Wow, what else can you say, when this kiteboard arrived in the office we jumped around like kids and argued who was going to ride it first. It looks good enough to eat! OK so the crazy “Chit Chat” style graphics may not appeal to everyone, but reading the phrases on the base of the board entertained us and on the water it looks stunning. The board has a honeycomb core with a fibre glass lay up and is then finished using carbon which the team at JN layer to give the flex characteristics they want. The straps and pads are excellent and finish off what is a very good looking board. If the wind doesn’t blow at the beach you can always get entertained by reading some of the “chit chat” on the bottom too!
Aimed at the performance freestyle market the Chit Chat sports a very square outline with wide tips, there is a small concave in the underside and the rocker line is fairly flat.
On the Water
The Chit Chat is aimed squarely at the freestyle market and it’s shaping gives away some of its potential. Once you put the board on the water though you really start to understand what it is all about.The flat rocker line combined with the very stiff mid section makes this board lightning-quick. On flat water it just bombs along at Mach 10 and literally flies upwind too. In the chop the stiff section makes for a more uncomfortable ride, it’s the sort of board where you need to bend your knees rather than let the board do all the work for you. Of course you can’t have everything so whilst the board isn’t the comfiest of rides in the rough stuff it does dazzle elsewhere.
The pop on the Chit Chat is insane, power it up and load the edge and it really whips you off the water. The stiff mid-section comes into its own and allows you to really load up the edge. The slightly more flexi tips help to smooth out the landings, but with a board that is 40.5cm wide those landings are going to be pretty easy anyway. If you are the sort of rider that wants a board to propel you into the stratosphere and allow you enough air time to perform the most technical tricks then the Chit Chat will perform the task very well. Equally, if you just want to scare yourself a bit with its straight line speed and pop for big air then apply here!
Pros
Fast, stiff, great upwind and awesome pop the Chit Chat rides as good as it looks, oh and did we mention the looks, simply stunning…
Cons
Not the comfiest of rides in the chop due to the stiff flex characteristics, but then it more than makes up for that with top end performance.
Overall
We were excited when we first saw the Chit Chat, and then when we got it on the water we got even more excited. This kite board performs at a very high level and looks fantastic. Well done JN.