|
I rode both boards for a week up in nor-cal. They were both awesome and very different. If I had to choose one it would be the Monarch but by a very slim margin. The monarch was very similar to my Watson, but it just did everything a little better. Faster, looser, more pop, softer landings, etc. I never felt like I was out of control but a few times I jumped it threw me off a little bit. The Monarch was also extremely light. It felt lighter on the water and in the air. I wasn’t sure if I would like it being so light but it was awesome. The only thing I didn’t like was when the water got choppy or rough you could feel it more than my Watson. Im not sure if It was the lightness of the board or the shape.
The Marek was also an awesome board. It was much looser than I expected (looser than the Monarch or my Watson). I slid out a couple of times setting the edge on approach unitl I got used to it. It was definitely faster than my Watson and the Monarch. The Marek had the most consistent pop of any board I have ever ridden. Every time I jumped the release off the wake was exactly the same. I never felt like I was going as high on the Marek as I was on the Monarch but the pictures are pretty similar. Landings on the board were very forgiving and soft. The Marek was better when the water got rough. It was also very light but the Monarch felt much lighter. The more I put into the Marek, the more it wanted to push me out into the flats. The more I put into the Monarch, the more It pushed me up into the air. Both boards tracked great when put on edge but the Marek felt like it wanted to get you to the wake as fast as possible. I dindnt like this as much at first but started to like it the more I rode it. The Monarch is actually pretty fast when approaching the wake, much faster than my Watson but not as fast as the Marek. This surpised me as the board is so wide and has a three stage rocker. The Marek was faster going from edge to edge but the Monarch was pretty good and felt more comfortable to me.
Inverts and spins were easier on the Monarch than the Marek but both were better than my Watson. I attribute this to the lighter weight and more vertical pop on the Monarch as opposed the the Marek, but the consintency of the Marek pop made me confident I could do the trick I wanted every time.
When I didn’t edge all the way through the wake to jump, the Monarch still popped me pretty well but the Marek lost a lot of pop. This surprised me as I thought it would be the other way around.
FYI - Im not the average wakeboarder size (6’6” 265 lbs) so sometimes I find my experience different than smaller riders. I ride at 80’ and at about 24 mph. All boards were ridden with 08 Ronix cell boots or 07 Ronix one boots.
So…… I would pick the Monarch because it is like my watson board on steroids. I was instantly comfortable on it. Also I don’t really like landing out into the flats to many times because bringing down 265lbs out of the air onto flat water hurts my knees after a few times. BUT………The Marek is an awesome board. The the more I rode it, the more I liked it. It is definetly going to get a lot of use.
I Hope my rambling made sense!!!
Other boards I rode during the week:
08 140 LF shane
06 142 LF Watson
07 150 Ronix covenent
07 143 LF Team
06 143 Hyperlite 3DS
06 142 CWB Transcend Platinum
05 142 Hyperlite Byerly
95 Skurfer
|
Linear Mode
