Mike Birt

Hi All, I know the industry is very good at keeping their eyes out throughout the industry so please keep a lookout for the following; Shinn Monk Gold 133x41 The board was 'lost' (aka stolen) by TNT and they have declared it gone. Ironically this board was sent to replace a board they initially damaged in transit (by TNT). It was sent deck only - so if you see a deck only or deck with different accessories come up - it's likely this. Serial number; SH2017000143 thanks all, Mike

skin trapped between bar/loop/chicken loop toenails removed on rocks when you slip, and landing on upturned fins, - are my injuries not shared for fear of ridicule!

double

I have used both - (being the importer!) and they are different. The 2011 Varial is similar in terms of it's foiling, efficiency and power band, but I have to say that the new kite is vastly superior in terms of; - handling - SO much more direct - bar throw - SO much shorter, I hardly feel like I am moving the bar at all in the gusty conditions that had me unbalanced on the Varial. - much better feedback - I can read where the kite is far more easily and it seems to deliver just the right amount of power back on turning for 80kg. - much better unhooked - not that the majority of Varial riders ever used this aspect anyway - but the kite took over from the Vapor X.. Overall it brings a lot more precision to my riding, and it endears trust, with positive feedback that helps me learn a lot more than I have for the past few seasons. It has to be my favourite kite so far for windy onshore work. I know the Razor fans will laugh in my face, but the handling is not far off the Razor at all - even the designer of the two kites thinks so... Only main downside is that it's a bit too quick through the window for true cross shore down the line surf use, but very good unhooked.. Those that know me know that I don't make this stuff up either. If it is not good I will say nothing and not recommend or bring any in to the UK!

More entertained than disturbed, but not by much!

I wish I was, Heard from Shinn today, it's still cranking out there... Enjoy your trip, will be back out feb..

I actually like this one for waveriding in onshore (been using the 8m a lot), never used anything like it. It's so agile and direct without being aggressive. I've ordered a 6m for the canaries, looking forward to a lot more sessions... and your right - it does boost very well, goes straight up! reminds me of the old lift pro 11.5. also lifts me back up when I redirect too.. so nice to have a mainstream kite that actually GENERATES power in the turn.. happy days!

sounds right up your street - very early planing and very good upwind! Lots of pop, it is very good for lightwind freestyle...

Flat, fast, you need weight and power to tame it, but at 95kg sounds like you are good to go..?!

sneaker RS are the smallest... Sneaker S are the new ones (supplied on Supershinn and Monk II) and mid size (best so far IMHO) Sneaker are the original large ones that adjust both sizes (all others only adjust from one side) All are in stock a Shinn HQ :-)

also if you get stuck call suzanne from canarian surf fruit; www.csf4u.com 0034 922 177 110 shop 0034 922 700 978 mobile csf4u@gmx.net they are located next to the flashpoint (main beach bar in south bay) and have apartment contacts all over the village.

Been going for 20 years, summer can be busy, but winter is not.. Main easy beach at this time of year can be full of numpties if there has not been much wind for a while, but usually it's fine. The top wave beach is deserted, and at low tide I usually have the place to myself. Winter can be tricky with wind though - azores high brings trades, if that mid atlantic high is not there then the weather can switch off for 2 weeks, but occasionally you do get south or west wind.. as a village it's really easy, chilled and friendly.. no traditional tourists.. Occasionally it can get hardcore, but there are tide states that will help you avoid the worst, just talk to some locals and they will fill you in (with info, not literally!) I'll be there for 1 or 2 months this winter.. home from home. definitely go, it's such a talked about spot, you need to experience it :-)

t was a good day - lots of kit there.. good forecast for tomorrow... we had waves, freestyle, race kit.. virtually everything out.. head for the watersports academy in poole.. google it and we are on the sea side of the peninsular... better forecast for tomorrow, happy days!

I was out on mine today, determined to get a hard fast top turn when going down the line... ha ha If I can keep one of the V2's that are coming in for myself when they arrive I may sell my V1.. also - talk to 24-7 they have a few demo boards..... ?

Airush, Shinn and Juice will be there.. sat and sunday.. van is packed.. Varial X's Lithium's Razor's One's Sectors Supershinns Monks Luigi FS Protoy Switch Gintronic Xover Choptop.. the list goes on.. good forecast, get yourself down, 07588 261413 or email mike@ktwodistribution.com if you cant find us, but look for the flags and kit! I understand we will be on the front (open sea) for sat, sun to be decided... maybe a beer on sat night

Shinn, Airush and Juice plan to be there too. We'll have all the main twins and new kites. Hope to have two sectors as well...

Fins are bulky when in the board, can be a pain, but would not work without! It's an arse, but doesnt take more than 2 minutes to unscrew them all.. Was chuckling that it has removed the fear of getting to the beach and having that sinking feeling of the wind being too light, now the only thing I dread is it being pancake flat!

