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NIK BAKER: BOARD TALK

The 2026 Duotone wave range has landed…new boards, new sails, new factory and a new shaper. We hear from Nik Baker who tells us what has changed, the background behind these updates and why these boards and sails feel like a huge step forward!

Photos: Eunice Bergin and Billy Short

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BEHIND THE DESIGNS

Nik Baker: “I have actually had the new Ultra Grip and the Grip now for a couple of months already. So far, I’ve managed to get out on them about 7-8 times in different and quite varied conditions, which is very useful for us, so I can get a feel for them. The boards are new designs because we’ve got a different shaper, which is now Kai Hopf. As you know, he has been our sail designer with Duotone and previously North forever. Kai’s been a mate of mine and made my sails for many years. He is a very talented, clever guy and quite a unique character as lots of these designers often are.

Kai was also a very good windsurfer. He used to develop his own products; both boards and sails for years and years. He always made my fins, you know, the square tip wave fins! What we didn’t even realize until, maybe eight months ago, was that Victor and the other team guys have all been riding Kai’s boards for the past few seasons. So, they’ve been developing this new range for a long time. And then since the move from Fanatic to Duotone with the windsurfing boards and then Raoul taking over the brand management for not just the sail side of it, but also for the board side…That was sort of the perfect timing make this new change in production with Kai’s designs.

NEXT-LEVEL PRODUCTION

We also have the incredible improvement for our products with the new Duotone board factory in Thailand, where all our boards are now CNC milled and custom built, including the entry level Eagles. The things that we are able to do with our factory…no one else can…certainly not at our capacity! So, we are in my opinion, light years ahead with the technology. This has allowed us to use different shapes and different technologies, but also what’s just been launched for this year is our new MTO ‘Made to Order’ products.

So, you know, we’ve put all these elements together, with tried and tested, designs and setups, and then you can sort of pick and choose from those to build your own so-called custom board, which is pretty cool…no other major brand can do that! It makes Duotone quite unique!

THE ULTRA_GRIP: PURE WAVE WEAPON

I have tried the new Ultra_Grip, which is the extreme radical performance-based wave board, so designed for proper waves. It is for better riders, proper wave guys that are into full on down the line or proper conditions. They are butter smooth through the chop, which is lovely for you because we have got really choppy conditions on the south coast. But the biggest change is the way they turn. The way they turn on a rail is like they are riding through butter. But it’s really a rail turn, it’s not just a little snappy turn, it’s a full-on proper grind that rail, turn it and it grips, it runs through the chop like it is flat water. It has taken me a little bit of time to get my sailing style slightly changed from the older designs that we are used to…having to control them through the bottom and then snap off the top. On the new boards you drive through the bottom, use that speed, engage the rail and they sort of catch you by surprise when you get that rail engaged…it grips so hard. “I said to somebody the other day, I said, if I had these 20 years ago, I would have been multiple wave world champion!” As long as long as nobody else had them, of course! So yeah, that’s the Ultra_Grip, which you can get with 3 or 4 fins. I’ve actually got it in both. I’m undecided, if I like it better in 3 or 4, I think 4, but actually on the recent windy days, I’ve been riding and loving the 82L with the 3 fins, so it really depends on the feel that you like.

THE GRIP: CONFIDENCE AND FUN

Then we have the Grip, which is more, I would say, a south coast type board.
So if you are sailing like Timo Mullen down the line in Gwithian or Ireland, where there’s a proper wave. Then you would probably be an Ultra_Grip customer. But the majority of the people in the UK, I would suggest would probably be more Grip customers.

The boards feel slightly bigger compared to the Ultra_Grip. They’re not necessarily a bigger board…even in similar volumes the tails are a little bit wider, they get planning slightly earlier and they go upwind just a little bit easier! They give you more confidence!

