Erik, I would tend to agree with the above assessments. The Koal over the years have been known as a duck diver or pearl hunter. They attempted to fix this by adding more volume and giving the board a pronounce flip in the tip. They have gone through a number of changes over the years in manufacturing, some were good changes like more standardized FCS-style fin plugs, etc. They still supply ultra cheap non-surf style fins. They had lots of problems when they tried to make a more surfboard-like clear construction version. It was done cheaply. The 2013 models/colors continue to suffer from poor construction: They are laminated with really inexpensive fiberglass over a cheap foam core. They are soft and spongy feeling and as a result the paint basically flakes off with minor bangs. I have had to cut into over 20 of the 2013s to fix them last year and this year. I have 2 on my racks right now getting major tail rebuilds. I can send pics if you want. The boards are roughed out, laminated, then filled with putty to smooth out gaps, primed and painted. This gives you a board that looks OK in the showroom, but when you look internally you see it is a mess.
Erik, if you want to PM me, given you are assumably in Texas, I can help you out with a much better board at a very reasonable price.
Nick
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