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New Kona longboard
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jingebritsen



Joined: 21 Aug 2002
Posts: 3371

PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 5:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

i've spent quite a bit of time with the kona one, when it first came out. it surfs, races, and free rides. one can teach on it too.

i've put a larger fin on it and an 11.0 sail. planing it's a ton of fun. yup, pun intended. it is a big board and has a heavy construction. some of the boards i've seen have been thru zillions of hours of use, and are still sound.

i've owned the original kona 11'5. it was fantastic in the waves, great as a free rider. then the carbon came out. it was the best board i've ever owned. it broke my heart when they changed the name and construction. i have to turn stuff in as new stuff comes in. carbon became expensive. it was phased out. now it's back!

with my experience of having used the 11'5 carbon and non, i'd say that the performance level will be increased by 30-40%. that's a qualitative guess, but i've had quite a bit of experience at testing and relating performance. the transporting and launching is only a small, but immediately noticeable portion of what i'm talking about. on the water, that's going to be pure joy. won't be open to the kona one class, but maybe will be fun in the open class, as Dan had mentioned.

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gregnw44



Joined: 23 Jul 2008
Posts: 783
Location: Seattle, Wa

PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 8:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks Dan and jingeb... for the additional info and comments. Very cool... makes sense to me !!
Although, I'm not sure how a carbon version will bring more people to KonaOne racing, since you won't be able to use it there.

And yeah, what jb says about the nice advantages of a carbon version, compared to a "more stout version" of the same longboard is true - better "on water" performance, and easier transporting and launching. But, it will be much more expensive and much less durable. Some will want that trade-off, and many will not. It's VERY good to offer both types of construction.
The above is well-proven with thousands of standard Equipes and carbon Equipes (exact same hull shape but built differently) sold over 20 years.

Again, great job... I think both boards will sell Smile
Greg -

PS - It'll be interesting to see the true weights of both boards... when will we know? The bigger the weight difference, the bigger the price diff and durability (probably).
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norcom



Joined: 16 Jun 2008
Posts: 137

PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 9:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

DanWeiss wrote:

Norcom, what construction issues have you experienced?


The first board had the vent plug hole machined wrong. There was a gouge in it and after a month or so I noticed it was taking on water. It seemed like when the vent hole was drilled the bit slipped and made the top uneven which wouldn't let the rubber o-ring make a seal.

The replacement board has been fine on the vent plug but the centerboard was hitting the hull when being retracted. There's a TINY little rubber piece that's supposed to stop that from happening, though it's now gone because it was barely glued on. The first board didn't even have that rubber piece.

So the centerboard kept hitting the hull and it developed a crack right at the top port corner of the centerboard hole. When I actually looked in that area THERE WAS BARELY ANY REINFORCEMENT! There was about a millimeter worth of epoxy RIGHT OVER THE FOAM! I could see/feel the foam with my fingernail through the crack. I attached a pump and got all the water out that I could, cleaned up the area and put lots of epoxy all over the crack and adjacent area. Not pretty but it's been holding up well. I also installed a large foam piece into the centerboard area to prevent the centerboard from ever contacting the board again.

The board bottom keeps yellowing in some areas. I've noticed the same thing happening on both boards. I keep the board in a bag so I'm guessing that's what attributing to it. I usually open the zipper if the Kona's not being used while sitting on the roof at the beach. This isn't a huge deal but I figured the bag would protect it. At least I wanted to protect my investment. Confused
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nodak



Joined: 13 Nov 2012
Posts: 130

PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 10:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

gregnw44 wrote:


PS - It'll be interesting to see the true weights of both boards... when will we know? The bigger the weight difference, the bigger the price diff and durability (probably).


According to konaone.com: weight difference between Kona One and Carbone is 3.5 kg (http://www.konaone.com/News/141/new-board-kona-carbone).

When to expect these boards to go on sale in the US?
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Darbonne



Joined: 27 Jan 2012
Posts: 252
Location: Farmerville, Louisiana

PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 11:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

So the centerboard kept hitting the hull and it developed a crack right at the top port corner of the centerboard hole. When I actually looked in that area THERE WAS BARELY ANY REINFORCEMENT! There was about a millimeter worth of epoxy RIGHT OVER THE FOAM! I could see/feel the foam with my fingernail through the crack. I attached a pump and got all the water out that I could, cleaned up the area and put lots of epoxy all over the crack and adjacent area. Not pretty but it's been holding up well. I also installed a large foam piece into the centerboard area to prevent the centerboard from ever contacting the board again.

