RRD Venom 2010 Kiteboard Review

At a Glance
For any one who is familiar with the RRD range will know they have all ways spent lots of time and attention on developing wave specific kites and kite boards. For 2010 there has been no change with the brand coming up with three wave-specific directionals, and one hybrid style twin tip, designed around hitting lips of waves and slashing them up, but also some thing with a flat rocker that has bags of pop for those flat water days.

To make all of this possible RRD have had to come up with a pretty special bolt on tip design. With the tips bolted down you have a 142x42 board with shed loads of kick in the tips to make the most extreme of carves down large waves possible without sinking or catching the nose. Yet with the bolt on tips off you are left with a flat wide 130x42 for loading and popping. The RRD Venom board comes with RRD's screwdriver less straps and 5cm fiber class fins.

On The Water
With or without the tips screwed in, the Venom gets planning very early and fells like it wants to screw is self as far up wind as possible. You really can take a smaller kite out than you can with any other twin tip of its dimensions, head out the back and find waves to ride using little power from the kite and enjoy a smaller kites turning speed.

Obviously this twin tip will never use the power of the wave as well as a directional, but it responds like no other kite board made to ride waves, as soon as you push from one rail to the other the board really snaps into action. Carving is less stable than a directional but the large bolt on tips allows you get away with some ballsy caves for a twin tip. The tips fell don’t even catch when you chuck in some pretty ruthless turns.

Hitting some flat water with the Venom without the tips was fun and the board performs well as a freestyle machine. Sometimes just a little more rocker would be nice to punch through any chop that is around. The rails don’t lock and bite as well as a dedicated freestyle board, but if they did it wouldn’t surf as well as it does.

Pros
The perfect two-in-one board, if you are headed on a holiday with waves and flat water and don’t want to take two kiteboards then the Venom could be for you.

Cons
This kiteboard obviously doesn’t work as well as keeping two boards in your quiver, but does an impressive job covering both disciplines.

Overall
A well made, pretty board from RRD that you can turn up to any beach with any conditions and have confidence you are going to have fun.Overpowered or underpowered the board just works and for a twin tip you can draw some pretty impressive lines in those waves.

Original review from our friends at IKSurfmag

RRD Fatal Wave 5’8” Kiteboard Review

At a Glance
The Fatal Wave is a directional surfboard with a classical outline, wider in the nose and more drawn out towards the tail it wreaks of 70’s retro surfing! This kiteboard was developed with RRD’s world-class wave rider Abel Lago and it is his board of choice for competitions and just about anything the ocean can throw at him.

Built using traditional surfboard techniques with a foam core and a glass/polyester lay up the board looks stunning. A lot of extra reinforcement has been made in stress areas and the Futures Fins put a quality finishing touch to the set up. It comes with some of super comfortable pads attached and straps as well; of course the straps are optional. A leash point is fitted as standard.

On the Water
The RRD Fatal Wave looks very different to the modern surfboard shape when under foot, that wide prominent nose hardly escapes the eye. But as you drop into your first wave of the day you’ll see why these classic outlines have made a big comeback in recent years on the surf scene. The wide nose and rocker keeps itself well out of the water, even on the choppiest of faces and that allows very smooth carving from rail to rail on the thinner tail section of the board. The drawn out swallow-tail ensures you get plenty of rail bite in those turns and the board snaps off the lip in a highly pleasing manner. Being quite short, it is very chuckable too. In onshore mushy conditions you can really throw it about. Be sure to set the front strap a little further forward than normal so you can keep some weight towards the front of the board as it likes to be driven a little nose heavy especially in marginal waves that lack power. Get it in some big stuff though and it is excellent, we can see the test team fighting over this for a while!

Pros
Great looks, quality finish and excellent fittings, especially the Future Fins. On the wave this kite board is a joy to ride, at home in the big stuff and small mush it is sure to please all those who climb aboard.

Cons
The retro style means you need to adapt the way you ride a little, but once you get it dialled it will give you hours of fun!

Overall
A really stunning piece of board building from RRD, the Fatal Wave Classic works well in a variety of conditions and the looks are stunning!

Original review from our friends at IKSurfmag

Cheap Kitesurfing Packages

So you’ve just finished your Kite surfing lessons or your super keen and your already looking for your first Kite surfing package at an amazing price well your in luck because for this year Surface2Air Sports have over 10 kite surf packages available all at massive discounts from the individual prices so for example a kite surf package that would consist of say a Kite surf kite, Kiteboard and harness would normal cost you around £1600 we have for just over £1000 now that’s a huge saving on normal shop prices.

