Surftech Bark Downwinder board

[yugi]

I volunteer to test ride one!

[balance_fit]

Bumpity bump  for the bump rider....

Anyway, this board seems still to be a mystery to most. Maybe they should have called this one the Phantom instead. So here's a little note to Surftech: for heaven's sake please get an independent member of this forum on one of these boards because you are missing so much free advertising that it's just not funny any more. It begins to look like you don't have confidence in your product.

I got some curiosity flowing today and went to Surftech's Facebook page, looking for pictures, or at least, some real time downwind impressions of this well sought after but never to be found board. I found nothing other than sponsored pros frolicking around or sales reps flatwater "testing" this board. Only one nice picture of the board in dw conditions. 

As reported in this page, Matt Becker got really good results on it on last year's M2O.

Last years? I went and checked....these pictures go back to mid 2014.

What happened in the meantime? Was this design faulty in some way and has been recalled to the drawing room? Where and who is paddling these Bark downwinders?

Echoing Area 10, I don't believe this product will take off until we, the paddling mass, have a chance to use it in realtime conditions and can start making our voices heard. And is we who have the power to make or break any SUP related product, not the pros, not the sales reps.

I live on an island with year round trade winds. Not Hawaii like, but enough to make our downwind scene a real one. Other dw specific brand thrives here. Our local Surftech dealer has been asking for a price list on this and other models, for quite awhile, unsuccessfully. What's happening?

Let's hope more bumps come around and push this Bark design, (and I respect Bark designs) down our way and onto it's proper testing ground by the people who counts.

[Fog City Rider]

One of our sales reps, can't remember who, told me that Bark had already re-designed this board by the time the first iteration came out.  Totally unsubstantiated, but could explain why we've heard so little about it.  Maybe they only produced one batch and are re-doing it for next year?

[andygere]

I saw one today at Covewater in Santa Cruz.  It has a little less rocker than a comparable SIC (there was one on the rack just above it), and Scott told me that the guys who have downwinded on it liked it.  Looks like a fun board to ride.

[XLR8]

I have ridden one for a short 1.5 mile upwind stretch and then a few miles downwind on a Lake MI day.  Bikeski, who commented on this thread about the board, had a Bark D2 and this one to check out. 

I found it to be easy to paddle and quick to catch a glide.  I found it more stable downwind than the D2 was for me.  I did not like the domed deck and standing area on the downwind board, at all.  I thought it seemed a little high in volume, but I know it's a board for the masses.  Those are preference-based criticisms.  In general it was a nice downwinding board. As far as downwind boards go though I am more interested in what SIC, Naish, Bill Foote or my own boardmaker, Blkbox, is doing right now.

[Area 10]

Thanks very much XLR8, that's very helpful. It's strange that Joe Bark would give his Downwinder board a domed standing area when his flat water boards all have flat areas. And why do shapers so often put so much volume in DW boards? The Surftech Gerry Lopez 14ft DW board was an example: the sheer volume made it corky and hard to control for most. The Bullet v2 shows that you can have a highly effective DW board without excessive volume, and indeed that having a low volume tail in particular (see also the Fanatic open ocean) can greatly enhance controllability. Having lowered standing areas is also so helpful to stability. Even one inch or less makes a big difference. Most people 220lbs+ are probably going to be better off getting a UL DW board than a 14 anyway, so why compromise the design for everyone else for that minority?

So it is a shame if the Bark Downwinder has these features (domed deck, high volume) because to my mind they are indeed unnecessary shortcomings in a DW board. Maybe if Joe has decided to refine the design, then these issues will be addressed.