Mako 150 fins setup

[knotwindy]

As said above, Makos go upwind by using the rail. NOT the fins, so, of course, experiment but it has been done before by lots of people. It’s best if you have slightly more weight on your front foot than rear foot. Very unusual if you are used to a ‘regular’ twin tip. It’s closer to riding a snowboard, gotta use the whole rail, not just the rear portion.
Have fun playing around and let us know what you come up with.

[jmach]

Can confirm, Makos rip upwind, are fast, like to be on the rail!

[Momo_13]

Hi,
I own and use a Mako 150 * 35 since more than 10 years and I'm happy with it.
My model has only holes for 1 fin at each side.
After I loosing one fin I was able to compare the behaviour with and without fin, and there is not a lot of change : it just feels more loose or less on a rail without fin, but it doesn't change the behaviour that much. Of course low end and upwind is slightly worse without fin, but at the end I didn't replaced the missing fin, and I ride without it.

Overall this board needs to be ridden well powered, and with some good speed too. When ridden too slowly the board tends to drift too much.
I find that the low end is average, but maybe it's pretty bad compared to today's board (which are approx 40cm wide).

I'm 74 kg, so I imagine that for a heavy guy the low end must bad.

[grtlakes]

will try tomorrow different configurations but I was mainly thinking if it would be of some benefit if I leave the middle fins as they are and add one more fin on each side bellow them (TT fins)

I did that exact thing on a mako king. It improves pointing ability a bit.

Equal foot pressure helps with lighter winds. With the king you can ride with all your pressure on the front foot. Doesn’t help anything but shows balance placement is possible to have board surface area maximized for minimum drag.

[SMJ]

As said above, Makos go upwind by using the rail. NOT the fins, so, of course, experiment but it has been done before by lots of people. It’s best if you have slightly more weight on your front foot than rear foot. Very unusual if you are used to a ‘regular’ twin tip. It’s closer to riding a snowboard, gotta use the whole rail, not just the rear portion.
Have fun playing around and let us know what you come up with.

knotwindy nailed it. I own the 165 (which I ride up to about 20 knots) then switch to the 150 in higher winds. You can ride the Mako's with equal foot pressure on both feet using the rail to jam upwind. Of all twintips I've ridden the Mako's go upwind better than all of them.

My advice would be to pick up a 165 Mako for the lighter winds; it just happens to double as a great light wind board. I also use the 165 in higher winds if there's a large wind variance (gusty with lots of lulls), because the 165 can coast through lulls quite well.

When you hit a lull let off your edge and get over the top of the board some; the Mako's can coast through lulls fairly well.

[Matteo V]

When you hit a lull let off your edge and get over the top of the board some; the Mako's can coast through lulls fairly well.

This is where fins come into play. You can hold a higher tack in the lull with more significant fins with the board flattened out. But only if you learn to load them properly as your power is decreasing.

If you dont have a good feel for your fins, they may not be worth the extra drag initially. As you lose speed, the drag from those fins loses its significance in the system, at which point the fins are no longer hurting you.

[sarc]

Mako 150 does not go upwind when underpowered. It goes upwind very well when normally powered. You need a surfboard stance ie weight 50% on each foot. And edge well.

[Matteo V]

Mako 150 does not go upwind when underpowered. It goes upwind very well when normally powered. You need a surfboard stance ie weight 50% on each foot. And edge well.

Put just a bit more weight back on the board, but not too much because you will stall it. Flat, but weight back is the feeling you get on the 150 when trying to maintain speed and angle in a lull. In actuality, you never let the board go completely flat. Sideways pressure is there too, but not much.

The concave and round tail(tip) on this board makes it feel very much different than a wide tailed tt.

[sarc]

After I loosing one fin I was able to compare the behaviour with and without fin, and there is not a lot of change : it just feels more loose or less on a rail without fin, but it doesn't change the behaviour that much. Of course low end and upwind is slightly worse without fin, but at the end I didn't replaced the missing fin, and I ride without it.

I still have my 2 old Mako fins somewhere around the house if someone wants to buy

[Flyingseb]

33 knots max speed today with my old and beloved Mako 150x35...seems like I won’t improve that easily, no matter how hard I will try. One of the few situations where back leg is burning, riding it.
Relying a lot on the fin though, but at that speed, the biggest risk is to catch a wake spray on the back ankle, can send you skipping uncontrollably on the water: that’s a price to pay to play with this board’s limit