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Hello, I’m Dean Smith, and I’m here to talk about the 2011 Mana. The rider that is
going to enjoy the Mana more than anyone, is the rider who enjoys a board that has a
more immediate response. The 3-stage rocker lining the board produces an immediate snap
off the wake and doesn’t get the lag time off the wake whenever you’re throwing your
tantrums, front rolls, or spins. The main feature of this board is the light 3-stage
rocker line that the board actually has. The problem with most 3-stage rocker boards is
that they’re slow and kick you out of control off the wake. Having such a light rocker lining
this will allow you a smooth, controlled edge into the wake, allowing the board to sit higher
and giving you the 3-stage rocker kick off the top. Along with being such a light rocker
line through the board, it’s also a really steep 11 degree kick. This means that going
through the wake you’re less likely to bust through the top of a steeper Wake. Also, off
the smaller wakes, you’re going to get a little bit more purchase. In addition to that,
we can see how steep and light the rocker line is through the end of the board. The
type of rider that definitely will like this board is the rider that likes an immediate
reaction off the top of the wake and likes to feel the board snapped up underneath from
off the top of the wake. The sharp rail from the tip of the tail allows for a more effective,
consistent edge all the way to the wake. The soft bevel that we have all the way down the
edge allows for a little bit of forgiveness and you’re less likely to catch edges. One
of the main befits of having the 3-stage rocker lining this board is the fact that when you
are going through the wake so quickly, you can generate a lot of line tension. Having
such a steep rocker line will snap you up towards the handle a lot more, which allows
you to get closer and minimizes line tension, which allows you to get handle pops easier.
After going through several prototypes, we finally came up with a setup that really worked.
What we were looking for is a board that was able to carry a lot of speed and rip when
you’re landing in the flats, but still a quick enough release to take you up in the
early 7s, 360s, or any other moves. We came up with two outer .7" fins and two .4" inside
fins. Another main feature that we wanted on the board was obviously going to be softer
landings. Having a flat section through the middle of the board, we had to make sure that
the board still broke the water enough on landings that it wouldn’t be hard. What
we’ve done is actually create a slight V through the middle of the board that increases
into the center and then gets smaller to the outside. This will actually help your edge
transitions at wide, and then complement that with softer lines.