BayAreaKiteboarding.com

I was really curious to try this board as soon as I've seen the announcement video.
With lack of demo options I contacted OR sales team and they sent one for demo.
With coast lacking the wind that weekend I got to use it only at sherman and 3rd, so, cannot provide wave riding feedback.
I mostly ride BRM Paipo as strapless board, but tried various surf boards and didn't like their bouncy feel.

The Duke:
Board is light, look great, super high visibility on the water, concave is huge and goes through the whole board.

Board comes with fins, straps and has eva all around.

Getting up on Sherman immediately noticeable that you can engage the concave and scream upwind edging it.

Playing with leg position on a board shows that it is really forgiving with what they call "massive sweet spot", but at the end I found my legs stand almost exactly between straps inserts, so inserts are spot on if you want it strapped.

In irregular chop at 3rd in light wind, I found it is of course still bouncier than TT or Paipo due to stiffness, but as soon as you engage the concave it is much more enjoyable than various surf boards I've tried, almost no nose chatter.

It took me some time to adjust to fin position and to use concave for carve turns at speed and fin it at low speed.

The only con so far is spray from upwind side mid board to the back leg, may be due to concave, certainly nothing critical, just observation.

All in all I really enjoyed this board, would love to try it in waves next time. If it works good on a wave face I think it will be it for coast for me.

Huge thanks to John and Todd from Ocean Rodeo for immediate response and sending us demo boards and to @Loscocco for OR contacts!

P.S. Unfortunately my water damaged phone decided to die completely and all photos I made are gone, so adding stock photos and original video:




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C-XoymD9aU[/video]

Thanks Victor!

With the huge interest in this board, I expect we will see a lot of these popping up in the waters around the Bay area.

Always happy to help!

John Z ~ OR

I also tried it at 3rd on Sunday. Super fun, playful, and extra stable when you get it on the rail. Loved the full deck pad! Todd, OR rep, told me to ride all over the board... so I tried riding the nose, the tail, the rails, it was grippy and easy to walk around the deck. Can't wait to get it out on the coast!

I have spent the last two weekends at the coast riding my new Mako Duke. I wanted to share my feedback in case anyone is interested in getting (or upgrading) their surfboard.

First off, last weekend (Feb 13-14) was way bigger at the coast than this weekend. I wouldn't say I was "over my head," but I was also trying to ride without the back strap and found myself much less confident in the waves as a result. I was trying to ride without the back strap because I'm having some ankle/knee pains that I am 100% certain are a result of riding too much toe-side strapped in. But admittedly I am just not ready for semi-strapless, especially in big surf. So this weekend I had both straps on, with the back much loser than on my old board, which really helped lower the torque on my knee/ankle. I have been kiting the coast for a few years now, but I would still call myself no more than an intermediate wave kiter:) The Duke reviews made it sound like a really good board for me. But I also find reviews of kites and boards incredibly subjective and personal. My take is that the Mako was designed to be a more well-rounded surf-style board, which insinuates that it may suffer in big surf. But honestly I've found it awesome in the 5-8' swell that I've been out in. It's super lightweight, which makes it quick and fast. The only big difference I've noticed between my old Slingshot Pit was that the flatter shape of the duke doesn't sit quite as deep in the pocket of the wave. It's meant to ride/slash up and down, or sit out front of the wave. But this also could be a result of me still learning how to fly my kite properly in the waves. My favorite aspect of this board is the high volume and ability to go upwind. I can easily ride a wave all the way down the beach and get back upwind in a tack. I can also fly a smaller kite than others. Based on my strava tracks, it is clearly more capable than a typical surfboard at getting back upwind. This is a general trait of all Makos... they have a lot of concavity which allows the rails to really bite. It turns out to be super valuable when you're trying to maximize wave time! Another awesome feature is the durability. As a mechanical engineer, I really appreciate the construction of this board. It is molded with thermoplastic polymers, which are inherently more tough and durable than thermosets (epoxies, polyesters). I've head plenty of wipeouts, and picked the board up off the beach many times over the last two weekends. I still haven't found a scratch. I did hit a rock while carving near shore with one of the fins, but the damage is minimal. The fins appear to be carbon/glass fiber epoxy, and super strong as a result.

Anyway, just wanted to share this because the board is still fairly new and there's not a lot of info out there. It's a great board for the coast, or light wind riding in the bay. I can't wait to continue learning to ride strapless, and failing more at my duck tacks. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions or want to give it a try! Ocean Rodeo may be back down again this summer for demos, and I'll keep you all posted!