So what brands do we have on our kite surf packages? All unheard of brands I hear you say! Not at all! We at Surface2Air sports only stock the worlds best kite surfing brands and nothing less!

Yes you may find yourself paying a little more for these brands but your get a much better re-sale value and also all spare parts off the shelf in any good kite surfing shop, unlike with the brands that come and go in kite surfing where you will not be able to source the parts in a year or so, and this will make your kite useless and that’s the last thing we as a company and you want.

So our package brands on offer are as follows:

Cabrinha Kites – the worlds best selling kite board brand

Slingshot Kites – Probably the best built kite surf equipment you can buy.

Naish Kites – one of the most famous kite board brands in the world

Takoon Kites – the company to event Kite surfing kites we fly today

That is just some of the brands we have on offer at Surface2Air sports

So if your ready to get going and move on with your kite surfing give us a call in one of our shops below or check out our cheap kite surf packages

Remember to have fun and be safe!

Angelo

S2AS Team

S2AS Brighton (Tel: 012373 746836)
S2AS Poole (Tel: 01202 738448)
S2AS Kent (Tel: 01303 269828)

Blade Trigger 10m Kite Review

At a Glance
With a pretty good year in 2009, Blade are able to hold their heads up high knowing that they are on a similar level with the larger kite brands producing quality hard wearing kitesurfing kites.

REVIEW REMOVED DUE TO THE BRAND *CALL US FOR MORE INFO WWW.S2AS.COM*



For more information contact us at any one of our Kitesurf stores in Kent, Poole & Brighton or visit www.s2as.com

Cray Fly Shox Kiteboard 132x41 Review

At a Glance
Crazy Fly have been making their much loved Raptor Pro stiffer and stiffer over the years to cater for the full on freestyle rider; aiming to squeeze as much performance from the board as possible. Because of this there has been a gap left in their kiteboard range for a performance orientated freeride board.

This season Crazy Fly have released the all new Shox to the range to fill the space. The Shox is built with a very light full wood core with carbon and glass layup construction sporting some fresh young bright graphics. The board has a fairly shallow constant rocker line with deep concave that runs pretty much from tip to tip. To finish the board off there are some very stylish leather foot straps, thick foot beds and thin profile G10 fins the rest of the Crazy Fly range benefits from.

On The Water
Slipping your feet in the straps for the first time feels great; you can make yourself really comfortable and have a solid felling of being locked in. The light crisp ride will get you quite exited and looking for small kickers or flat spots to launch off from. The Shox pops and loads well and carries enough board speed to send your kite back for some lofty jumps. Although slightly stiffer flex and more rocker would be a aid giving a little more performance, giving the board some extra flex and extra rock makes it a easy to ride. We really believe any one can jump on this board and ride all day without your knees giving out, over the chop the ride is smooth, slick and most of all comfortable.

This kite board has been designed to be the ultimate freeride board, and it fits that bill well. Once you’ve had some fun throwing your self about though there is another characteristic that will appeal to lots of riders. The shallow rocker line and bit that you get from the rails really helps the Shox fly upwind, something you’ll appreciate after jumping around on it and having fun!

Pros
Freeride kitesurfers of all levels looking to for a board that will let them be adventurous.

Cons
The Shox has some great performance under it’s bonnet, but if you want out and out freestyle aggression look to the Raptor or Rocky.

Overall
An all round freeride board that any one can ride at any level and feel at home with. It still holds plenty of performance and excitement though for those who tap into it.

Original review from our friends at IKSurfmag

Slingshot Octane 11m Kite Review

At a Glance
The Octane is an all-new kitesurfing kite from Slingshot for 2010, based on the Rev, one of their best selling kites of 2008 and 2009.

Essentially they have taken the Rev, which was originally designed to be used as a user-friendly wave/freestyle kite, and opened up the trailing edge to allow it to fly faster through the sky. This gives a little extra spike to its power and turning ability. They have pretty much kept the simple bridle system and the bombproof kite canopy lay out. Finally, no Slingshot would be complete without Slingshot’s pioneering one pump system.

