Mike Birt

!DEMO DAY! :-) This weekend - July the 9th - 10th - at the New HKA beach on Hayling. Forecast is 16mph when I looked just now, tides are low tide (perfect) both days... I'll be there with a van chock full of demo gear from Juice, Airush, Shinn... heres a list of some of the gear we will have; Sector 60 V1 Sector 52 V2 Airush Team FS 130 Airush FS 135 Airush Switch 135 Airsuh Xover 135 Airush Protoy 135 Airush Chopton 5'3" Airush Compact 5'6" Airush Quad 5'10" Airush Vapor X - 7-12m Airush Lithium 12 - 8m Airush Razor 9m Shinn Luigi II 130, 134 Shinn Gintronic 130 - 133 Shinn monk 130 x 40, 135 x 42 Shinn Duke 5'6" Shinn Duke 6' Juice Evolution, all sizes Juice Widebody. Saturday looks like a very good forecast, and sunday lighter, clear skies all weekend, but even if the wind was very light sunday then you have to try a sector - it will re-write what you think about kiting in light winds. Aside this its a good chance for you to come and try out what everyone has been harping on about re Vapor X and Shinn... I'll have a go pro with me that I would like to lend out and make a vid of the two days to post up on the net, as well as getting some good shots. all details of the New HKA beach (and associated details) is found on the HKA website http://www.hka.org.uk - all are welcome - HKA come and join the fun !! :-D :-D :-D :-D Thanks to HKA for the invite :-)

think he means with a paddle, not a kite ;-) at least i hope :-O

The switch is probably the most comfortable to ride of all the airush boards, but the Xover is more stable at warp speed...

The Hammer was a fantastic board, sadly now discontinued, mostly due to the huge cost of manufacture, it was a surfboard construction.. It's very narrow generally and extremely narrow in the tips, with thick mid rails.. very good in chop but it does need a lot of power - much like the 50/50 from nobile.. It's replacement is the crossover, and while the hammer is more radical from a rail to rail perspective, the Xover needs far less wind and is much more a board for lighter winds too. It has the same small tips, a shaped rail (though much thinner) and a LOT of V for a snowboard construction. The result is a board that you can ride FLAT STICK in really rough chop with impunity.. I tried it at high tide hill head this spring.. The protoy is still very good in chop too, though it's more efficient and loses some of it super high speed stability compared the Xover, but is a more rounded board for freestyle riding.. The other three boards I think you should take a long hard look at are the three CC rocker variants from Shinn. All share in the same rocker and concave tech that has done so well in the tests and with public feedback. They do many things well, but the one thing they all do better than anything else is deal with nasty rough conditions. The Monk is a bit of a freak in this; I have never used something that could hold as much speed in rough water, yet also keep you kiting at that level for hour after hour without fatigue.. KITEWORLD MONK TEST SUMMARY OF KW'S MONK TEST; Also - Steve at hunstanton has a demo Gintronic and Monk - pick a really windy choppy day and go try it!

had you not thought of a directional freerace board? I have tried one recently and it blew me away in terms of power needed and their performance upwind - the outstrip all of the twins, and aside the hassle of gybing, they are much more comfortable and fun to use...

From what I know of your choice the Nobiles have a single concave which would put them ahead of the gonzales, probably the NBL is the best value - for it's almost the same as the T5, but if you are thinking of spending that kind of money then you should look at an Airush Switch or Shinn Gintronic, these are two of the best boards I have ridden in this price bracket. test on the Gintronic from kiteworld (this is has one of the new gen shinn cc rockers that is doing so well at the moment); KITEWORLD TEST at 15st then you should be looking at a board of around 44cm wide, no smaller... (length makes very little difference to the size of the board incase you wondered!) GINTRONIC from Shinn SWITCH from airush

Razor - go have a search on the net.. it's a 2011 hardcore C - most press I hear about it are from other brands teamriders; the kind of kite I would only recommend to the absolute hardcore!

