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Got my 135x44 sent to Taiwan just in time for Xmas thanks to my dealer's help, so off to the beach today 28 gusting 35 knots (measured), shoulder height fun waves, 90Kg rider, on North Rebel 5m. The board is way beyond my expectations!

It has so many standout features - I've never been on a board that does so many things so well. Fast, great upwind, spray in face non existent, beautiful in the flats, chop and on wave. No hint of pearling even on steep wave. The standout is the ability to glide on the wave face on wave power, so it keeps speed up to bottom turn or do stuff on the wave face like nothing else I've tried before (that includes the Mako 150). It turns, slashes and rips in every conceivable combination on wave face - it felt like an extension of my body. Rail to rail, long drawn front foot bottom turns or snappy back foot turns, fast or slow - it all comes effortlessly. Sliding by flattening out the board was super easy and never caught an edge. Pop was enough for my needs. Landings from jumps were super smooth. Schlogging slowly waiting to catch the wave was very comfortable and acceleration to catch it if I was late was excellent.

Gusts measured at 35 knots, the board never felt big at all - I think the size vs. weight list on the Shinn website really are the right combos, even if they look unusual.

Straps and pads excellent as noted on other Shinn reviews.

Overall I think this is a really well thought piece of kit, with each little bit of the board working well to deliver a ton of fun and performance over a very wide range of conditions. Thank you Santa!

Fantastic board - never feels big even in 40mph gusts

I have the 42 dundee and curious to see how the low end is on the 44. Let us know when it happens

Congrats!

Is the low end good on the Dundee 42?
Better than Luigi or Gorilla Monk?

A while back I tried the Dundee 40 on marginal 12m conditions as my dealer had demos. For me at 90Kg it was clearly too small, which is what made me decide to believe the size vs. weight chart on Shinn website and go for the 44.

The 40 felt fine powered up (20-25 knots) but the 44 felt clearly better in same powered conditions.

Haven't tried the 44 in marginal conditions yet.

At over 400 views I feel I should update and answer to Coyoteface re. low end.

Today 13 to 15 knots measured, flat water with some waist-high sets. Me 90Kg on 12m rebel. The board exhibited the same characteristics and performed very well.

Upwind, acceleration and speed, glide thru the lulls were excellent, so with these things combined I was able to stay upwind while many other kiters were doing the walk of shame. Riding was very comfortable and I did not have to work hard to stay upwind. Same standout as before - when the sets came in and I was playing on the midget waves I could have real fun riding on wave power, throwing spray on the lip etc. even with marginal kite power.

Confirmed not much pop at all - tried raileys and vertical popped jumps, they worked well because the fins provide very good grip, but no 'twang' explosive pop like a freestyle board - fine with me because I don't need it.

Later wind keep increasing up to 20ish knots and I changed to the Rebel 8m - still trying to wipe the grin off my face. Bottom line, amazing this board is just as much fun on a 12 in marginal flat water as on a 5 riding waves - an absolute winner!

I'm a fan of the Dundee too.
It's shorter length means you don't need to be afraid of the width, I can use an extra cm on the width of the Dundee and not notice it other than the practicality of what it does... It's especially suited to the heavier riders looking for 44cm of width for practicality for it has range and a small efficient feel too.

It also has a lot of feedback to the rider without feeding back inertia, so you get the info but not the noise, and it lets technique oriented riders flourish.

Like all the other shinn's it also has near 50/50 weight distribution between front and back leg meaning you can sustain high loads on it hour after hour without your knees noticing.

Gotta love the equal weight distribution allowed by the Dundee (allows for longer sessions ). The 42 size works great for people below 195lbs. I found you can ride this board in a wider width than normal with no downsides. A wider size provides more range with the Dundee.

I have an 09 North X-Ride 135 x 29 and noticed quite a bit of write up about the Shinn's and one board of particular interest the Dundee. Several former X-Ride'rs said that they prefer the Shinn's to the North X. I like the North and if he Dundee is a step up in terms of control, performance, and comfort - I'm in. My question is the proverbial question - which size?

I saw a chart for size / weight: I weigh 158 lbs, so the 131 x 41 is the call.

I spoke with a Shinn rep who suggested that the one size up would be ideal - 133 x 42 for me, and that it would have a better low end and an equal high wind control as the North X-Ride 135 x 29 in thirty plus (mph winds). He also feels that I might find the 131 x 41 on the smaller side and give up too much range on the lower end. I find the North X-Ride suits my needs on the lower end and wonder what the comparison is range wise - apples to apples that is > this would give me a frame of reference. I tend to use my directionals when the wind is in the 10-15 mph range anyhow.

Someone else mentioned that the 133 x 42 would be too big for my weight in high winds...another someone my size says it would work. ???

Does 2 cm in length and 1 cm in width make that much of a difference? There does seem to be a much bigger difference comparing my X-Ride's 39 cm width to the Dundee's > different board design I suppose, so it's harder to compare.

It seems that there's no convient option to demo one in my area.

Thanks.

Let's see a vid! Anyone have a good one to show what the Shinn Dundee 44 can do?

David