Rider: (14 seasons)
Style: Freeriding, Surf,
Weather: 18 to 25 knots
Build Quality: 9/10(fins could be more sharper and more profiled in my mind)
Satisfaction: 10/10
Disclosure: (eppo team rider)
Mako King and Mako 140 sublime...been riding the king for a month or so, now the 140 so here it goes...
Well I was looking for a light wind option. Bought a sector no good for me. Then a choptop light wind, nah. Had a go on a skim, no I'm not mark shinn ( that guys is a damn freak on a skim). Read some small post on the fifth page in on some random no name forum and someone espoused the virtues of the mako king. So thought Farq it and got one. It was a punt that payed off and from my buy and sell history this has got to be a first. Those who know me are laughing right now! Shut ya face!
When it arrived I thought dear god what have I done. Weird as concave, rounded edges at 165cm, just looked like a big penis. Comes with just a deck grip and surf straps as that is its intended purpose. Three 100 mm surf fins and two 56's. So I banged them on and hit the water, with a slight mutant stance.
Well one word. Smooth. Another. Farqin fast, oh that's two.
Dont hear much about these board locally and for the first times a few years they have a newish design by tucking in the rails. They really are tucked hey. When I overlayed my shinn monk 41cm from the top it looked wider than the 45cm king. Turning them over back to back then you can see the difference. Obviously an optical illusion but you see my point.
So what about the tucked rails. Well I can only suggest, as I'm no board designer, but it must contribute to the immense load you can lay on this rail. First time I rode it in the ocean as usual, it was only 14 odd knots on my 11m edge, was cruisin upwind no problems. Then the wind slowly filled in to 18 to 20 and I thought, I suppose this is where I should be going in. But alas, as the wind picked up, as well as the incredible apparent wind of the edge, the more I layed into the rail, the more it bit. So then I started to pull the trigger, release and there and then I knew this large looking penis board could pop and load unbelievably well.
In the meantime I had sold my cardboard wave ( to ya for this board) and my shinn monk ( looking for a 130 forever, bought a size too big for this 74 kg frame on an edge), and I'm down to just this board. Wind hits 20 plus, into the mid twenties, so out comes the nine and same thing. Fast, smooth and yet highly rigid with a big ass biting rail to load and pop. Yet when the wind dropped, cruised and pointed crazily upwind. I was now throwing down all that I throw down in my gangnam stabber dog style on what sounds like a big board. Ah finally this is what I was looking for.
But it doesn't feel big, it feels really small underfoot. Look its no sector, its no fly door but its good enough to get me going and having fun in winds that I think are worth having fun in. And it is sooooo much more dynamic. Its like you are riding on a film of glass, incredibly fast, totally in control that then has a rail that will bite the waters ahead off if need be for gust control and more importantly loaded jumps. What has me stuffed as how such a rigid board with little flex can be so comfortable. Here lies some engineering marvel I presume.
A mate of mine got on it and said straight away yep I want one. Perfect cross over.
By now I had dropped the fin size down to 56s up the middle and two 5
Cardboard 50s on the side. Now this thing was really singing. Keep the big fins for the rare and few big wave days we have. Still allowed me to ride it strapless if i wished. In the waves....
It has the ability to be ridden flat engaging the fins which gives you great tracking control down the face, and then by moving onto your rails, it bites and gets you back up and around the wave face. Yes it's not a surfboard, it has its own feel. But its not a TT feel either, nor is it like any mutant I've tried either. It has a real tucked in and connected feel to the wave depending on whether you employ the fins or the rails or a mixture of both. You really have control of how much slippage you require. The best feeling is when you just park and ride (it is big enough for this), lock into the face and head straight down the line in the pit of a wave. Like a SB I suppose, but hey it's not. Its better! In my humble opinion of course. Lol.
Here's the big kicker for me. THERE IS NO CHANGE IN TECHNIQUE GOING BACK THE OTHER WAY. NONE, NOTHING. The concave must have something to do with this I presume.
By now my TT instincts had kicked in and I installed a couple of shinn pads using the OCean Rodeo straps ( they are really really comfy), and had it set up slightly mutant style. Oh man this is when the fun really began.
