Bark Expedition 14

[balance_fit]

Hello to all paddlers. Among those who have paddled the Bark Expedition, what is the consensus regarding it's performance? Not much said about it elsewhere, ... it's shape looks quite promising for a range of conditions, say, 15knot downwinds, flat distance, even small surf.  Thanks to all, see you on the water !

[DavidJohn]

I've paddled one and IMO it's an ok sort of board that's more suited to flat water paddling and just ok for down-winers.. and just ok for surfing little waves.. If it's more DW performance that you want I think the boards like the Naish 14 are a much better board.. You need to arrange a demo. (of both)

DJ

[diesel]

Hello to all paddlers. Among those who have paddled the Bark Expedition, what is the consensus regarding it's performance? Not much said about it elsewhere, ... it's shape looks quite promising for a range of conditions, say, 15knot downwinds, flat distance, even small surf.  Thanks to all, see you on the water !

BalanceFit, I just bought a second hand one to use as an all around type board.  I want to catch unbroken swells in front of waikiki without breaking the board if some bombs roll through and I take off on them.  Maybe downwind on mellower days if the board is stable enough.  I think the Naish is probably a better downwind board but maybe not as good for regular surfing.  The Naish has more volume.  I think for serious downwind action, you probably just have to get an SIC f-16 or F-18 but it depends what you are looking for.  I just wanted something more durable and stable than my hollow vorticeXP.
I will let you know how it goes if you are interested.  Where are you located and what kind of bumps do you get on your downwinders?  That would determine what kind of board would work.

[balance_fit]

DJ and Diesel, thanks for coming to my help !
An sup, for me, has to be versatile enough so that i can feel happy on mellow downwinders, be stable but glide better and pearl less than my Laird 12 on downwinds(missing data from my first post, sorry) and allow me to surf waist high mushy waves. Cruising also, with my dog!
Taking off from from DJ's observations i have arranged the demo for Naish 14 and Exp.
Diesel, i paddle in Puerto Rico,  mostly in the Atlantic coast, with ground swells up to 5 ft and 15 knot winds for downwinds. Flat water cruising adventures are paddled in protected mangrove lagoons or coastal south shore conditions with stronger winds but flatter seas. Waves i surf are waist to chest high on coastal deep reefs and shoals with mushy conditions.
Even though want an sup for downwinds, i also want it to be durable and rudderless. 14 ft for me, is the perfect size. I'm afraid of the Naish's boxy rails for the surf. 
Will keep you posted after i test ride both sups.
Thanks and see you on the water !

[DavidJohn]

I almost deleted my reply because saying 'ok' sounded a bit unfair because the 14' Bark really is a nice board and 12 months ago if I was to look at the Bark and Naish side by side I would have picked the Bark for sure.. But I realize now function is much more important than looks.. The Bark does pearl very easily and seems to take ages to re surface but I'm sure the thiner surfboard shape of the Bark will make a surfer feel right at home on a wave.. The Naish does feel thick and boxy and because of the huge rocker it swings like a hammock when it tips and that can be a little off putting at first but you soon get used to it.. I have a couple of friends that surf their Naish 14's all the time.. I don't know how they do it because it really is a big board.. Let us know how you go with your demo'ing.

DJ

[JonathanC]

Hi balance_fit,
This might seem a strange suggestion but I think Bill Foote on Maui could make you a perfect board. Bill makes the Maliko 14 for down-winders in full carbon but I'm absolutely certain he could make you a 14' board for your purpose that was strong enough for surf and still perform well on flat water and down-winders. He has huge experience shaping surf boards as well as down-wind boards and has a real following on Maui for both. He ships them all over so I'm sure it is possible to send to Puerto Rico. The Nelson factory that make the down-wind boards for Bill make very very high quality vacuum bagged boards for windsurfing as well, also super experienced and well regarded. Just a thought....

[balance_fit]

Hello to all and thanks for the suggestions! Very good forum and a pleasure to share ideas with fellow paddlers.

I demo'ed the Naish and the Bark. The conditions were on the mellow side with 10 knot winds and 1-2 foot windswell. I did a 3 kilometer leg with each board mostly downwind with a slight side on shore gust here and there. Some refracted waves off the rocky shoreline at one point, around 1 foot.

The Bark had a 9 inch surfing rudder and the Naish the stock straight fin. I tested the AST Naish.

Bark, first leg. Smooth rolling board, easy to find the sweet spot and to keep it heading downwind. Reacted confortably to side swells, wind and refracted. Stable and no balance checks. Able to catch short runs with minimal effort. Sensitive to rail pressure. No pearling. Peak speed from GPS at 8.7 kph.

Naish, second leg. Lighter, reacts quicker to paddle input. Took me a bit longer to find the sweet spot. Nervous board regarding it's reaction to side swells and refracted waves. Several balance checks. Caught runs easily, tracks well and never pearled. Peak speed at 9.4 kph.
 
The Naish and the Bark averaged the same speed on each run.

I felt that the Naish took more energy out of me because of it's nervousness and reaction to side waves. Due to this i was not very inclined to test it's reaction to rail pressure, i was concentrated on keeping it under me.

I liked the Bark's behavior handling side and refracted waves although it was somewhat harder to catch a run. Once on the run, i liked the stable glide, but rail pressure tests did produce controllable change of direction.

Since i have limited options locally, even though Malikos and others like the SIC's are excellent boards, the cost of bringing an sup from overseas takes it out of budget, it's either Naish or Bark.

