Naish 2017 Javelin Maliko?

[ukgm]

Speaking as a bellow average, lightweight (165 lbs) paddler, i have seen the same thing with my Blackfish 14'x26" when the going gets longer I get slower but in comfort and style because I simply cannot maintain the power over this threshold. When the sea is rougher it does not matter and I am still in comfort and style.
I was very tempted to get again a flat water board to complement but ended-up buying the same Blackfish but 14'x24". I do get a speed improvement and make that threshold closer to my capacities. Outside of price and board availability, the other factor I considered is if the conditions change drastically halfway through a paddle in one of our inlet with nowhere to go but forward would I rather be on the still stable, chop friendlier Blackfish 24" or on a pure flat-water board? Reason and caution prevailed.

Luc, did you ever measured speed in relation to cadence on your 14x24 blackfish? The common
claim about these kind of board is they respond better to higher cadence
than to slower power strokes. At least that's what I've read. Going to put
it to the test when I'll get mine shortly.

My team issue Maliko arrives in January and I'm certainly going to match the paddle and fin to the board with some rigorous testing again as its very different to my older boards. However, bear in mind that your physiology will also heavily influence the best paddle choice, not just the board.

[Area 10]

Hey, speaking of cutting bows and flatwater boards. What was up with Lina Augaitis doing the sprints on an Allstar?

They were expecting the relay races to be in and out of the surf at Cloudbreak, and weren't expecting the sprint races at all. So it was a case of "run what ya brung". None of them had any reason to have flat water boards with them.

[yugi]

^ Lina rides SIC and had an x12

[burchas]

My team issue Maliko arrives in January and I'm certainly going to match the paddle and fin to the board with some rigorous testing again as its very different to my older boards. However, bear in mind that your physiology will also heavily influence the best paddle choice, not just the board.

Luckily for me, the best fin setup is already a given (6inch Stinger with small ventral), it's just a question of adding the twin fins or not, which will be decided based on conditions.
I already found the most efficient paddle for me (ZRE) it's just a question of going with the 80 or the 75, with my current board, the difference is 50spm (80) vs 55spm (75) in order to achieve the same speed, which somewhat surprised me since it seem too much of a difference, but the 75 is pretty new so that might change.

I do look forward to your tests though. The Maliko is certainly a very intriguing board. I'm really interested to hear how it preforms in heavy sidewind/side chop, it seems like its shape will be great at that.

[Area 10]

My team issue Maliko arrives in January and I'm certainly going to match the paddle and fin to the board with some rigorous testing again as its very different to my older boards. However, bear in mind that your physiology will also heavily influence the best paddle choice, not just the board.

I'm thinking that the Fanatic Strike-2 might be the board to be on for most UK races this year. Most of our races are actually held in quite boring conditions, and we don't have that many technical or downwind (or even ocean) races. So I'm not sure that a full planing hull is the best way forward. The Strike-2 looks to be a good compromise in principle between a full displacement nose and a planing type. After a few years of IMO losing their way with rather extreme experiments, I reckon Fanatic might have found a sensible middle ground for 2017.

[ukgm]

My team issue Maliko arrives in January and I'm certainly going to match the paddle and fin to the board with some rigorous testing again as its very different to my older boards. However, bear in mind that your physiology will also heavily influence the best paddle choice, not just the board.

I'm thinking that the Fanatic Strike-2 might be the board to be on for most UK races this year. Most of our races are actually held in quite boring conditions, and we don't have that many technical or downwind (or even ocean) races. So I'm not sure that a full planing hull is the best way forward. The Strike-2 looks to be a good compromise in principle between a full displacement nose and a planing type. After a few years of IMO losing their way with rather extreme experiments, I reckon Fanatic might have found a sensible middle ground for 2017.

Having spoken to their team riders at length about it, the 2016 Strike was an insanely fast board but it was incredibly tippy. When you see highly experienced guys falling off a flatwater race board, I took the assumption it was a performance step too far. I think flatwater boards have limited use for middle of pack racers as they need a board to deal with the first 20 minutes of a race being in the thick of it. That's very much my attitude for next season.

