New DUOTONE mid lengh board: SKYBRID

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IanInca said..
CraigGDuotone - in fairness to my earlier comment, the smaller boards you have 55 and 70L seem a lot better with the relative smaller widths. Still not sure about the larger ones - If someone rode a current 85L traditional "boxey" shape, maybe 5'4 24" 85L I'm not sure a 5'8 22" would make a huge amount of difference. It feels a halfway house but I could be completely wrong.

no worries, it's all relative - well I ride a 65L and when I stepped on the Skybrid 85 for the first time, I did feel the width difference obviously first, in terms of stability, much like the Downwinders which very quickly feel stable once standing due to the width. So I would not say that the 85+ sizes feel wide at all and a lot depends on water-state too. As DWF wrote, indeed the very first impression can be a bit daunting, so a touch more width does not hurt. Our own Sky Style 85L is almost 25" wide, but can say the Skybrid 85 most certainly gets up a lot quicker than that does, especially if the wind is lighter/underpowered.

Of course the point with the Skybrid/mid lengths, is the long stretched outlines and flatter rockers, this is what changes the game completely in terms of get up and go. Look forward to hearing more from people who get to try the boards!

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boardsurfr said..

warwickl said..
I recently bought this 2021 JP 6ft 8in x 26in x 96l which has a big step in the tail, blue area under the board plus tail and nose rocker. I was very sceptical thinking this board will be hard to get up on the foil in light winds, I was wrong .
I also have a 2024 Naish DW 105l 7ft 1in x 22.5in, and so far I can't tell the difference in getting on the foil.
I have done a few tests in wind about 8kn gusts using an Axis 1180 Spitfire foil wing on both boards with similar results.
So 2 completely different designs giving similar light wind performance ??.

Interesting observation. From pictures and descriptions, the Naish is a bit unusual for DW boards - a bit shorter and wider, and with a relatively wide tail. The bottom also looks like it has a relatively wide flat area (side-to-side). All things that should help with stability, but at some cost with respect to take off. The description of the Naish is mostly about downwind paddling, not winging, and I'd guess that design criteria are a bit different.
The JP is a pretty nice board. We had one a few years ago, and I have regretted selling it when my wife switched to a smaller board. I was not into winging back then. Now I am, and I'm building a similar board (a bit longer and narrow with some other tweaks, but more similar to the JP than my other wing boards).

I understand your comments and I can relate.
My needs are a bit different to most as I am 77.8 yo and 74kg with not very strong legs for getting up from kneeling and these 2 boards level of stability work for me.
As previously mentioned I can foil from about 7 to 8kn wind gusts with an Axis Spitfire 1180 so happy with that.
My windwing conditions are lake in wind from very low to maximum 30kn. I also use the boards for Foil Drive Assist in surf and love this experience on nice sunny windless days.

I have to revise my bevels judgement as I got more detailed pics from another testival, being taken from the 6.0 size.

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Hi Mark,

getting a ltd qty early July, so if u put in an order asap then u may well be able to snatch one of them for your holiday! Yes should work with any foil, they have extra long full carbon boxes.

hi Craig, sounds great. my I ask your opinion please?

Still thinking a bit about whether to take the Sky Style 85, or the Skybrid 85 ;-) both have their advantages. Let's say I want to ride mostly small lake chop, like kneehigh, max hip heigh. Starting around 12 knots. I have Slicks 6.0 and 4.5. Maybe when I dial in my skills with tacks eI will go to sea in low waves, say max waist to shoulder high. I am not really interested in going superfast, nor do backloops, etc. Just having fun. Getting on foil, and when a wave rolls, I try to ride it flagging the wing. Maybe a jump here and there. Turning on the waves etc. I need a board to be good with all winds, so also with 4.5 or smaller, But I need some floatation (I weigh 80kg) because I sail in spots with side-offshore winds that can drop suddenly..So I need to be able to float back to shore. I don't need the superlight wind performance. Because getting up and cruising with 8 knots is not fun for me. So I ruled out all the DW Sup shapes, etc.

What do you guys think?

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itsmark1974 said..

Hi Mark,

getting a ltd qty early July, so if u put in an order asap then u may well be able to snatch one of them for your holiday! Yes should work with any foil, they have extra long full carbon boxes.

hi Craig, sounds great. my I ask your opinion please?

