Man that's very disappointing...I was just about to pull the trigger on one.I guess I'll be reconsidering.
Maybe it's just the paint chipping? Nice thick paint job on production boards tend to crack. My KT board looks awful but it's all just paint chipping.
na took it to a board repair guy all good now, wanted to stop water ingress.
The units are the best wing I've tried, apart from the stupid flimsy front handle and wanting to flip on back, but once riding they are amazing.
The Kalama board chime/tail design and volume placement is miles ahead of fanatic 22 board I came from, but I don't want to repair my board every 3-4 sessions.
I'll have to fix the handles on the unit somehow.
It got damaged after a failed tack in 18-20kn wind, nothing extreme, could've been a bad angle that it hit at...
that's just what happens with hard handles and booms. Gotta assume that it will crack whatever board you ride.
na took it to a board repair guy all good now, wanted to stop water ingress.
The units are the best wing I've tried, apart from the stupid flimsy front handle and wanting to flip on back, but once riding they are amazing.
The Kalama board chime/tail design and volume placement is miles ahead of fanatic 22 board I came from, but I don't want to repair my board every 3-4 sessions.
I'll have to fix the handles on the unit somehow.
It got damaged after a failed tack in 18-20kn wind, nothing extreme, could've been a bad angle that it hit at...
Hi
im looking at building a new wing board. my last one was similar to the fanatic with a full flat tail. interested in the new Kalama shapes with the chine tail.
How does it perform better than the 22 fanatics? What difference does the chine make do you think? thanks.
na took it to a board repair guy all good now, wanted to stop water ingress.
The units are the best wing I've tried, apart from the stupid flimsy front handle and wanting to flip on back, but once riding they are amazing.
The Kalama board chime/tail design and volume placement is miles ahead of fanatic 22 board I came from, but I don't want to repair my board every 3-4 sessions.
I'll have to fix the handles on the unit somehow.
It got damaged after a failed tack in 18-20kn wind, nothing extreme, could've been a bad angle that it hit at...
Hi
im looking at building a new wing board. my last one was similar to the fanatic with a full flat tail. interested in the new Kalama shapes with the chine tail.
How does it perform better than the 22 fanatics? What difference does the chine make do you think? thanks.
I was wondering the same thing, so doing a bit of a hybrid. Fanatic style type deck, chined V tail bottom but with boxed much further forward. 4'11 x 23 75 litres.
Will know if it works soon.


na took it to a board repair guy all good now, wanted to stop water ingress.
The units are the best wing I've tried, apart from the stupid flimsy front handle and wanting to flip on back, but once riding they are amazing.
The Kalama board chime/tail design and volume placement is miles ahead of fanatic 22 board I came from, but I don't want to repair my board every 3-4 sessions.
I'll have to fix the handles on the unit somehow.
It got damaged after a failed tack in 18-20kn wind, nothing extreme, could've been a bad angle that it hit at...
Hi
im looking at building a new wing board. my last one was similar to the fanatic with a full flat tail. interested in the new Kalama shapes with the chine tail.
How does it perform better than the 22 fanatics? What difference does the chine make do you think? thanks.
chime tails allows harder carving, and gives more stability when on the surface and allows for a quick water release.
note: I am not a board design just a normal punter paying full sticker for all gear.
fanatic boards are basically a box bouncing on the surface, kalama is more like a hull.
You could buy a piece of foam and shape it and try in a bath or swimming pool, a square block is corky and unstable, but with chimes and volume distributed appropriately with more to the front it is 10x more stable and promotes planning. The kalama design isn't perfect but heading in the right direction, just need to make stronger imo.
Man that's very disappointing...I was just about to pull the trigger on one.I guess I'll be reconsidering.
You'll be missing out on one of the best built and performing production boards in the biz. Nothing is fool proof. You could get someone like Mark Raaphorst at Flying Dutchman to make one of the best constructed custom boards out there... but there will always be an iceberg out there with your name on it at some point...
Regarding fools, I ran my foil at full speed bottom turn into a rock reef and landed so hard onto the rail of my Kalama I thought I broke my shin. The box was fine, the rail I landed on was fine, and the only damage was a small chip to the filler and glass layer above the high density foam sandwich, where the board hit the reef. Easy fix with some epoxy and glass.
Man that's very disappointing...I was just about to pull the trigger on one.I guess I'll be reconsidering.
You'll be missing out on one of the best built and performing production boards in the biz. Nothing is fool proof. You could get someone like Mark Raaphorst at Flying Dutchman to make one of the best constructed custom boards out there... but there will always be an iceberg out there with your name on it at some point...
Regarding fools, I ran my foil at full speed bottom turn into a rock reef and landed so hard onto the rail of my Kalama I thought I broke my shin. The box was fine, the rail I landed on was fine, and the only damage was a small chip to the filler and glass layer above the high density foam sandwich, where the board hit the reef. Easy fix with some epoxy and glass.
True words...!
I'd heard the E3 was pretty bomb proof...
OK. I'm back in the running to buy one...![]()
na took it to a board repair guy all good now, wanted to stop water ingress.
The units are the best wing I've tried, apart from the stupid flimsy front handle and wanting to flip on back, but once riding they are amazing.
The Kalama board chime/tail design and volume placement is miles ahead of fanatic 22 board I came from, but I don't want to repair my board every 3-4 sessions.
I'll have to fix the handles on the unit somehow.
It got damaged after a failed tack in 18-20kn wind, nothing extreme, could've been a bad angle that it hit at...
Hi
im looking at building a new wing board. my last one was similar to the fanatic with a full flat tail. interested in the new Kalama shapes with the chine tail.
How does it perform better than the 22 fanatics? What difference does the chine make do you think? thanks.
I was wondering the same thing, so doing a bit of a hybrid. Fanatic style type deck, chined V tail bottom but with boxed much further forward. 4'11 x 23 75 litres.
Will know if it works soon.


