ALIEN VISITOR

.
Kirk Gee was kind enough to place his Mick Mackie flex-tailed mutant into my "care" just in time for the fun run of SoCal swell week before last. Rode the shit out of it...
.
.
Blue EVA on the deck side, carbon fiber panels on the bottom.
.


.
...Along with others who it was mercilessly passed along to in the lineup, I'd have to agree that it's capable of generating more speed than I've felt on most any other board. On a few waves I actually had speed induced wind blowng past my ears while pumping down the line.
.
You can feel the extra acceleration the tail is providing, without its actual flexing feeling odd while riding.
.
I'm 5'8", 140-5ish Lbs., so at a length of 5'9" with that plan shape the board is in general too big for me. Basically, the plan shape in that length puts the wide point of the board too far forward for my weight/stature/habits, and I have to concentrate to keep from digging the inside forward rail during cutbacks. BUT the unbridled down the line speed, and accelerated projection into hitting the lip has been a cinch to tap into. I can easily tell that if it was scaled down for my size it would be ALL TIME for me.
.
Jeff Beck, who is more of a weight that matches the dimensions of the board, was hooked after his first couple of waves. He rode it for over an hour, noted how fast it was, and exclaimed that he was wrapping round turns into critical areas of the wave that he usually has trouble pulling off— said he could feel the acceleration that results from the tail pins snapping back to their original rocker at the end of a turn really helping his performance. Jeff's a fairly reserved critter, and there's few times that I've seen him express more outward excitement than the day he sessioned the Mackie.
.
Thanks tons to: Mackie for the madness, Kirk's generosity and work to get Mick's boards to the States, and Andrew Kidman for bringing Mackie's work to my increased attention through the book Ether.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.