2008 CWB Marius Wakeboard Review

Fresh off of the press, the 2008 CWB Marius is a welcomed refinement to an already great board. As you may know, we thoroughly enjoyed the original version of this board back in 2006, so we were extra amped when we hooked up with CWB to do it again for 2008.

Refined
You can immediately tell this board is going to be a fun stick. It shares most of the same specs as its earlier counterpart with smooth rounded lines replacing aggressive angles. The 2008 version comes in both a 140cm and 134cm model wrapped around their standard foam core. (However, it is our guess that a Platinum core shouldn't be too far away which will drop the total weight of the board by about 1lb, or 15%.) The rocker for this model is toned down from 3.0" to a sometimes-more-controllable 2.85", and we really liked this change! In general, the more rocker a board has, the more vertical �pop' you should expect from it, however there is a fine line in which too much rocker starts to adversely affect the performance. I think CWB nailed it this time.

Plus size model
The biggest difference you'll see about this board is that it just looks big, and to quote CWB themselves, "this extra width means mucho surface area which translates into lift." Just for your information, they are right. This board has explosive, easy to acquire, meaty pop. A mellow edge into the wake will boost, an aggressive edge will explode. It is all in the added surface area. The 2008 Marius is 17.63" wide through the center, and this width trend continues from tip to tail. What does this mean? More surface area, and remember what you just read above? More surface area = good.

Don't worry. You won't have to change your riding style when you get on this board either. If you are used to a wake to wake riding the only thing you'll notice is that takes less effort to achieve the same results. While other boards in the wide body category might require some riding adjustment, we found the Marius needed none.

Fun
To us, wakeboarding isn't about adding that extra 180, or getting a second grab on a backside seven; it is about having fun. Plain and simple, this board is fun; from slashing to spinning we had a blast demo-ing this board. The stance was wide enough for our liking (stretches out to 24.5") and the flat center made for some fun wake grinding. Or take off the low profile 1" aluminum fins, and really flow. Seriously. Lip tricks can be just as fun as an off the wake trick. The extra-bonus felty soul patch will also give you magic powers when you rub it (yes, there is a CWB embroidered felt thing glued on the board). It will help align your chi.

Buy time
What to do, what to do. In our opinion, this is a no brainer. If you are in the market for a new board, or possibly even a different type of board you have to this ride a shot. It comes in sizes that will fit most adult male riders (I'm 6'2" and the 140cm rides great), and the price tag shouldn't break the bank. So if you want to put some fun back into your time on the lake, go out and demo this board- you won't be disappointed.

Check out CWB on the web at http://www.ridecwb.com.