Nice work.
What's your lamination technique?
Are you doing customs?
Cheers,
Goggo
I think if your board is the same volume as your weight the chines will not add any stability at all, likely less. The hull effect and your experiment is stable due to increased bouyancy caused by one rail going into the water due to the board tipping causing greater righting moment on that rail. This does not come into play when the whole tail is under water on a +10L and smaller board. A block would be better and you could say that having a blockier tail would add volume for little to no weight.
If the board is a positive bouyancy SUP then the effect is real.
Kalama tail would help getting going, and decrease surface area on touch downs.
Best thing about the Kalama tail is when up and riding you can crank over turns without touching down. Eddie O is the best at it.
na took it to a board repair guy all good now, wanted to stop water ingress.
The units are the best wing I've tried, apart from the stupid flimsy front handle and wanting to flip on back, but once riding they are amazing.
The Kalama board chime/tail design and volume placement is miles ahead of fanatic 22 board I came from, but I don't want to repair my board every 3-4 sessions.
I'll have to fix the handles on the unit somehow.
It got damaged after a failed tack in 18-20kn wind, nothing extreme, could've been a bad angle that it hit at...
Hi
im looking at building a new wing board. my last one was similar to the fanatic with a full flat tail. interested in the new Kalama shapes with the chine tail.
How does it perform better than the 22 fanatics? What difference does the chine make do you think? thanks.
I was wondering the same thing, so doing a bit of a hybrid. Fanatic style type deck, chined V tail bottom but with boxed much further forward. 4'11 x 23 75 litres.
Will know if it works soon.


Nice work.
What's your lamination technique?
Are you doing customs?
Cheers,
Goggo
Lam is full carbon wrap.
I have been lucky to have Dale Chapman "DC" teach me the basics of Shape3d software. That way I can play with ideas and what I like.
The origin of this board shape was I really liked the new Fanatic Style, so compact and their ideas on tail rocker I think really make a differnce. I have been having to shim masts to try and get the same feel. Was happy to buy one, but I ride Lift foils and even though they have moved the boxes forward for 2023, still no where near far enough.
Also I have been doing some Sup and DW sups shapes with the "cudda" style chines, and found them amazingly good for helping to get up on foil. So the same ability to pump/bounce easier up on to foil should work with a wing style board. The DK wing boards, being ideal for Gofoil still are not great for Lift track position, and the Wing shapes are a bit chubby to my eye.
So have blended the compact Fanatic deck, rocker line with DK style chines.
Its funny how I can spend ages playing and studying the shape in 3D software, put it through the CNC ... it comes out how I expect.
But then Dale hand shapes the detail and puts the finish on it, and it becomes something special.
Its taught me in software, you can be a "designer" but a "shaper" makes the magic.
Cheers
Any updated on how that tail design is working? There seems to be little info out there on the wing performance of these board. I'm still working on a 60l board, but got a 5 foot 90l blank that's waiting for me. Currently it is quite boxy and I wouldn't mind to experiment a bit more with that blank.
Any updated on how that tail design is working? There seems to be little info out there on the wing performance of these board. I'm still working on a 60l board, but got a 5 foot 90l blank that's waiting for me. Currently it is quite boxy and I wouldn't mind to experiment a bit more with that blank.
Kalama bottoms work great for wing. Just be aware that tail/bottom removes a lot of volume from the back end of the board, upsetting the volume distribution. So plan for it when you shape. You'll want to plan on standing a little more forward on this shape or the tail sinks. Think of it as adding length to the back of your board to add float at the back.
I have the same combo and haven't dinged my board yet, although after the first few times hitting it I changed how I flip my wing over so I don't do it anymore. My only complaint about the board is the box is too far back, particularly because of the aforementioned volume distribution.
I have the same combo and haven't dinged my board yet, although after the first few times hitting it I changed how I flip my wing over so I don't do it anymore. My only complaint about the board is the box is too far back, particularly because of the aforementioned volume distribution.
Very happy with it.
My previous wing board was 5'x 26 x 90 L. The new one is 4'10 x 23 x 75L
The new board is definitely quicker to release onto foil even though its lower volume. Yet it does feel much smaller and fun to ride when you are on foil.
So that's what I hoped to achieve.
I don't know if it's the pulled in pin tail bottom, the sharp angled chines which really help with the bounce/ pop release onto plane or as in following the latest ideas from Fanatic and North, the built in tail rocker. It is about 25mm on the tail which makes the board give great front foot feed back, even with the back footed balanced Lift foils I mainly ride.
Probably a combination of all.
DWF is absolutely right, that an adjustment is needed as its more volume forward balanced. But just needed to sit on it for a second, find the balance point which is about 100mm forward of what you would first think and then I didn't have to think about it again.
Foilfondler is also right to re mast placement. As I ride lift, my mast is always at the front of the tracks. To be safe with this one I put in 16" tracks already positioned forward to give me lots of room to experiment. Where it is in the pics worked fine so can only get even better when have time to properly dialled it in.
Its always a risk to make a custom which has so many new blended ideas. But glad I did, I think its going to be really help my winging improve.
The only thing I would change is now I know it works so well, I would go smaller again as Im only 70kg. (So if anyone is 80kg+ and wants a new wing board, let me know as I will get DC to do another one a bit smaller!)
Cheers





I don't know about this one, but I was riding my buddy's custom Kalama 5'0" at Ka'a a few days, a few weeks ago, and it was an epic board. The board's built more like a surfboard, with the paint on the foam under the resin.