Norcom, I'm glad you posted this because I bought a used Kona in November and I noticed the when I kick the centerboard up it slams into the board. I was concerned about it but thought that it was supposed to do that. Dan or John can you please shed some light on this. I want to catch it before it is damaged. I hope it's not too late. Now I know what I am doing after work.


Last edited by Darbonne on Fri Apr 19, 2013 12:33 pm; edited 1 time in total
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norcom



Joined: 16 Jun 2008
Posts: 137

PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 11:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Darbonne wrote:

Norcom, I'm glad you posted this because I bought a used Kona in November and I noticed the when I kick the centerboard up it slams into the board. I was concerned about it but thought that it was supposed to do that. Dan or John can you please shed some light on this. I wan't to catch it before it is damaged. I hope it's not too late. Now I know what I am doing after work.


I wedged a piece of foam that I cut off from one of my old kayak rooftop pads and glued it in. I had a large, soft rubber piece in there before that but I lost it as that wasn't glued. I also use Sailcoat on the centerboard and the gasket to make the movement less sticky. Sometimes you still need that last, hard bump to get the thing fully retracted.
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DanWeiss



Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Posts: 2296
Location: Connecticut, USA

PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 1:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'll look into the situation with the rubber bumper. Not sure what's ideal.

As for the centerboard gasket binding, this is a common thing when using a solid gasket rather than a two-piece affair. You choose between ease of use and leaky, or no leaks but fiddly.

To fix the gasket, remove the centerboard entirely. Using a new, very sharp X-acto knife or box cutter, trim the gasket so that it's thickness is mitered to a 45 degree angle. The cut faces up, so that the gasket remains sealed at its water side but is cut away on its inside. This prevents the gasket from rolling back onto itself against the centerboard and causing it to jam.

A less invasive method you might wish to first try is to sprinkle talcum powder downward into the centerboard well before fitting the blade. This will lubricate the gasket better than Sailkote. At least this worked very well with the Equipes and IMCO, although not as well as surgery.

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Darbonne



Joined: 27 Jan 2012
Posts: 252
Location: Farmerville, Louisiana

PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 6:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

OK. Came home and thoroughly inspected the mechanics of my centerboard. There is a rubber bumper installed where the centerboard hits the board. No damage to either. Looks like the design is working on mine. I may take Dan's suggestions to facilitate easier centerboard function, Although mitering the edge of the gasket will take an artist's steady hand or a jig.
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gregnw44



Joined: 23 Jul 2008
Posts: 783
Location: Seattle, Wa

PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 6:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks nodak - For the weight info.
And WOW, a 7.7# drop for a 220 L board... will definitely be noticed by experienced windsurfers. That's amazing.
I imagine, like all board weights... that's for a stripped hull?
It'll weigh more... with mast-track, centerboard, fin, and straps... which has always been the case since the beginning, for all boards.

Anyway, that's a very good result.
IF... it can be a bit more durable than the early 90's carbon Equipe's... AND, not cost "too much more" than the standard version... it should sell very well, and be a nice alternative to the original KonaOne.

It would be great if someday, there are enough of the carbon versions... that there could be 2 fleets of One Design Kona racing Smile

Greg -

PS - It's always been unfortunate, that smaller guys and women... have to pay so much more for a board, that they can actually carry around easily... and load onto the roof of their SUV without special devices or spraining a back muscle.
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gregnw44



Joined: 23 Jul 2008
Posts: 783
Location: Seattle, Wa

PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 6:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Darbonne wrote:
I may take Dan's suggestions to facilitate easier centerboard function, Although mitering the edge of the gasket will take an artist's steady hand or a jig.


Would another idea be (in addition to the box cutter knife)... be to take a very small grinder, like a Dremel Tool. And use that, to grind away the same portion of the gasket that Dan talks about?
I don't suppose it has to be "perfect"... you're just trying to "thin out" the material some, so the centerboard rotates easier. The reduction of the mass/thickness of the material, will allow better movement. If the reduction isn't perfectly uniform, wouldn't make "that much difference", would it?

THIS has been a very common problem on longboards coming out of Asia since the late 90's, so I've read on other Intl forums. And they seem to get good results, using a very small grinder.
(In my experience, the longboards out of Europe, up through the mid 90's didn't have this issue due to a more complex design of the gasket.)
Greg -
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