[Eagle]

The 2017 Strike 2 looks to be a touch more piercing than the All Star - but it apparently now has a flat section at the nose which is similar to the AS.  From my experience the cutting bow pierces into chop quite nicely to keep the tail from sinking too deep and causing a ton if drag - and the flat section right after provides a ton of stability.  This concept is completely different to a traditional deep vee. 

Personally I love the deep vee on my Dom - but not for racing where wash and wakes push it around.  The Dom is fantastic for zen-like paddling as the nose is silent compared to splash splash from non-deep vee boards.  The Think surfski inspired boards have even a more quiet entry and more rounded underbody.  Beautiful silent boards well built and hollow.  Lower IS but very good SS.

The new 2017 Sprint 21.5 should be a nice stable board with the dropped deck - and a nice complement to the AS23.  That is the board that I would get if we ever had any flat water around here.  All in all - really nice to see board evolution year over year.   

[Area 10]

My team issue Maliko arrives in January and I'm certainly going to match the paddle and fin to the board with some rigorous testing again as its very different to my older boards. However, bear in mind that your physiology will also heavily influence the best paddle choice, not just the board.

I'm thinking that the Fanatic Strike-2 might be the board to be on for most UK races this year. Most of our races are actually held in quite boring conditions, and we don't have that many technical or downwind (or even ocean) races. So I'm not sure that a full planing hull is the best way forward. The Strike-2 looks to be a good compromise in principle between a full displacement nose and a planing type. After a few years of IMO losing their way with rather extreme experiments, I reckon Fanatic might have found a sensible middle ground for 2017.

Having spoken to their team riders at length about it, the 2016 Strike was an insanely fast board but it was incredibly tippy. When you see highly experienced guys falling off a flatwater race board, I took the assumption it was a performance step too far. I think flatwater boards have limited use for middle of pack racers as they need a board to deal with the first 20 minutes of a race being in the thick of it. That's very much my attitude for next season.

I agree. But the Strike-2 is nothing st all like the original Strike. The only similarity is the name. The Strike-2 is very obviously an all-rounder not a flat water-specific board. The 2017 Falcon looks interesting as well. I've been quite critical of Fanatic for the last few seasons (despite owning one), but 2017 looks to be a good year, and I'm willing to bet that most people would be faster on the Strike-2 in flat water and mild chop than on a Maliko.

[ukgm]

My team issue Maliko arrives in January and I'm certainly going to match the paddle and fin to the board with some rigorous testing again as its very different to my older boards. However, bear in mind that your physiology will also heavily influence the best paddle choice, not just the board.

I'm thinking that the Fanatic Strike-2 might be the board to be on for most UK races this year. Most of our races are actually held in quite boring conditions, and we don't have that many technical or downwind (or even ocean) races. So I'm not sure that a full planing hull is the best way forward. The Strike-2 looks to be a good compromise in principle between a full displacement nose and a planing type. After a few years of IMO losing their way with rather extreme experiments, I reckon Fanatic might have found a sensible middle ground for 2017.

Having spoken to their team riders at length about it, the 2016 Strike was an insanely fast board but it was incredibly tippy. When you see highly experienced guys falling off a flatwater race board, I took the assumption it was a performance step too far. I think flatwater boards have limited use for middle of pack racers as they need a board to deal with the first 20 minutes of a race being in the thick of it. That's very much my attitude for next season.

I agree. But the Strike-2 is nothing st all like the original Strike. The only similarity is the name. The Strike-2 is very obviously an all-rounder not a flat water-specific board. The 2017 Falcon looks interesting as well. I've been quite critical of Fanatic for the last few seasons (despite owning one), but 2017 looks to be a good year, and I'm willing to bet that most people would be faster on the Strike-2 in flat water and mild chop than on a Maliko.

Yep, I just took a look at it. It's looks an interesting choice (with a reasonable level of volume for its 26 inch width size) with all the right features I would consider. I know their durability has been spotty in the past but the design looks to be something well thought through for the typical paddler. Nice.

[Eagle]

The Strike v2 is a much better option for racing.  Whereas the v1 would be good for advanced speedwork or recreational cruising.  Both look like really nice fun boards built for speed.  So many interesting designs out there.

[DavidJohn]

. I'm really interested to hear how it preforms in heavy sidewind/side chop, it seems like its shape will be great at that.