That's a raceboard.. you'll also need to budget £130 (the extra £30 being a fire extinguisher for your back leg)

Waiting for a used one... I am the importer and I have last years, as every time I get a new one it gets wrestled from my hands! The V1 is the board that I use now and I love it, but the V2 is better.. faster, more efficient and carves better too.. I might buy that one off Andy!

ha ha 'tis true, I did not hit the fins all day, but did get the feeling that I was pushing my luck from time to time.. at some of the broad reach speeds I could get I had visions of a faceplant and then pitch forked in the back! I'm 82kg, kite was 10m, but a race style kite.. my friend is 73kg and he was on a 10m lithium form 2010. We were both well into our depower and could honestly say that in these winds we were comfortably in the middle of our windrange. Frighting just how much apparent wind these things create. If you can keep your kite in the air on the beach, you can ride.... I'd like to try smaller fins, and they are mini powerbox, so if you whack em they will snap before they pull the box out...

Last May, after I had been exposed to raceboards for 2 years, I tried a specific freerace board that really opened up my eyes. It took me a few months to get ahold of one for myself, and it's been one of the biggest wakeup calls for me since I started with the sport back in '99. Whilst I recognise the hardcore element in the sport as being the coolest and most media provoking / image pioneering side of our sport, the reality for many of us is that sometimes we cant justify the fuel, expense or time to keep the sport as close to our lives as we would wish it was. This is why I think these things are just so good. I'm a total perfectionist in terms of riding feel, which is why I hate raceboards with a passion. They dont carve, you have to reinvent your skills just to deal with them, and they only go in a straight line... Yet these freerace boards are so much fun with zero learning curve, and so well balanced and so easy.. any standard and discipline of rider can get on them and DOUBLE the amount of fun the sport brings you, no more so than for me as a 12 year vet of the sport.. I have only started to scratch the surface with them, we are now playing with fin sizes, but where you can chase lightwinds with £1000's of pounds worth of big kites these plug straight into your 10m and you are ripping in av winds of 8knts. Bear in mind that the session below was 15kts peak, with lulls of pretty much zero (kite would not fly), not once did I come off the plane or ever struggle to keep upwind. Infact my friend let his eye wander and ditched his kite at full speed. As his kite hit the water I watched him plane on for another 5 seconds as he followed the arc of his lines around it like a may-pole.. very funny - but it shows the efficiency of these things to punch through 50m of virtually ZERO wind, and then even if you have to bear off down wind and makes the kite co crazy to keep some drive you can take all the downwind back in the next 50 yards... honestly these things are a revelation to water time... It's now possible for me to have a lot of fun in even dead offshore gusty lightwinds.. This post comes to you as much as a fellow kiteboarder as a member of the industry... see if you can get a go one one, it may not be unhooked freestyle, but it's a lot of fun for when you are denied your perfect conditions.. which lets face it, for most of the time, it's the majority of our off work sessions... M http://www.airush.com/2012/Image/Board/Sector/header.jpg

That's a little on the large side.. width means SO much more than length.. The 135x42 is more designed around 82-88kg. It will give you better upwind ability, better early planing and better pop, but you'll struggle for grip and control at high speeds in comparison to a 40 wide board which is where I think your weight should go....

That's enough to tow the UK south for the winter :-) chop, chop Charlie!

Yeah, my smaller fins arrive in a week.. It may not work, but I'll have a go. Just got off the phone to airush in SA, they are going through the development process constantly and have hit an impasse... they cannot seem to make it better. They can make it more race, or more wave, but trying to make it more wave and more race at the same time does not seem possible.,, That's the sign of a good board!! Like the monk.. sometimes they just get it right.

Hi Chap - hmmm... you can ride it flat as it is, if you have the strength, but riding flat and big fins is the realm of the raceboard - the realm of the Monaro, which is their contest winning board. They do not recommend putting bigger fins in - the boxes are not tuttle, so not rated above 30cm. Also I'm going smaller fins in my boards soon.. better carving and less drag... The beauty of the Sectors is that you can ride them flat for speed and efficiency, but you can also ride them on the rail; once on the rail they balance well, and you can high side them in complete balance to deal with just about any size of gust or power spike. In this they handle like a surfboard. The things also turn well on the rails; they carve.. something you CANNOT do on a square raceboard. The other thing that the sectors excel at is apparent wind. They are light, the fins are not massive and they are thin.. For 60cm of width you really expect far more drag when they go.. Sure raceboards point higher, and do not crab at all, so compared to the sector there is an upwind advantage, but in getting going...? The sector can build far more boardspeed earlier, and hold more boardspeed, you can carve and move with them. So as a fun to use and super smooth board they are far superior to the traditional raceboard imho... I can't ride a raceboard without either my legs catching fire, or needing soap and water to combat the expletives that come out of my mouth.. By comparison the Sector is a wave board! I spend hours on mine... Would never be without one from here on...