WA Surf Kiteboarding & Foiling Blog
King of The Air
2019 Red Bull King of the Air - EVENT ON NOW
Save the date and get ready for some of the most epic airs because the Red Bull King of the Air 2019 lineup is complete. From the 26 January - 10 February 2019 Duotone riders will be prepped to master the elements in an attempt to rule the skies – leaving a wake in the atmosphere with the ultimate goal of being crowned King of the Air 2019.
Why Choose WA Surf for Lessons
This is our doorstep - the pond, Safety Bay. Beautiful crystal waters, perfect wind direction, flat and shallow protected water. This is the best spot to learn kitesurfing and a world famous kite spot for intermediate/advanced riders also. Enjoy the view.....
Duotone Dice - Interview with designer Ralf Grosel
Equally at home busting out freestyle moves like Reno Romeu and surfing waves like the World Champion Matchu Lopes, the Duotone Dice is a versatile kite that is perfect for the riders who like to mix their disciplines.
North > Duotone
In arguably what is the best-kept secret in kiteboarding, or the worst depending on which way you look at it, Boards and More the company that brought you North Kiteboarding, is launching a totally new brand, Duotone.
The Bubble Film Premiere
The Backlot Studios in Perth played host to the W.A. stop of The Bubble Film's world premiere tour.
Two sold out screenings treated viewers to one of the most artistic and, by all reports, stoke inducing kiteboarding films in recent times. In a world filled with 3 minute YouTube 'edits', lounging back into the most comfortable cinema seating you could imagine, The Bubble took everyone into the elite world that only a few kiteboarders can call home.
North Kiteboarding & ION supplied some amazing prizes for the raffle, with all proceeds going directly to WAKSA. We'd like to thank everyone who kindly donated for the chance to win a new 2018 North Dice, 2018 North Click Bar & 2018 ION Harness. You all have helped WAKSA to continue doing the great work they do.
2017 North Ace Review - Coming Soon
North Kiteboarding sent us a sample of their new foil kite, the ACE. First impressions are extremely stable, very user friendly and against proven world class race kites, not too far off the pace. As with any North kite, you get world class construction down to the finest details.
Stay tuned for our full length review of the 2017 NORTH ACE 14.5m.
The Pro's Are In Town
This last week has seen some amazing riding from the likes of Alex Pastor, Stefan Spiessberger, Youri Zoon, Bruna Kajiya, David Tonijuan & Victor Hays. Check 'em all out here!
Foil Near Miss
By now you have probably seen this footage. I was foiling in about 22-25knots of breeze, on a 9m F-One Diablo V2 and Taaroa Sword2 foil.. Initiating a gybe, I let the kite get too far above me while changing feet, and fell in to windward of my board. What starts out as an every day crash got pretty real, pretty fast.
Caution: This video contains bad language.
Game Over from Hack Productions on Vimeo.
For those wondering WHY I didn't pull my safety. Firstly, from when I realised that the kite was looping and what the cause was, it was only a split second later I was mid flight with the board attached to me. When the kite began the second loop, I reached up and grabbed the bar, regaining control of the kite. I saw this as just as good of an option as pulling my safety. I then recovered and went back to the beach, unmarked but a little shaken up.
Regardless, I knew my safety release was there should I decide to use it. I could have used it and just as likely been hit in the back with the foil as it accelerated past me, attached to the kite.
Happy foiling!
Drew
2017 North Pro Surf 5'11"
Andy recently hit the surf in Indonesia, testing out several kites and boards in a variety of great conditions.
First up, the 2017 North Pro Surf 5'11"
First up, the 2017 North Pro Surf 5'11"
2017 North Click Bar Review
2017 is the year of the 'Game Changer', according to the hype. But this is by far the biggest innovation that kiteboarding bars have seen in recent years.
Introducing the 2017 North Click Bar.
For those of you who haven't seen the Click Bar yet, check it out HERE, but for the rest of our readers, we'll jump right into it.
The first thing you are going to notice is just how clean the bar really is. There is absolutely nothing above the bar or below the bar, no toggles, no depower lines, no swivel. This is by far, the cleanest bar on the market.
For those of you coming off of a North Trust Bar, the bar will feel almost identical in your hands. The weight difference is unnoticeable and the bar diameter and grip is almost identical to the North Trust Bar.
Once on the water, operating the Trim Unit is exceptionally intuitive. We've found that most of our customers who have demoed the bar have felt right at home from the get go.
We have had some concerns raised by customers about the ability to dump the depower quickly in a tricky situation. It is quicker and easier to depower than a traditional system, and does not require you to come off your edge. Powering up may be a fraction slower due to the "click click" nature of the Trim Unit, but we have not found this to be of any major concern thus far.
There is two other major advantages to the click bar that seem to be skipped over in the marketing material and from other reviews. The first is the auto untwisting frontlines. The second, is the ability to adapt this bar to about 99% of kites manufactured in the past 10 years.
Firstly, the untwisting front lines works like no other. While most bars provide a swivel either above, below, or both above and below the bar, we all know that even the best swivels become stiff and require some 'convincing' over time, to actually do their job. What North have done on the click bar is to cover the centre lines with a rectangular TPU tubing, that is aligned with your bar. This means that every time you spin your bar, your centre lines are automatically orientated with your bar. The future is here, you can now do 100 back rolls in one direct and never worry about twisted front or safety lines again!
Undoubtably one of the biggest advantages with the click bar is it's versatility. You can run this bar on four or five lines. You can adjust the front line Y split height to anything from the high Y setup of the North and Naish kites, through to the low Y split of the Airush, Slingshot, Naish and Ozone kites. You can change your line lengths from 22m and 24m in an instant. You can swap your pigtails between your lines to suit any pigtail setup on your chosen kite.
You no longer need 3 bars for 3 kites. Now you can have one (or two!) click bars and ride every style and brand of kite on the market. The only thing it won't fit is the 4/6 line setups that Aaron Hadlow and a few others ride. However, most people riding those kites will be on smaller, wakestyle bars, so we can't see this being an issue.
THE HISTORY
7 Years. That's how long this bar has been in development.
The Click Bar was actually designed in Western Australia, back in 2010. We know the designer Jerome, and some of our previous staff and team riders were lucky enough to ride some of the earliest prototypes. It worked back then, and North has put a lot of time into the development of the bar since picking up the design several years ago. We've been hearing the promise of this bar for a few seasons now, so rest assured that this is a tried and tested design, with minimal moving parts and chances of damage. No matter how much sand or salt you try to jam into the trim unit, the Click Bar just keeps on going.
FOR & AGAINST
FOR
Where do we begin. A super clean and totally new way of trimming your kite. Loaded with features we've already mentioned, this bar really is the future.
You can now use just one bar instead of two or three for your quiver.
AGAINST
Freestylers may prefer the smaller wakestyle bars, while some users may miss the ability to change the length of the bar, as is normal on the North Trust Bar.
If you'd like to demo the 2017 North Click Bar, simply drop into the shop in Safety Bay, or contact us to arrange a demo.