Development at Kona Sports never stands still. Working with our racing team constantly shows us what we can do even better. What we have seen is i.a. that many competitions include different types of water and weather conditions during the same competition. This means that a SUP board designed for specific conditions will usually perform at a lower average speed in these competitions than a board designed to be more all-round.

Based on this, we wanted to investigate which conditions and types of water are the most difficult to create speed in. After lots of new tests and analysis, data emerged that gave us indications of what the most challenging conditions were. Here we saw e.g. all challenges with changing wind directions such as headwind, headwind and crosswind, breaking waves, shallow, warm, current and broken water - everything that contributes to instability, increased resistance and where the paddle blade loses grip.

The question that arose was, how can we create a SUP board that is optimized to cope with all the most difficult conditions that we may need to SUP paddle in, but at the same time glides as easily as possible in more stable conditions?

What we have also seen in recent years is the large increase in people who are looking for new challenges in their SUP paddling and now also want to compete in various exercise races, both nationally and internationally. Being able to use one and the same board for both lake and sea greatly simplifies the selection of suitable equipment, transport and storage.

For these reasons, we now wanted to develop a new type of SUP board that could handle all this - a combination board for all conditions, but optimized for the most difficult, including dynamic water and breaking waves. Here it is!

Kona Ocean Model 2
The Kona Ocean Model 2 is the starting point for our long-term investment in manufacturing within Europe.

• Made in Europe
• New stiff and extremely light construction (facilitates handling and downwind paddling)
• New more durable and lighter composite materials
• Unique design language - (better function in rough seas)
• Round to V-bottom - (optimized sliding ability in more conditions and for easier maneuvering and turning)
• Balanced volume - (increased buoyancy for paddling in warm, shallow and broken water)
• Volume in the stern - (easier to catch waves, stability when turning and when surfing)
• Increased buoyancy in the bow - (prevents diving)
• Round edges in the bow (easier to maneuver in side waves and drafting)
• Sharp edges in the stern (easier to maneuver in downwind and waves)
• Higher sidewalls - (reduced risk of overwash)
• Increased bottom curvature in the bow - (gets up over the waves more easily)
• Optimized placement of the fin box (facilitates maneuvering in waves)
• Newly developed fin
• New type of deck mat (for better control and low weight)
• Graphics of the future -

Balanced volume - The board's volume is balanced to provide increased buoyancy for paddling in warm, shallow and broken water. And to prevent the bow from diving in rougher seas. The volume in the stern provides stability when turning and when surfing. It's easier to catch waves.

Thoughtful bottom curvature – The bottom of the board goes from round to V-bottom for an optimized sliding ability in different conditions. It also makes the board easy to maneuver and handle in turns. An increased bottom curvature in the bow makes it easier for the board to get up over waves.

Edges for maneuverability – The edges of the board go from rounded in the bow to sharp edges in the stern. Round edges in the bow simplify the handling of the board in side waves and when drafting. The sharp edges in the stern make it easier to maneuver the board in downwind and waves.

Perforated deck mat – The deck mat's hole pattern/perforated structure provides good foothold and control over the board while reducing the overall weight of the board.

Downwind paddling – Downwind
Functional testing of the Ocean Model 2 also demonstrated its superb downwind (DW) paddling capabilities. The data showed that this was the absolute fastest SUP board we tested in strong tailwinds (>12 m/s) and meter-high swell. The feeling of the board shooting away when surfing a swell is outstanding - the Kona feeling

MADE IN EUROPE