Next Gen Mako - Timeless Design

[ShaveTheWhales]

I like the colours - good for a spew after a night on the turps.. then ready to rock again very eye catching..

[pmaggie]

Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to test both the Mako and the OR Kites here in Italy but I bought some years ago an OR drysuit and it is the best one I've ever seen. Quality is astonishing, the design at the time I bought it was completely different and far more advanced than the others (I think it is the "Surf", the close-fitting one with the additional external neoprene layer). After several years of use is like new, I only changed one time the latex inserts and actually not a drop of water comes in.
I'd really like to test a Mako anyway.

[Kamikuza]

Mako is a different kind of ride... no twin tip carves like it. And I swear the spray is the finest, gentlest mist

[markchatwin]

Agree with Kamikuza! It's a smooth sprayless ride. If there's one board I want to go out on first when I arrive at a crazy swirling ocean that I've never kited it's the Mako King. I remember my first time in the Atlantic ocean off of Hatteras and carving through the jellyfish thanking God I was on the King. It'll keep you up in the lulls and be rock solid when it's cranking.

Nothing is perfect though. The King is heavy and makes jumping a chore with rough landings. But small jumps and chop hops are fine. I owned the 140 and it was too small, needed a lot of wind. It just lacked length for any kind of surf-carving but excelled at super high wind. I remember having a great session on it in 30mph on the sound in Hatteras. The sound becomes a playground of jumps and bumps and rolling small waves in high wind and this board loves it.

The one board quiver is the 150. It's lighter than the King yet still got some length. So it carves reasonably well in the surf and still can pop some jumps pretty well. Oddly enough I have never owned it but am always looking for one.

Another board that reminds me of the Mako is the Naish Sol. It's oval like the Mako and excels in smooth carving. So yeh to me this board is timeless...

[rodeoclown]

Ride a mako at flat out top speed with your weight centered and lay down a toe side as hard as you can...that's what makes this board! Amazing carve control!

[ORSales]

Is there some trick to manufacturing a board with all that concave and rocker that no one else has bothered to work at?

I've been riding my 140 since the 140 came out in I think 2009? I've owned several other boards that others said I would like more, but I've sold all of the others because the mako is still my favorite. It's also indestructible, so I'm still on my original 140 after probably 400 sessions.

Dave, there is absolutely a manufacturing process that would take time to work out. It's not like splitting the atom but it took us a long time to get from where we started 13 years ago to where we are now with a wood core and ultra thin rails.

Stoked you're stoked on your 140! I rode the 140 for years (am a 135cm guy now! lol)

I liked the Mako 140 and King when I tried them. Very smooth boards. the 140 was so chuckable and fun. I would own one if it wasn't for the fact that I dabble at making my own boards. I did note that even though they are smooth at riding chop and great at carving they also can be harsh at speed. I put this down to the huge concave making them so stiff.

The Makos are actually very stable at speeds but it takes a little time to get used to the way to ride them. The Mako only has 2x fins, not 4 like normal TTs and is designed to be carved off the rail, the fins only provide directional (not lateral) stability). This means you need to be quite far forward over your front foot, much more like a snowboard. If you ride off your back foot the Mako will feel very squirrely and therefore quite nervous at higher speeds.

As soon as you get out front on the board and over your front foot, you can hammer on the gas and feel very comfortable at high speeds.

I find my own board smoother and a lot less harsh at speed than the mako. That's due to less concave and more tip flexibility... but at the sacrifice of carvability. The mako out carves my board...

Totally agree, for most TT boards tip flex helps with this issue. However, as mentioned above the Mako needs the rider to be front foot weighted, once on your front foot the board smooths chop and handles speeds beautifully. Whenever I run demos with the Mako it is the only thing I tell people "get your weight forward"...

Any way 13 years of production is many lifetimes in the world of kiteboarding. It is truly a worthy achievement.

Thanks!

I like the colours - good for a spew after a night on the turps.. then ready to rock again very eye catching..

Totally agree, we are pretty excited about the new look... we've moved with all of our gear towards a very "technical" look, trying to make all of our equipment timeless and focused on their technical merits.

Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to test both the Mako and the OR Kites here in Italy but I bought some years ago an OR drysuit and it is the best one I've ever seen. Quality is astonishing, the design at the time I bought it was completely different and far more advanced than the others (I think it is the "Surf", the close-fitting one with the additional external neoprene layer). After several years of use is like new, I only changed one time the latex inserts and actually not a drop of water comes in.
I'd really like to test a Mako anyway.