The only other similar board i've tested is a custom Joe Blair design at 14x30x6. This was done only on flat water. 

Regarding my skills, i'm a former long time short board windsurfer who enjoyed bump and jump conditions with the ocassional head high wave sailing. I also had a flat water board, the boxy rail type.
Kayaked, surfskied and oc1 for 6 years until lower back preferred sup's.

In regards to sup's, i've tried several Lairds and had a 12 for 6 months. Also tried the Blair, a Bic and several other surf specific designs.

Other options locally are the high end Barks and Hobies. Nice but costly and kind of single use.
My only sup has to be, like i said, a versatile and stable design. Bark has my pennies....
Thanks to all for your informed suggestions and knowledge.
Be well and see you on the water !

[1paddle2paddle]

I think Diesel hit it on the head.  The better board would depend on your intended use.

If you are planning on paddles of some distance, eventually as you got used to the stability of the Naish it would likely be far faster than the Bark, but in the beginning when you struggling with its stability (I liked the description "nervous") you will not be able to make the Naish go as fast as you could once you were used to it.

If you were planning on taking your board into breaking waves with some frequency, I'd probably go with the Expedition over the Glide.

[diesel]

I wonder which would be stronger if hit by a wave.  The naish is light weight for it's volume.  the surftech bark is more of a heavyweight.  Naish has carbon cloth so maybe it is stronger.  I would think that the bark surfs regular waves a little better because it is more surfboard shaped but that remains to be seen.  Naish is probably faster for downwind because it is narrower and more volume.  Both are designed by master paddleboard guys.  The Naish is designed by Harold Iggy who has been a longtime paddleboard shaper in Hawaii.  I got the expedition because it looked more surfboardish and I though if I caught regular waves it could handle better without catching a rail.

[Pureadrenalin]

There is many things i could mention I don't like about the expedition but I wont. The one thing it does shine at is surf it will out surf the Naish any given day hands down. The Naish on the other hand is a better at paddling SUB it doe'snt yaw as much and its fast SUB for Downwinders. The rails on the Naish is to sharp and it runs more than 3/4's from the top to bottom whereas when you try to make sudden turns the rail bites big time versus the Bark it has nice soft rails where it can surf and be responsive like a surfing SUB. So in the end it does really matter what you prefer what you want in a 14 footer.

[balance_fit]

Hello to all ! I appreciate very much all of the suggestions that keep coming on this thread. I owe all of you another report once i go into the surf zone. Will be small surf though, in the order of waist high sets.
The paddling i intend to do on this Bark will range from easy cruising with the dog to downwind to small surf.
I feel that the Naish could be the best sup for dedicated downwind but the sharp boxy rails would hinder it's performance in the waves. Not that i intend to do deep cutbacks and radical off the lips but i expect the sup to at least allow me to carve the face.
Will keep you posted ! Our surf spots are all blown out until next week when the high pressure system weakens and the winds will ease. But some easy downwind runs are set for saturday.
Be well all !
jd

[mik911]

Those who 'surf' the Bark Ex 14, are you surfing breaking waves at the beach, or do you mean 'surfing' the swells on DW runs?
If surfing waves at the beach, it would seem that it's 14' length would make it difficult to turn around quickly, and getting it through the white water out past the surfline.

I'm interested in a board that's a cruiser/entry level racer, that can surf the beach breaks reasonably well. (I know, can't have it all), but my 10'x35" South County is a little sluggish while cruising.

Lastly, the hull shape at the nose is radically different between the Bark and Naish, right?
The Bark looks to have a planning surface at the nose, whereas the Naish appears to have a displacement hull.
Does the planning hull of the Bark make it a lot slower?

thank
mike

[DavidJohn]

Lastly, the hull shape at the nose is radically different between the Bark and Naish, right?
The Bark looks to have a planning surface at the nose, whereas the Naish appears to have a displacement hull.
Does the planning hull of the Bark make it a lot slower?

thank
mike

The Naish is a full on planing hull.. but I think it's made very thick for a few reasons.. First because on down-winders you are often pearling (it's going to happen.. and often depending on your conditions) so they have made to nose very pointy so when it gets pushed into the wave ahead it does not bog down and slow like a lot of other board that make it feel like you're going to go over the bars.. Having less area in the nose means that the nose rocker alone  doesn't make it rise back to the surface.. especially when not going real fast.. You need volume so that it wants to float up and out like a displacement hull board without having the canoe like nose that will catch and pull left or right and want to broach.. the Naish nose is very neutral.. Also the thickness gives strength and reduces the 'boying' vibration that most boards do when they hit chop.. the Naish is as solid as a rock when hitting chop... The Bark board pearls pretty easy.. mostly because it does not have the huge nose rocker like the Naish.. and when it pearls it bogs down and slows.. and when the nose rises it almost does a side to side wobble as it makes its way to the surface.. I think when they designed the Naish they started with a clean slate and looked at what's required rather than trying to make a surfboard shape board work.. I think Naish hit the nail on the head with the shape of the 14' Glide.

On flat water and as long as you can keep the nose from pearling on down-winders the Bark should be just as quick.. and maybe even quicker than the Naish.. but it's not all about speed... IMO..  

DJ

[mik911]

How about SURFING the Bark in breaking waves? Has anyone done this? How does the Bark do in riding breaking waves?

[jimbro]

How about SURFING the Bark in breaking waves? Has anyone done this? How does the Bark do in riding breaking waves?

I do not know for a fact how it surfs because i have never ridden one.  However, i have heard they do surf rather well.