The Mistral Malibu was introduced in 1984 as a high performance 'fun board'. A single fin board with Centreboard and 6 footstraps the Malibu represented a cross-over wave/speed/funboard being designed to be faster than the Maui and able to handle higher winds.  The Malibu was more of a 'gun' shape board, being lighter and requiring more wind to make it perform yet still uphaulable.

Note : One of the most interesting features of the Malibu is the hull design which had a concave designed to catch an air stream/bubble and allowed the board to slip accross the water.

The Malibu is also one of the longest running product series in the Mistral range; having started in 1984 and continuing into the 2000's. It should be noted however that by 2000 the board had undergone several changes making it barely recognizable against and original 80's Malibu. The name even had additions such as in 1990 it was renamed NEW MALIBU and then in the 2000's there was the MALIBU S.

Apart from the obvious changes to the look of the Malibu over the years one important thing to notice is the position of the mast track. We often talk about new sails having  loose leech's and stable Centre Of Effort requiring the sailor to be more upright and forward leaning. Notice how the 2000 model has the mast track moved further back to support the changes in sail designs that were occuring.

The original 1984 board specs were :

Weight 16-17 kg

Volume 200 lt

Dimensions 355 cm Length 67 cm width

Construction  Polycoren/PU

In 1985 the second generation Malibu came out. Apart from changes to the graphics, the board had slimmed down signicantly both in weight and volume. These design changes and the use of the LCS Carbon material in construction set the direction for the product series in all its future iterations moving more and more towards higher wind / performance sailing

The 1985 board specs were :

Weight 13.5 kg

Volume 175 lt

Dimensions 355 cm Length 67 cm width

Construction  Polycoren/Carbon LCS

The 1986 Malibu looks very similar to the 1985 version with just minor changes. Trying to tell them apart is quite difficult but you might be able to spot differences in the graphics (swish) at the front of the board and how it ends between the '85 and '86 version (the '86 being shorter).  The board continued to loose weight by another 0.5 of a kilogram

The 1986 board specs were :

Weight 13 kg

Volume 175 lt

Dimensions 355 cm Length 67 cm width

Construction  Polycoren/ABS

In 1987 The whole Mistral range got a new modern look. 

The 1987 board specs were :

Weight 13 kg

Volume 175 lt

Dimensions 355 cm Length 67 cm width

Construction  Polycoren/Carbon LCS

By 1989 the Malibu was now called the NEW MALIBU. It was deemed as being one of the fastest boards of its type. The board took on a brand new look being shorter and narrower than previous versions (But still maintaining the concave hull)

The 1990 board specs were :

Weight 12 kg

Volume 165 lt

Dimensions 330 cm Length 63 cm width

Construction  Mistral UDS (EPS core, wrapped in fibreglass webbing, fibreglass matting, then an ASA skin)

1992 reflected further changes to the design and construction

The 1992 board specs were :

Weight 12.5 kg

Volume 165 lt

Dimensions 330 cm Length 63 cm width

By 2000 the Malibu was barely recognizable to the old board. The similarity however was that even though it was pushing more and more towards high wind and waves is still sported a centreboard. The Malibu now came in 2 variants the Malbi 325 & 335. Note how the mast track has moved back towards the centre of the board and how the 335 is quite wide compared to all previous models.

The 2000 board specs were :

Malibu 325 Malibu 335

Weight 11.9 kg 13.5 kg

Volume 189 lt 210 kg

Dimensions 325 cm Length 67cm width 335 cm Length 71cm width