Aipa "Dark Twin"

rowjimmytour

Tom Curren status
Feb 7, 2009
11,534
5,832
113
54
Wondering how foiled the dt is never picked one up in person and wanted to get rails right for small surf shred Southern CA. I am looking at 5'6" x19.5" x2.5" and suggested dims are: 5'4" x19.375" x2.625", 5'6" x19.5" x2.625". I am starting to appreciate a little more volume turn 52 in a couple months:drowning:
 

trifish

Gerry Lopez status
Sep 23, 2009
1,337
3,790
113
Shred City
I'd listen to what Duke recommends on thickness. The rails on all the Aipa's I've seen are always turned down alot and foiled on the rails and a lot through the nose. The Akila is thicker than all my other boards but you would never guess it. I went with his recommended specs and it was perfect even though the thickness number scared me at first. Duke seems to treat them similar from what I can tell. Would love to try one of his shapes at some point. That DT looks fun.
 
Jun 23, 2003
143
537
93
North East
Rode my Dark Horse (quad) in a chest/head high reef pass with some push. I’m a fan of his foiled out rails and nose profile. Not clunky at all in critical sections and I didn’t think once to swap out for a smaller Ghost I had on the boat.
 

kool-aid

Michael Peterson status
Aug 28, 2003
3,026
2,614
113
San Francisco
I have a dark horse quad and the rails came out much more foiled than I had expected.

If I had known, I would have definitely bumped up the thickness on my order from 2 9/16 to 2 5/8.

Willing to be that would still feel pretty foiled to me but I tend to like soft, boxy rails with a bit of volume.
 
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trifish

Gerry Lopez status
Sep 23, 2009
1,337
3,790
113
Shred City
Was curious how Duke's Dark Twinn compared to Akila's Flat Earth since they both have a similar outline in a way. Response I got back was very informative. Will probably order one in XTR at some point to try.

"For starters, The Dark Twinn was designed as more of a Cali board so right of the bat you'll see a wider nose and slightly wider tail section.

The rail is still a lower apex rail, however it is filled out. The flat earth has a more tapered / pinched rail.

The bottom contours run the same format ( roll, to single,to double, to vee/double), however, the vee comes in higher ( at the wing) and the double concave is way more pronounced, for a more controlled with less pressure sensation for transitioning rail to rail.

The rocker profile is similar to the flat earth.

When ordering take into consideration it should be 2-3" shorter than your daily driver/standard shortboard with a volume equal to or slightly greater than your daily driver. "
 

ReForest

Michael Peterson status
Oct 7, 2020
3,071
4,555
113
@rowjimmytour I felt up a 5'6" Dark Arts twin Aipa. Im pretty sure the dims were around what you described. It felt dam good. I was planning on going back on Sunday to ride it, but had too many beers on saturday and wasnt feeling it. It felt and looked very very similar to the flat earth. It was hard to tell the difference. If you are in the 150lb range i would go with the 5'6 dims.
 
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Retropete

Phil Edwards status
Jan 20, 2006
5,960
4,397
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Sunny Coast Qld Australia
Was curious how Duke's Dark Twinn compared to Akila's Flat Earth since they both have a similar outline in a way. Response I got back was very informative. Will probably order one in XTR at some point to try.

"For starters, The Dark Twinn was designed as more of a Cali board so right of the bat you'll see a wider nose and slightly wider tail section.

The rail is still a lower apex rail, however it is filled out. The flat earth has a more tapered / pinched rail.

The bottom contours run the same format ( roll, to single,to double, to vee/double), however, the vee comes in higher ( at the wing) and the double concave is way more pronounced, for a more controlled with less pressure sensation for transitioning rail to rail.

The rocker profile is similar to the flat earth.

When ordering take into consideration it should be 2-3" shorter than your daily driver/standard shortboard with a volume equal to or slightly greater than your daily driver. "
That's the kind of detailed info that we would like when asking a certain shaper, who posts on here, about boards.
Beetlejuice!
 

ReForest

Michael Peterson status
Oct 7, 2020
3,071
4,555
113
I just noticed that Aipa is no longer on the Dark Arts website? Wat up wit dat?

Did he drop JT and Dark Arts to go with Varial and XTR? :unsure:

Who's got the better tech? XTR, Varial, or Dark Farts?


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Screenshot 2023-08-25 102359.png
 

ReForest

Michael Peterson status
Oct 7, 2020
3,071
4,555
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Chemistry is collab-ing with Dark Arts now.

View attachment 161344
Wow. I bet this collab is gonna turn out some sick models. The Zen 4 I have is fun... but man... PU kinda sucks. Its slow and heavy. It has nice momentum once the boards gets going, but completely different than my little EPS Tomo's. I bet a Zen 4 in EPS or Dank Farts would be sick!
 
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Oceanslide

Kelly Slater status
Mar 5, 2008
9,698
2,320
113
Oceanside, CA
Wow. I bet this collab is gonna turn out some sick models. The Zen 4 I have is fun... but man... PU kinda sucks. Its slow and heavy. It has nice momentum once the boards gets going, but completely different than my little EPS Tomo's. I bet a Zen 4 in EPS or Dank Farts would be sick!
Hope you’re not judging the board off of the waves yesterday. No board would have felt good.
 
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