mako (OR) bottom.

Postby sarc » Fri May 16, 2014 5:35 pm

Put a Shinn Dundee next to a Mako... they have similar high concave/high rocker configuration. They are both fantastic boards and excel on wave face although they ride different. The Shinn is a little better than Mako in chop.

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Re: Surboards with a Mako (OR) bottom.

Postby Peter_Frank » Fri May 16, 2014 8:00 pm

Kazi, you got almost everything "against" you on this one :naughty:

1. You want to use the same board for surfing and kitesurfing.
Eventhough some surfboards are also meant to handle chop like one says, there is still a huge difference.
Most can not use the same boards for surf and kite, works only for a marginal fraction of kitesurfers, and mostly some who are extremely good at surfing (small boards) or have "clean" wave conditions for kitesurfing where a bigger/wider chop sensitive board would work.

2. You "have just started kiting directionals" ?
Okay, from most other riders, experience says that changing from a TT to a directional does not work well in the start.
You ride the directional like your TT - which is totally and completely wrong in every way.
Most will ride with the board edged, and a lot of weight on their rear foot :o
To ride a directional, your front foot is the "power point" that everything is concentrated about.
If you have any TT feel left when riding a directional, you WILL experience a bouncing and feel really bad in chop - board :(

3. Last, but not least - the concave bottom ?
This is used by most kitesurf brands today actually (including my Ralf BachSchuster Custom boards).
But NOT used that much in surfboards, because the speed and need of control if often two very different levels.
If you use too much concave, the board will track fine and not "bounce" yes.
But it will also be stiff and not work/feel well in waves.
Then you can add rocker - but rocker might make a board more lively, but it actually (opposite of what many writes/thinks here) makes the board even more chop sensitive :roll:


Your current board is apparently one of the most difficult ones to ride in chop it seems.
Does not make it a bad board at all, and maybe you will love this board when you got #2 mastered ?
It could also be the opposite - that YOU need a chop specific board.
As one mentioned, the North Kontakt is one example of an awesome board for chop (but it is a more strapped riding board though), more narrow and narrow tail and not too much rocker and it has a concave bottom.

Many boards out there - but IMO not possible to find one that fits both for surfing and kitesurfing in one board for you.
Unless you agree with #2, that you are far from there yet ?

If correct, enjoy the "ride" and journey, because mastering a directional seems easy at first, but you will still have some REALLY bad habits from the TwinTip for a long time (like having some weight on your rear foot in bottom turns etc)

I am just "yakking" maybe, I know, but feel strongly about this and have lots of experience :wink:

Just want to help if I can :rollgrin:

8) Peter

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Re: Surboards with a Mako (OR) bottom.

Postby kazi » Fri May 16, 2014 8:59 pm

Thanks Peter for your response.

I agree with what you posted. I actually really like my board (firewire dominator), It's very fast and turns on a dime. It also has perfect float to get me going in the same wind as my twin tip.

My problem now..(if you don't mind and if you are still reviewing this thread)

..is I'm having issues getting out past the strong current, light onshore winds and shorebreak we've had the last week.

I could get out in these conditions on a twin tip while I've seen others struggle. But I've left the twin-tip in the garage lately to force myself to ride the directional. I have to assume at this point that sometimes it takes allot of skill to get out. There are about 6-14 regulars at my spot and I'm the only one out on these days so maybe others just don't bother.

I really wish there was some unedited video of a surf competition, showing the guys heading out, lining up and catching waves. I'm so sick of videos showing clouds blowing by, opening the car door, grass blowing, birds flying, some girls butt as she's sunning herself, more grass, crab hiding in hole, some sand, girl adjusting bikini, waves breaking, kite launching, kiteboarder slashing, strapless aerial, kickflip, sand, wave, grass...end.
:redangry:

The guys here in SE Florida that ride strapless almost always are doing a downwinder, so they get out and disappear

It's just going to take some time.

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Re: Surboards with a Mako (OR) bottom.

Postby ORSales » Tue May 12, 2015 6:11 pm

kazi wrote:I got out twice on Saturday in pretty light winds with a 15m Envy and my Firewire Dominator and had to really work to manage the chop soupy conditions. The swell was about 4-5 feet. Started kiting directionals and strapless for the first time this year.

I had to really control the speed and coundn't cut loose or I would hit a piece of chop and go flying. I felt like I was bouncing around like a cork.

I've heard that OR Mako's handle chop really well because of the extreme concave.
Is there a reason why they don't apply the same bottom to a surfboard?
Are there surfboards that handle chop better, does anyone care?

Surfers don't care about chop because (with the exception of big wave surfing) the wave face is relatively smooth.

I'm just surprised there isn't a market for kite specific chop handling surfboards. Even ocean rodeo appears to just make a regular surfboard. I'd love to shred a wave then slice thru chop..that would be sweet.
Just saw this post! Sorry not to have responded earlier - you should check out the new Mako Duke!

JZ ~ OR

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Re: Surboards with a Mako (OR) bottom.

Postby BWD » Tue May 12, 2015 8:31 pm

You could also try different fin setup on the dominator or simply different riding style.
Maybe try moving your back foot way forward and finding the sweet spot for the rail to handle the chop? If you are a "back foot" rider this may change everything...

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Re: Surboards with a Mako (OR) bottom.

Postby atomic-chomik » Wed May 13, 2015 7:51 am

Since i hopped on The Duke, i feel i have happily found what i need for a large part of what i do kiting. I sold my naish fish, 5'll OR surfboard, North wham 5'10 and my Mako 150 because of it. If cuts through the chop like butter, goes upwind like crazy and is basically an small funboard like shape so it excels in the waves. I still have my 6'1 carbrina trigger for bigger days. You might want to try one of the dukes out.

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Re: Surboards with a Mako (OR) bottom.

Postby Harri » Thu May 14, 2015 1:23 pm

There are surfboards with a thin TT-rail, that work really great in chop. Such as the Shinnster: https://vimeo.com/98127424
Or the similar board of Boardriding Maui, the "Paipo". They don't have concave bottoms....just rails similar to a Twintip. That's why they really work great in chop and small waves. Classic surfboard-rails always are bouncing around with the nose. Mako has both: thin rail and deep conkave. Check out the videos of the shinnster!
Last edited by Harri on Thu May 21, 2015 8:57 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Surboards with a Mako (OR) bottom.

Postby Blake » Wed May 20, 2015 12:59 pm

Hi guys,

In response to the above about the Paipo/Shinnster having a flat bottom surface.

I just finished making my own copy of a Paipo, with Greg's permission and help, and it has a MAKOish concave bottom surface.

Last week I had an epic time in Hatteras where I rode my new board in all sorts of wind/water conditions, I must say, this is the smoothest riding board I've ever ridden, and this is coming from a Mako rider since 2007!

After having read all of the above posts, I think I nailed it with my board having the hard rails of a TT, the area of a lightwind board, and the concave of the Mako, it just works extremely well.

This is a very capable board and is a blast to ride!
Attachments
My Paipo.jpg
My Paipo.jpg (270.8 KiB) Viewed 1054 times
DSC_0328.jpg
Deep concave like the Mako


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