Very flattered - thank-you.

As of 6 months ago we opened a European sales office and warehouse with a full time sales and support staff and stocked warehouse of kites, boards, drysuits and accessories. Please get in touch with us directly to arrange a demo of any equipment you like.

Currently, we lack adequate distribution into Italy but are working hard to find suitable retail and distribution partners. Stand by!

Agree with Kamikuza! It's a smooth sprayless ride. If there's one board I want to go out on first when I arrive at a crazy swirling ocean that I've never kited it's the Mako King...

Nothing is perfect though. The King is heavy and makes jumping a chore with rough landings. But small jumps and chop hops are fine. I owned the 140 and it was too small, needed a lot of wind...

The one board quiver is the 150. It's lighter than the King yet still got some length. So it carves reasonably well in the surf and still can pop some jumps pretty well. Oddly enough I have never owned it but am always looking for one.

The King is quite big to jump, it's true. One tip that applies to jumping all sizes of Mako board is to carve as hard up wind as possible before sending the kite. (As in, don't try to load and pop the tail like a normal TT). By carving up wind you help break the surface tension on the underside of the board. All that concave can suck to the water.

However, if you manage to break the tension you can jump the Mako HUGE as it gives such a large rail to carve against and resist the initial pull of the kite, helping you load the lines for maximum pop.

The smaller Makos do need a lot of wind, I ride the 135cm and love it but need to be powered up. It's a riot to ride though when powered. As for the 150, it is our best selling size for a reason - if you are to own only one Mako, it's the one to buy! I believe Windance might still have some from last season for sale.

Ride a mako at flat out top speed with your weight centered and lay down a toe side as hard as you can...that's what makes this board! Amazing carve control!

Totally agree Craig!

Cheers guys, happy to respond if there are any more comments.

~John Z OR

[heinzbush]

I bought the King and fell in love. It's perfect for my type of riding... cruising in the waves and jumping! I actually learned my first back rolls with my King

I also used the King for my wife to get her up and riding... the bigger size and stability helped her a lot and she did the first 10, 100, 500m on the King...

Then bought a Shinn Monk Forever which is also great, but I keep grabbing the Mako session after session..

Since I love the King, I bought a 135 as well... super fun when the wind is up (or I just take a one size bigger kite, I'm over 100kg)... I use it for my more aggressive sessions

Bought a Nugget as a light wind board to replace my King... but I just couldn't do it... the King is my ultimate favourite board!

[windfreak74]

This a board generates a lot of funny feelings
.i have a a 2007 mako pro 134/35 that i love to death.
cant imagine to go to the beach without it
ive listened so many comments about it but most people wont try it because its so unique!
sometimes comments are hurtfull because its like saying your girlfriend is butt ugly.
they do not know where beauty lies!!
i have six kiter buddies ive been ridding for 6 years and none of them have tried the board.
because the find it ugly and cant imagine riding on a board that has 2 fins!
somehow they are always asking for tips on how to ride so fast, jump super high and spray perfect curtain with flawless transitions!

all i can say give them a try an you will be surprised how fun it can be!!!

to me this board is a freeride chop slayer / oldshool board.
get a diferent board if you want to do handle passes!

[Telekiter]

I would love a Mako 150 with the same concave RADIUS as the Mako Classic. Have you tried making one OR?

I have both a Mako 150 and a Mako King. Which ever breaks first will be replaced with the same board, love them!

/Urban.

[ORSales]

I would love a Mako 150 with the same concave RADIUS as the Mako Classic. Have you tried making one OR?

I have both a Mako 150 and a Mako King. Which ever breaks first will be replaced with the same board, love them!

/Urban.

Urban,

I'm fairly certain you're describing the fact that in order to achieve the same depth of concave on a much wider board the new Mako 150 has a much larger concave radius than the narrower 150 "classic" - essentially explained in this very basic graphic:



Using the formula r = (c2 + 4h2) ÷ 8h It's easy to figure out that the 40cm wide board with a concave depth of 1.8cm has a concave radius of 114.7cm whereas the 35cm wide "classic" with the same concave depth has a concave radius of 88.7cm.

If we were to decrease the concave radius on the wider board to match that of the classic we would end up with a much (much) deeper concave depth. I gave up calculating for H with R=887 and C=400 but if you can sub those values into the formula and solve for H you'll see how much deeper the concave is than the classic or the current 150, both of which have H=18 or 1.8cm of concave.

~ John Z OR