Got my mate on it, he wants one, period. Here's a cool little ditty. Young bloke whose a mad surfboard rider/REO kind of dude whose awaken to the fact that the big surf days are numbered in summer ( go figure, der) only been at it six months but been surfing since he was 4. Anyhow didn't click with any TTs I put him on. So he takes the king out on his reo, and when I was boosting over his head (I know its a problem I really go to stop it) I looked way down and saw he was riding the mako strapless. I forgot to mention actually this thing is sweet strapless for all you SB junkies. He couldn't fit his feet in the straps so he just rode it strapless. He had Never ridden strapless before, and I watched him just kicking ass in the small surf coming through. Yeh this dude is an awesome surfer and its is starting to come through now in his kiting. He said, I want one for those crappy swell days (and I thought, but didn't say, oh 80 percent of the time then, ba ha ha ha).
So TT, full directional or mutant, you choose. When wind light throw off the side fins and becomes a sweet TT ride. Very versatile indeed.
Anyhow in the market for a shinn monk 2013 (still am) but this is how much I loved this board, I put forward a future monk purchase and got myself a 140!
I know crazy right. Just took a punt and it payed off. First time for everything I suppose.
Anyhow the 140 (just been on it today as well as three others, ha ha ha), has the same characterises but this comes as a full TT setup. You can mutant the thing but I thought I'd just keep it as a TT. Same smoothness, fast as a crazy horse on crack, same bite but everything is smaller, quicker, lighter. My brother came in and said I want one. Currently ordering one for him. Said quote' this is the best board I have ever ridden'. He's been at it for 5 seasons now has flown and rode all my obvious gear fluctuations some of you are aware of. So his opinion has some strength behind it. The surfer guy got it in the surf today and came in and said, yep its a 150 for me. ( he weighs a bit more than me).
Jesus this thing works in the surf. Sorry to say but better than the cardboard wave, well that's not the entire truth, the wave is very good for a bottom turn and slash back on the wave face....mmm shouldn't compare very different boards really. ****s all over the shinn though in the surf, from a very very big height. Sorry it just does. The same tracking ability down the face as the king, with increased rail bite when you need it is still there, but obviously more quicker and lighter than the king. Loves a right handed to, up and slash, fast hard. You can let this thing slide as much as you want it to. Then you can make it not slide at all. Full control.
Today is a crazy day, that southerly kicked in early and was driven not by a Seabreeze in the morning. Some of the gusts were really up there. At times even on the 9m edge I thought damn this is a 25 knot plus gust here. But no probs bite that bastard tucked rail down and bang the kite shoots forward, you shoot upwind and it s all done fast and yet controlled.
There is one thing that the Shinn beats it and that's loading for a jump. At very high speeds both boards allow, more technique is needed with the 140 set up as a TT only. The back feels like it wants to slip out. It doesn't, it just feels that way. the king in mutant mode doesnt though, which is weird, well not really when you think about it. reckon with a couple of very small TT side fins though, this tracking would increase heaps. But I must be honest here. Then again you can't have it all your way. Also only been my third time on this board. I started to alleviate this feeling by the end of the session today, so early days yet. But yeh I think the monk has its number in this department. But in terms on controlling an edge at high speed they both excel just as good. I would say the mako is smoother though overall, which is a big statement as the monk is very very smooth.
Anyhow I think KSS will be stocking the OR gear in the near future (by the way I wasn't riding any demo gear for KSS here just promoting a local guy)
And I would highly recommend you gangnam stabber dog stylist to give this board a crack. Honestly it is that Farqin good. I'm stoked, big time DUDES, its SICK (private Seabreeze forum joke just recently sorry).
Be interesting getting the 140 set up with the Side fins, might try this soon. But it works so good as a TT I'm not game to change it. The king would be a great surfboard type cross over, the deck pad gives great grip and if you set it up line I have you can actually go strapless as well. In the waves now and then this is what I do. Pretty easy to gybe and switch feet actually if you proficient on a SB.
Anyhow I could write a lot more but damn its long enough. Get on one, seriously.
eppo
> 9 months ago, 17 Jan 2013