These boards are for a normal intermediate wave guy that are not into full on, down the line. They allow you to get planing and they give you that platform to practice your wave riding, have the confidence to jump because you’re not worried about not getting back to the beach and not getting planing through the white water and stuff. The new Grip really gives you a lot of confidence when you are sailing. I sort of struggled with the Grip_3 last year. I felt it wasn’t turning enough. The new boards have a lot more drive through the turn and are much snappier. I think they are an amazing board for the south coast conditions. For the proper waves and for proper turns, the Ultra_Grip is like nothing I’ve ever ridden before!

ULTRA_GRIP VS GRIP: SIDE-BY-SIDE

I sailed 88L Ultra_Grip last night in south coast conditions and I had fun. Tim Frampton was on the 91 Grip 3 and it was 4.7m planing conditions and he was having a blast. Then the wind sort of dropped right off went a bit side, side / off so a bit drifting and riding. So that was good to test the boards also.

The day before was, I was on a 4.2m and could have been on 3.7m, cross / cross-on at Sea Lane café. I was on the Ultra-Grip with the 3 fins. I’ve got the 82L and I was absolutely loving it. But then I know how to turn on a rail and I have a certain feel that I want. I want that engagement through the rail and that carve off the top. So, if you’re a pretty good rider, then you’ll make the most out of, but to make the most of the conditions you would be better off on a Grip. So, if you are an above average intermediate wave guy, that is properly wave riding, then they will be able to extract the best out of the Ultra_Grip and make the most of it. If you’re not at that point, then the Grip will flatter your wave riding better.

FIRST SESSIONS FEEDBACK

Overall, I’m bloody loving the new boards! I’ve been riding them with Sam Latham from Worthing Watersports, who’s a pretty confident wave sailor as well. We’ve been swapping boards backwards and forwards. It took us a couple of sessions to get our head around, slightly adjusting how we ride…but  we’ve been bloody loving them! And Tim, who’s actually my intermediate wave guy, who’s just sort of learning to wave ride and he’s quite heavy on his back foot and needs that confidence sort of given to him. He can ride an Ultra_Grip backwards and forwards and do his little bits, but actually the Grip just suddenly compliments him and gives him that confidence to want to push and learn a wave ride or to do a jump. He is staying up wind on the Grip no problem!

I think for our short period of time, that we’ve been on them, the new boards seem pretty rad. You have to ride them a bit differently! I think the downside to the Ultra_Grip if there is one… is if the wave is flat and quite soft, then you’re not going to get the most out of the board. You need a bit of power, a wave that is a little bit steeper, so that you can use and that rail, engage that rail and use the drive that that rail gives you.

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SAILS

SUPER_HERO D/LAB

The Duotone wave sails are all new this year. We’ve got the Super_Hero D/Lab with all the glued seams, carbon panels and stretch patches which I use, these sails are insane.
The wind range on the D/LAB is honestly something like 3 or 4 knots more bottom end power and at least 5 knots, if not more top end control. I don’t know how Kai’s done it, but when it’s 3.7m weather like it was two nights ago, it didn’t seem as windy on the beach. So I took a 4.2m as I don’t like to be underpowered in those conditions, and it was absolutely 3.7m weather. Yet, I was on a 4.2m and it just made it feel like it was 4.2m weather. People were on 3.4m and 3.6m sails being blown off the water. So yeah, the sort of wind range that the new sail gives us is insane.

SUPER_HERO SLS

Then we’ve got a new Super_Hero SLS and it’s actually the same weight as a Super_Hero Dlab. It still comes with a 5-year warranty, but it feels so much lighter on the water and the wind range has also increased quite significantly compared to last year. So somehow Kai’s managed to reduce the weight but also give us that slightly bigger wind range. Some places it is not such an issue. I think for England where the wind, we get is more like16 to 30 knots generally every time we go rather than 20-25 knots, so that having that wind range is really important for me. On the South it makes such a difference for your general overall performance and fun that you get to have for your hour or two on the water. The guys have done a really good job of that.

So super light, bigger wind range and the fact that the SLS Super_Hero, now the standard sail is as light as the D/Lab, is quite impressive. It is the biggest jump we’ve had for quite a long time in that way!”

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