TEST TEAM NOTES
The Mako Duke appears, at 5’4”, to be a very scaled down mini-mal sort of surfboard shape. Very full in both the nose and the tail, where it differs from a mini-mal – apart from its obvious shorter length – is the large concave underneath that comes from its Mako heritage. A deck pad covers the entire deck and the Futures fin boxes always stand up well to any accidental jams knocks.
First thing to note is how comfortable and quick to plane the Duke is. We’re confident that even first time surfboard riders could get on with this pretty quickly. The deep concave also makes charging out over chop or white water smooth, quick and controllable. Proper wave boards can begin to feel quite chattery in choppier waters, but the Duke was obviously designed with these conditions in mind. It also absolutely flies upwind compared to a regular wave board as there’s good volume spread throughout the board, especially at the back, but the rails are also much straighter, too, so there’s grip pretty much the entire length from nose to tail. The Duke also has nice, soft rails and this all adds up to a stable, grippy but comfortable ride, even when ridden at full power.
Action shot photo: Todd MacSween
The huge deck pad makes sense when you’re sending the Duke off chop and we got some of the biggest strapless airs we’ve ever done. Matt is tall at 6’2” and explained that the big front deck pad and volume up front really helped – if you’ve ever accidentally landed with your front foot forward of the padded or waxed area, you’ll know how unnerving that feels and you can get away with so much more on a solid, short board that has plenty of volume throughout allowing for clumsy foot placement without fear of digging the nose in or slipping off. In other words it’s forgiving. Being heavier and riding with a wide stance, Matt wasn’t penalised. Some surfboards have a tendency to stick to the water, whereas this is very happy to pop and come up with your feet, which makes a big difference to your progression and how quickly you feel that you can try things. It’s well built, but it’s not heavy – a nice combination.
The overriding positives of the Mako Duke are the high levels of comfort that you get in very standard conditions, allowing you to feel confident to push yourself on it and that it can also stand up to the abuse. Tacking and gybing are relatively easy and it would be perfectly reasonable to expect to be able to learn those manoeuvres on this board.
In terms of waves we had it out in some small thigh-high lumps and bumps in 25 knots as well as some slightly bigger waves. Due to its short length and the fact that the three fins are positioned very far back on the board and much more in line with each other than we’re used to seeing on a typical thruster set up, you can very easily influence the tail when you want to start smashing small waves. The Duke is really responsive – imagine tick-tacking a skateboard as you used to do as a kid (or as a big kid!). It loves being thrown about. On small waves you don’t need long, carvey turns. You’re looking for quick changes in direction, a board that feels light and easy and that allows you to smash things and slide the tail on sections that you’d otherwise have no right to. When conditions get bigger and a bit more complex, although the Duke feels grippy, it lacks the assurance and control during the rapid increases of speed that better waves demand. Experienced riders would be looking for more drive from the front foot up into the lip, however the Duke isn’t designed to behave like a proper surfboard in that regard and does a very good job at what it’s been tuned to do. At lower speeds powered by your kite, in smaller waves, it has a lovely, loose and fun feel.
SUMMARY
First surfboard? Yes, this could be. It’s quite easy to ride, stable, not tippy side to side, there’s quite a bit of volume in the nose, it’s not aggressively rockered, so maintains its momentum and is strong and comfortable. For general strapless (or strapped) fun, exploring parts of your home spot you’ve not ridden – this thing is so good at going upwind – you’ll also find that you can progress the aerial aspect of your riding, too. The playful characteristics will really bring a smile to your face until conditions get more serious, when you’ll want to be reaching for something with more bite, more carving drive and more tuned wave performance.
KW LIKED
Fantastic upwind performance, comfort and stability at the front and back.
KW WOULD CHANGE
For choppy waters, getting to grips with surfboards or progressing your aerial moves, it’s hard to beat and can hold down lots of wind, too. As long as you don’t expect it to behave like a ‘proper surfboard’, this would be a super fun addition to your board quiver.
DUKE BALANCE POINTS
Build quality: 8
Fixtures and fittings: 9
Speed: 7
Pop: 4
Drive: 6
Flex: 5
Comfort: 9
Looseness: 8
Grip: 8
Upwind: 9
Freeriding: 7
Strapless freestyle: 7
Ease-of-use: 9 (in terms of a freeride surfboard on small waves)
SIZES – 5’4” x 18.5”
Here’s the official Mako Duke product video from Ocean Rodeo
For more information on Ocean Rodeo and their product range visit
www.oceanrodeo.com