Hmm.. I really struggled to gybe the square race boards and I've been a directional rider for 12 years. I was very impressed on that vid just how impressive the carving was! Looking at your out and out raceboard it still has a lot of rail curve - many of the new boards are completely square at the tail... like the monaro v3.. I secretly hanker after a production directional that will hold a huge amount of stable speed and grip, but still carve like a surfboard. Used to call it a mutant and I've been trying to twist arms for years to get one in production... All my custom boards have been polarising that way, but a baby, carving oriented sector would be a hoot.

ha ha ha, first time I have heard them called that.. yeah those nippers are on a fast track for sure, and they are UK talent... how old are the bridglets now?

For someone who is only 10 years old I think this is pretty impressive! there is a very healthy crop of super young talented riders right now.. who knows what the sport will be pushing in 10 years from now.... looks like his dogs have a fun if not slightly perilous existance :-S

Greetings one and all... Know anyone with a go pro? know anyone with a shinn board? fancy unleashing your creative talents? Shinn are running a photo competition with the prize being a free shiny new board of your choice :-) The deal is that you take a pic of a Shinn board with a go pro, and the winner is chosen from a team of enlightened individuals.. The last contest that Shinn ran ended up with a winner from the UK.. so lets try and keep this a monopoly,.. no? :-) here is the exact wording of the contest; address to send your entry is info@shinnboarding.com completely unrelated to this is the fact that I ordered a go pro for myself an hour before this email came across my desk! hmm... the mind starts ticking... http://www.shinnworld.com/site/images/8/201106/092019_22062011_goprobigg.jpg more on the shinn website; Shinn - Welcome

Thought I might add a 2p on this... I've tried this style of kite and board before, and they do go this early - it's quite alarming when you struggle to even fly the kite at idle.. But, honestly - from an outside perspective, the kite may be the kit that you think allow this but it's not.. it's the board that is doing this way more than the kite.. I'd say probably 30% kite 70% board.. and if you put this 17m on your twin it will not work at all... On the subject of race boards... I looked at race kit and tried many race boards over the last 2 years. Without exception they all proved hidious to ride. Uncomfortable, non carving, like the kiting equivalent of sailing a laser... As an ex windsurfer I appreciate racing (I was national race champion 5-6 times) so you'd think I would be right into this but no.. Raceboards brought nothing but unhappiness to my life! I was in Thailand a month or so ago with Airush and they gave me a new Monaro race board to try. It was also hideous. It took time to learn how to ride it in a straight line, and while I understand it wins races, as a board for the masses it's a very expensive torture chair. Then they gave me a board to try called the sector - I'm sure many of you will know of it - and I had the same misgivings, but after a few runs I had to rethink a few things... The best way to understand where I think the future of light wind kit will be is to look at the following vid... Fair enough this vid does not show how early they go - the guy is using the smaller of the two varients in 20kts with a very small 'one' kite, but the key thing to take from the vid is the carving and surf ability... Being a surf / oldschool oriented rider (directionals are my fav boards) the fact that you can ride these things on the rail, was a revolution for me... and they do carve. I would not go so far as to say that you can use them as a waveboard, but you can certainly do more than covering distance. Other than this they really do have 90% the performance of the dedicated raceboard. I was given one with a 17m VXr race kite (airush) and it took real skill to keep the lei in the air, just getting into the waterstart position, but once the kite was thrown 2-3 times I was reaching for the depower! radical.. and the distance you can go upwind it quite alarming. I now believe there is is a future in these lightwind things and although it's windy right now I will be happy to take on out for pure fun next time I get a windless weekend... A good 12 or 14m kite and you can have rewarding, comfortable fun in under 10kts.. The race kites.. hmm there's another subject... I would go as far as to say you get the best bang for your buck with a board first.. http://www.airush.com/2011/slides/slides_sector/Sector%20Banner%20v5.png sector web resource

kiteworld test for me, the best board I have tried in years...

wow, thats a longtime in the water... 4 hours! not the best way to spend a bank holiday... happy ending..