The Maliko performs extremely well in those condition..

[Area 10]

. I'm really interested to hear how it preforms in heavy sidewind/side chop, it seems like its shape will be great at that.

The Maliko performs extremely well in those condition..

With Kai or Caspar on board it performs extremely well in ALL conditions 😃

Those guys really sell that board. Caspar and Kai produced the most unbelievable race performances on the year in Fiji IMO. I'm still not sure how Kai's performance in the relays was possible, nor Caspar's in the sprints.

Btw, do we know who won the "battle of the brands" at the ISA Worlds? Naish must have been right up there.

[Luc Benac]

With Kai or Caspar on board it performs extremely well in ALL conditions 😃

Yep, without going to such extreme, if I could simply maintain the same paddling I use on 100m over 10 km, I would probably be happy with any board and there would not be any drop in performance when going under 80% regardless of the shape of the board....for that matter while not touching Casper/Kai, Slater Trout second on the Blackfish was not too shabby either....

[ukgm]

My team issue Maliko arrives in January and I'm certainly going to match the paddle and fin to the board with some rigorous testing again as its very different to my older boards. However, bear in mind that your physiology will also heavily influence the best paddle choice, not just the board.

I do look forward to your tests though. The Maliko is certainly a very intriguing board. I'm really interested to hear how it preforms in heavy sidewind/side chop, it seems like its shape will be great at that.

My hard number testing should be next week (once our current weather pattern warms a little and the wind swings to where i need it).

Bear in mind I'm a team rider here (so there will be some natural bias). Having now had mine a while, my thoughts are so far that the stability is incredible - I went for the 26 but I've had to drop a small fin on it as its level of stability is so high (for even me) that I've decided to try and reduce the overall drag elsewhere. The 24 would not have had the volume for me but if they ever lose an inch off the design, it would likely be perfect for me.

The nose design does take some getting used to. It splashes a lot and produces a weird skipping noise over shallow chop. On flatwater this is going to seem unsightly if (like me) you're used to a cutting bow but I'll wait until I've got some hard numbers before drawing judgement. I wanted an all water board personally but the front end (and the industries move to boof noses in general) means I don't know how competent such designs are yet and whether the flatwater javelin would have been more of a better 'all water' choice for when using it on the flat and on chop. This all said, the maliko is the best board I've ever used for cross chop and boat wakes - it doesn't waver at all. If you race but you're mid pack and have to deal with a lot of messy water in your events, this is confidence inspiring.

I feel, this kind of design will tolerate any kind of water - if you can race north of 9kph (I think if you cruise slower than this, such designs are going to bog down). My only concern so far is whether it is so stable and so self assured that is too safe and therefore too slow for my racing needs. I'll get some numbers.......

[Luc Benac]

> I feel, this kind of design will tolerate any kind of water - if you can race north of 9kph (I think if you cruise slower than this, such designs are going to bog down).<

Could you expend on the "bog down" part?
There was a lot of controversy about the SUP "plane, do not plane" so not to open this again by any means but curious about what would make the design less effective at a speed under a certain threshold and more effective above that. And how do you really measure that?
Compared to a proportional level of effort? i.e. assuming 100% level of effort gives you 9kph over 500m, then measuring 70% level of effort would give you less than 70% of 9 kph so suddenly recording speed going significantly lower than 6.3 kph? So a curve speed versus effort like a hockey stick versus a straight curve for a true displacement board?

To clarify as sometime this become somewhat acrimonious, I am not throwing away your statement, I am just really curious to have a rationale behind it and see if this can be applied to other boards of similar design.

I also assume that your statement mostly applies to flat water performance rather than choppy water?
My very limited experience point to the importance to have board of this design matched with your weight, strength and general paddling output.
In my case considering the Blackfish as of similar design than the Maliko, I have found that:
Blackfish 26" (large board for my 165 lbs) was slower (outside of sprints) than the 25" Eradicator (displacement) but that the Blackfish 24" was faster than the Eradicator.
This seem to hold true mostly for flat water and to a lesser extend to relatively mild choppy/open water.
I am also a slow/weaker paddler and I canot come close to 9 kph outside of a sprint under 100m i.e. cannot sustain anything close to that speed.