Laird/Bark hybrid...oooohh....

[Aiyah]

Dad and I are oogling over the new Bark boards coming out soonish. The green/blue dominator  looks a little random, but the other ones look awesome.

http://www.paddleboardspecialists.com/info_blogpost.asp?id=99

[NZ WHOA]

The blue green dominator looks kinda cool.

[rpmooreii]

Since the Dominator is still in the line-up are these Laird boards replacement for the Expedition.  Has anybody had the opp to test a Dom and the Laird (14') side by side in various conditions to see which is faster?

Thanks!

...Roger

[mik911]

Aiyah--thanks for the head's up and link.

What's with the pin tail on the Laird 14, vs the squash/square tail on the Laird 12'6"?

[DavidJohn]

Aiyah--thanks for the head's up and link.

What's with the pin tail on the Laird 14, vs the squash/square tail on the Laird 12'6"?

That's no surprise.. By chopping off the tail you get a slightly bigger board fitting into a smaller class.

DJ

[Henrik F]

They do look pretty good!!!

Henrik F

[Aiyah]

I thought they both had a pintail? Maybe I wasn't paying attention.
I dunno if they're replacing the expeditions, they dont look like they would be, they strike me as more a modified Dom, but I really dont know. I just thought it was interesting.
Supposedly these are supposed to be as fast as the dominator, just built for bigger guys, but who knows.

[joemosq]

The 12'6" surftech laird bark has the square tail just like the competitor and the 14' surftech laird bark has the pintail. Both boards will be available in both the pro elite and tuflite construction. The surftech bark lairds are not replacing the expedition. The expedition is still being offered and is still a great board. The new 12'6" and 14' surftech laird barks are basically big guy versions of the dominator and competitor. The new boards will basically offer a little better stability and better glide for the larger paddler. Both boards will be great touring boards for the average Paddler looking for maximum glide and speed as well as being top shelf race boards for the elite paddler. The new 14' surftech laird bark will offer better displacement for the larger paddler and thus just as fast (with better stability) if not faster than the dominator for the 180-240lb paddler.

[paddlejones]

Any Idea when these will be available other than "soon"?
and will the Dominator be available in tuflite?
 

[TonyV]

Where and when can I pick this up?

[Foilman]

So, besides the color, what other differences are there between the 2011 and the 2012 competitor? Shape looks exactly the same to me. I'm really happy I bought the 2011. Like the orange a lot better. :-)

Rob

[Flores]

Available February 2012.

[paddlejones]

yah, i kind of wish that i did not see this until 2012
i was about to pull the trigger on a hobie 14'
now i have to decide to wait it out or get the hobie... 6 to 8 months is a long wait when you have to paddle slower

[Easy Rider]

Does this mean Laird is going to start racing?

[Aiyah]

Paddlejones: Are you talking about the new hobie with the wooden top? My dad's been looking at one of those, but there's no place to demo one here. Have you ridden one before? What's it like?