Steady speed - not too fast, not too slow.. regulate your speed. Ideal condition are dead in the middle of your windrange - powered up and using a little of your depower. Try and get the board to track on the rail, not crab sideways. also, kit... your weight and board size. Board tpe helps a lot, but most peoples upwind woes are due to undersized boards - the width of your board is directly related to how you go upwind! the wider the easier.. (wide tips also help) hth.

for all you larger chaps, or light wind posse.. may I introduce you to King George the second.... also nicknamed the magic carpet, this was a very popular board in 2010, reworked for the 2011 season.. http://www.shinnworld.com/site/images/5/201103/033905_05032011_kgtwo.jpg http://www.shinnworld.com/site/images/5/201103/020443_06032011_kgone.jpg http://www.shinnworld.com/site/images/5/201103/102520_06032011_kgflex.jpg http://www.shinnworld.com/site/images/5/201103/014651_06032011_img6482.jpg from Shinn; "King George is our XL board range. The King is not just about being the first to plane but about ruling the water and having the most fun possible in light winds. King George was created to maximise your time on the water even in less than ideal conditions. Light-wind cruising can be awesome but should you feel the desire to push your boundaries then the King has plenty of built-in control and versatility for performance riding, ensuring you’re not rushing to the beach for a smaller board should the wind increase by a few knots. Royal George is the man. 140 x 46 144 x 49" Shinn - Welcome

wind on tuesday / wed perhaps, I have one of these in the van, liked it... watching this vid makes me want to go and ride it again! :-)

Hey T, at 90kg you want to go no narrower than 42 wide, 43-44 would be ideal. Length does not matter so much.. Nobile T5 is a goo dboard but quite flat - good for poor technique upwind and early planing but it does not do overpower and aggressive riding at speed and in chop. There are a number of different options, but I would say have a good read around.. a lot of the newer designs are becoming very capable.. there are some new designs around that have really marched away from the boards we were using a few years ago....

Shinn has being trying to convince me to get back into the race scene for a while - I did 10 years of traveling with big long poles, enjoyed it.. but competition is cruel mistress... Nope, I have evolved.. you won't catch me on a start line again ;-) GRF and I, he had left the series before I began, and he specialised in a different class to me, although we could have met somewhere on the course, maybe UKBSA, I know I competed again some of his sponsored riders for many years..

And for those of you that like pain and suffering, but like winning races even more.... http://www.airush.com/2011/slides/slides_monaro/Monaro%20v2[1].png this is the board designed to give you bragging rights! The Pinniacle of Racing Peformance

yeah me too.. lol.. I looked at the wind and thought.. mmm.. 9m twin tip weather!! ;-) The board is supposed to be stunning in lightwinds.. it's always the windy performance and carving ability that lets these uber lightwind boards down. I watched an experienced chap on a raceboard today in light winds and he could not ride it.. looked like hell. http://www.airush.com/2011/slides/slides_sector/Sector%20Banner%20v5.png

Indeed... I will try to get to as many of the contests as I can too... the Razor will be there too for those not feint of heart, as well as most of the range - but to bring the whole range I would need a mortgage and a truck; have you looked at the whole range? ;-) Airush Kiteboarding|Official Site Here is Clinton on the V2 tech and design side...

Hi All, This popped in my inbox this morning - I have sample on their way, so looking forward to trying them out. I was told that the V1 was the most popular lightwind board around - and it really was a superplaner... but usable as an everyday board. This new one is supposed to be earlier to plane and quicker upwind than the last super serious raceboard they made, yet looking at the vid it seems that perhaps fun can be had in lightwinds! Comes in 52 and 60 wide versions. Also check his kite out... count the struts! looking forward to trying hat one too, I hear some good things!

I have not tried the Razor yet, but would be interested to... I was hasty in my last trial and it was cross offshore. If I lived on the south /west coast I would seriously consider them.

There is a 7m winging it's way to Justin at hydr8 Boardsports, he has 9 and 11 on order.. I'm sat infront of a Thomas cook flight with a 7 varial, 10 lithium and the new protoy... Will post up once I have tried them.. Sadly there us no stock of the vapor x in Europe.. They completely sold out of every size... I'll have to wait until next month before the china stock arrives.. The finishing quality of the product really surprised me and the new protoy is very interesting.. Totally different to last years. I have the '07 one with me as a benchmark and this new '11 super flexible one..