Still thinking a bit about whether to take the Sky Style 85, or the Skybrid 85 ;-) both have their advantages. Let's say I want to ride mostly small lake chop, like kneehigh, max hip heigh. Starting around 12 knots. I have Slicks 6.0 and 4.5. Maybe when I dial in my skills with tacks eI will go to sea in low waves, say max waist to shoulder high. I am not really interested in going superfast, nor do backloops, etc. Just having fun. Getting on foil, and when a wave rolls, I try to ride it flagging the wing. Maybe a jump here and there. Turning on the waves etc. I need a board to be good with all winds, so also with 4.5 or smaller, But I need some floatation (I weigh 80kg) because I sail in spots with side-offshore winds that can drop suddenly..So I need to be able to float back to shore. I don't need the superlight wind performance. Because getting up and cruising with 8 knots is not fun for me. So I ruled out all the DW Sup shapes, etc.

What do you guys think?

HI Mark,

Well, in terms of initial stability as mentioned, the narrower shapes take a bit of getting used to, purely for climbing on and off, plus of course feet placement is a bit more important, but not major. Once standing however the extra length and thickness is a bonus for getting back if the wind drops vs a similar sized shorter Sky Style for example.

Often of course everyone feels the need to go super small on boards, I have stopped at 65L, as it's the ideal size for me, 10L below my weight, but rode a 75L for ages and I think if I was not jumping/wanting to push it a bit on riding swells/tricks, then I would be fine with a 75L. 85L sounds like a good call for you, jumping the shorter boards are generally easier to handle, but a Skybrid will also jump ok - the layup is however slightly lighter, than the SLS, so if it is a lot of jumping, perhaps go to the Style.

One thing the mid lengths simply do better is glide/pump, that is clear. So if that is a big focus/aim, then choose that. The Style is more compact, perhaps the complete allrounder if you want to do everything from waves, flat water, freestyle incl jumping. I think for most people the Skybrid is a very good option/general concept of mid length, but you do need a bit of experience first with them, ie not straight from a beginner board (at least for the smaller 85 and smaller sizes.).

SLS for now, probably a Bamboo version in Spring 2025, but don't quote me! :-)

Big wing day here, off to bed!

Thanks for the feedback. Today I talked to a shop and he expects the skybrids end of July. Unfortunately that's just too late for my holiday.. I will doublecheck.. But for my riding both will do. slightly prefer the skybrid

Is there any information yet as to when the boards will be available in shops in Europe (Germany, Switzerland)?

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Foxi said..

HansH said..
Is there any information yet as to when the boards will be available in shops in Europe (Germany, Switzerland)?

release date was mentioned above at July 3rd
but first dealers list Skybrid in ..................

Thank you very much. This shop is not very well known for providing reliable information and then sticking to it

hi guys, Graig,

I just heard the delivery is before my holiday ;-) So i can still choose. btw my new Slicks 4.0 and 5.5 have arrived in the Shop (thanks @graig for his advice also on the Duotone website).

one last question:
one thing between de Skystyle 85 and Skybrid 85. Which one would be better riding bumps on lakes, and small North Sea waves (max hip to shoulder). with my slicks 4 and 5.5... with my 80kg's??

then I can make the right choose ;-)

thanks guys. love this forum

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itsmark1974 said..
hi guys, Graig,

I just heard the delivery is before my holiday ;-) So i can still choose. btw my new Slicks 4.0 and 5.5 have arrived in the Shop (thanks @graig for his advice also on the Duotone website).

one last question:
one thing between de Skystyle 85 and Skybrid 85. Which one would be better riding bumps on lakes, and small North Sea waves (max hip to shoulder). with my slicks 4 and 5.5... with my 80kg's?? Also when the wind picks up for my 4.0 say 25 knots+

then I can make the right choose ;-)

thanks guys. love this forum

Don't think anyone knows yet? 5'1 style works pretty good I've got the 5'8 Skybrid coming soon as I get it I will do comparison for waves. im 90kg

clip of 5'1 style in waves here-

www.instagram.com/reel/C8FQZQdIqM6/?igsh=MTdyYzdyYnYwYmNyOA==

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itsmark1974 said..
hi guys, Graig,

I just heard the delivery is before my holiday ;-)

Hi, where did you get information about delivery? Do you know when and where it will be available?