Just curious about opinions on spray coming off the board into your face. It got me thinking about some shinn boards have eliminated that. So it's makes me question is that possible or is it technique no matter the board or both??
before I rip into my board, is that a true story about sanding. glokite is referring to a convo we had on the piss. my old north phantom splats me all the time. real piss off
The mako is the board that gives me the least spray and that includes comparing the monk and the speedball. The reason may be three fold. One the extremely rounded edges. the speedball is more rounded but not quite enough for me and the spray while not hitting me in the face splashed up against my back leg which got slightly annoying. Although the speedball is rounded it is slighlty too square when it should have started rounding. Water hits right at the junction where the roundness starts to kick in. Hard to describe really. My brother noticed the same. Although the performance of the speedball is still exceptional and the monk of course. Also this effect can be reduced with Change of technique.
Two the makos extreme concave allows you to ride the board much flatter and more upright. If the gust hits you only then do you really need to get lower to really dig that rail in. Even then you needn't get as low (or dig the rail in as hard by lifting the hips and dropping back to get up on the rail) as with a normal flat bottomed TT. This upright stance is also a reason they in my mind are superior in the surf and feel closer to a SB than other TTs I have ridden. Infact the concave allows you to ride it flat down the line where as a TT gets squirrelly ridden the same way. The concave that flattens off underneath before it hots the rail almost acts a one big ass fin. Hence when riding flat its like you are riding on two rails. The speedball the least of the other TTs I have ridden. Flat bottomed boards not driven by fins this can only happen. It's physics (not sure what physics though. Lol).
And third technique of course. But that is the same obviously for me and my technique is very sound as I ride ocean swell and slop 95 percent of the time. You have to ride at times as much as possible across the swell digging the rail in between swell surges and letting if off slightly and getting a little more upright ( without losing an edge) when hitting the swell chop. If you try and dig and blast through the chop especially on a more squared TT then spray can only but occur.
Hence why I still maintain that for me the mako is the best ocean going freeride TT out there still. But on the flat I'd rather have a more square tipped TT any day.
Just some thoughts that come to me I'm not saying its gospel except the mako thing. Lol.
