WA Surf Kiteboarding & Foiling Blog
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.
North Gambler Review
The 2016 North Gambler was designed to handle the abuse that wakestyle and freestyle riders give their boards, with plenty of pop, smooth landings and a tough grind base. Well, we've been riding this board for years and decided it's time for a test review.
There is a lot of boards on the market these days that are targeted for those people who mostly kite, but want to hit the cable park from time to time or some rails and kickers like you'll find in Hood River, Cape Hatteras and several other kite parks around the world. The Tona Pop, Slingshot Refraction, Cabrinha Custom and a huge range of others have always been popular amongst the wakestyle crew. But our staff, team riders and customers seem to have a favourite that they can't go past, year after year. And 2016 has barely scratched the surface of what Craig Cunningham, Tom Court, Colleen Carroll and the North team have in store for the North Gambler.
RIDING
So you drop your boots into the track system, which we have to note is COMPLETELY different from the early versions. It's no secret that the earliest season track systems were simply not tough enough. The North R&D team have obviously put the hard yards in because this season we haven't had any issues with tracks.
Once you're on the water, you'll notice the board has small fins allowing for plenty of slip on the tail, but with the built in channels you have more than enough grip to power upwind and setup for your first tricks.
The gambler has loads of pop, and the large rocker and channels provide a super soft landing, which really suits me as I get older! Younger, more agile freestyle riders who are really wanting to go fast and pop HUGE may find more from the Team Series and Livewire. They are lighter, snappier boards, so ensure you're dialled into your riding style before comparing these of boards.
On the cable, we've tried a LOT of different kite boards. The biggest drawbacks are that the boards are flat, soft and not tough enough to stand up to rail riding. Thankfully, the Gambler has all of these things covered. Durability wise you don't even need to think about it. I've been cabling this board for months and I've seen kiteboards in worse condition than our demo Gambler. Once you hit a rail, the Gambler provides enough flex for presses, a tough grind base and no catchy edges.
Probably the biggest issue we've found is that when you 50/50 a rail, if you start to come off to the side, the toe/heel channels can grip in the edge of the rail and hold you from slipping off the side.
Air tricks the board is a tad fast when compared to a standard cable board, but really you'll only notice a difference if you jump from cable board to kite board in one session, and even then the Gambler bridges that gap quite comfortably.
IN CONCLUSION
If you're a rider who likes your freestyle, rides boots and hits a cable park from time to time, then you need to seriously consider a North Gambler as your next board. While the board isn't the lightest and popiest when compared to pure freestyle boards, it'll save your knees every landing, stand up to the amount of abuse that rails and kickers give it, and really will allow you to treat it like SH*T without any complaints.
Freeride Project 3
From Tom Court:
This is the third instalment of the #freerideproject movie series! FRP3
As our schedules get more and more hectic as the years go on, it has become harder and harder to link up as a crew and get these projects together... This movie documents my years as a rider, who I linked up with along the way and the destinations that the majority of the kiteboarding industry goes to throughout the year. With a few extra stops thrown in. Kiting from Cape Town in South Africa, to the blue waters of the Caribbean and then onto the infamous Triple-S competition in the USA, followed by a new island discovery on Wakatobi Dive resort in Indonesia and finally finishing off in the lagoons of Brazil before flying back home to the UK for a nice cuppa tea to round off the year....
Film making is my passion and presenting Kiteboarding as it's meant to be seen has been my goal throughout my career. Getting creative, using the freedom and exploring the world is all part of that! The #freerideproject concept lives on!
As our schedules get more and more hectic as the years go on, it has become harder and harder to link up as a crew and get these projects together... This movie documents my years as a rider, who I linked up with along the way and the destinations that the majority of the kiteboarding industry goes to throughout the year. With a few extra stops thrown in. Kiting from Cape Town in South Africa, to the blue waters of the Caribbean and then onto the infamous Triple-S competition in the USA, followed by a new island discovery on Wakatobi Dive resort in Indonesia and finally finishing off in the lagoons of Brazil before flying back home to the UK for a nice cuppa tea to round off the year....
Film making is my passion and presenting Kiteboarding as it's meant to be seen has been my goal throughout my career. Getting creative, using the freedom and exploring the world is all part of that! The #freerideproject concept lives on!
Reverie
Take a kitesurfing journey to the best spots on the planet. Watch Patri explore the outermost reaches of Africa. After experiencing the incredible waves of Namibia he jets on over to Mauritius and kitesurfs left after left at the infamous One Eye. Next, Patri makes his way to Indonesia for an unbelievable barrel fest. In the end, Patri makes it back to Maui and is blessed with the once in lifetime El Nino winter and Jaws. Reverie has beautiful photography of wind, water and waves. Shot on the land, in the water and from the air, Reverie is a once in generation kitesurfing event. Throw your cell phone away and experience this in full HD and watch the way kitesurfing should be! Aloha and Good Luck
Ceaseless
A new addition to the WA SURF team this year, Emerson Johnston has progressed his riding from basic unhooked tricks to some serious skill. Possibly it helps riding with some of the best freestyle kiters in the world on a regular basis!
Sit back, and enjoy (in HD)
Foil Training
WA Surf owner Andrew Cooksey, with Team Rider Alty Frisby, training off Coogee Western Australia on their F-One Diablo kites. We filmed this entirely on a new DJI Phantom 4. Sit back and enjoy.
THE NEW EVO
The 2016 Evo is now available in store and online. North's most complete allround kite has been refined for 2016 to further enhance it's Master of All characteristics.
Let Tom Herbert run you through all the finer points of the brand new, 2016 North Evo!
WANNA MAKE A VIDEO?!
If you fancy yourself as a kiter and haven't made a kite video, what are you doing!?
Time to let our mates Sam Medesky and Craig Cunningham run you through the tongue-in-cheek basics of how to make your very own kiteboarding video... sorry, kiteboarding "edit".
Enjoy!
Time to let our mates Sam Medesky and Craig Cunningham run you through the tongue-in-cheek basics of how to make your very own kiteboarding video... sorry, kiteboarding "edit".
Enjoy!
We Allow It, Ewan
Australia's Ewan Jaspan had the absolute worst luck with injury, seemingly being out of action for more than two years. But perhaps it's given him a new lease on his kiteboarding. For someone who's been out of action for so long, his riding can only be described as world class.
Sit back, click HD and ENJOY!
Sit back, click HD and ENJOY!