The Bar
Slingshot have really stepped it up for 2010 with the all new Comp Stick kite bar. They have pretty much ticked every box; with a whole new chicken loop using a friendly push away QR. A locking pin on top of the chicken loop locks out straight when unhooked to make hooking back in as easy as possible. There is an all-new centre line swivel that removes any twist left in the centre lines after spinning the bar after rotations and kiteloops. The de-power cleat and cleat line have been slimmed down for easy use, furthermore the bar features a removable chicken loop dick and a attachment for a suicide leash as well as the usual O shit handles on both sides of the bar.

2010 Slingshot Comp Stick Bar from SLINGSHOT RH

In The Air
After a fast responsive Rev2 for 2009 we didn’t think the Octane could be improved by much, but by opening up the trailing edge and a new stiffer shape from the new strut lay out and tweaked bridal they have managed to squeeze a bigger wind range from a kite that travels through the sky quicker then ever.

After moving the rear lines up a knot or two closer to the kite to tighten the steering lines up, the kite becomes very responsive enabling the it to turn on a sixpence allowing the rider to be able to throw impressive kiteloops without any drastic consequence.

Boosting with the Slingshot Octane has been fun with the kite turning and moving faster, however the kite demands extra kite piloting skills to use its full jumping and hang time potential. This kite seems to demand input and likes to keep a nice forward speed. Without a good amount of board speed and keeping the rear lines tort, the kite will fly further around the wind window then desired. Any inexperienced riders will want to use the most inner pigtail attachment point on the wingtips.

Riding waves with the Octane is more fun then ever, being able to stick the kite where you want it and have confidence the kite will keep up with board speed on lighter wind days. It parks really well and just hangs in the sky allowing you to ride down the line.

Pros
Wave riding and freestyle on this kite surfing kite is a dream. The all-new bar is a pleasure to use leaving only the riders to hold themselves back.

Cons
Any riders looking for a kite they can lock down and load a rail for wake style tricks should stick to the RMP or Fuel.

Overall
The Octane is a quick responsive kite with a huge wind range and great up wind potential to make ground up after ripping up a huge wave down wind or some big lofty jumps. The build quality is as ever second to none!

Original review from our friends at IKSurfmag

Cabrinha Nomad 9m Kite Review

At a Glance
The Nomad from Cabrinha is a totally new kitesurfing kite for 2010; it fills that gap that was previously empty for a high performance freestyle kite for pro riders.

Cabrinha spent the best part of a year listening to their pro riders and creating a kite that fulfilled their wants and needs. It is about as close to a C Kite as Cabrinha dared to take it, yet it retains all the great features of a hybrid, it benefits from easy relaunch and a simple bridle set up to. As standard the kite comes with the IDS safety system.

Nomad Cabrinha 2010 from freeride-attitude

The Bar
The bar this year from Cabrinha is an improvement on last years excellent design. It is simple, functional and has everything just about where you would want it. Arguably the neatest system on the market every aspect of the design has been well thought out. New for this year the IDS system is fitted inside the depower protective tube; this tidies up the set up even more. The trim straps are neatly placed above the bar and are easy to reach and the quick release is simple and functional.

In the Air
Ever since Cabrinha launched the Crossbow in 2005 they have been missing a kite like this from their range. The Switchblade was used by the likes of Andre Phillip for his wakestyle riding and the Crossbow was a freeride machine that in recent years has had a hint of race applied to it. The Nomad bridges that gap and it is a stunning kite.

The turning speed is rapid and when powered up the Nomad will put a smile on your face like no other. The kite launches you into the air with some impressive force and leaves you hanging there. Whip it into a loop and it turns in a wide arc around its wingtip generating heaps of power. The bar feedback is excellent and the rider knows where the kite is all the time. There is no “heavy” bar pressure often found on some of the other kites in the range. The Nomad is light and extremely responsive. The responsive behaviour also lends the kite really well to wave riding, you can flick it around the window whilst you are tearing waves to shreds and it behaves immaculately. Upwind the kite performs well, flying far enough forward in the window to get you there quickly, but retaining a good amount of pull at the same time.

Pros
A true high performance kite surfing kite from Cabrinha, if you like hardcore freestyle then think of it as a return to form from the brand. And if you enjoy shredding waves you won’t be disappointed.

Cons
It depends on your riding style as to whether you will enjoy the Cabrinha Nomad or not. If you enjoy the way the Switchblade flies in a solid, locked in and predictable manner, be prepared for a different beast altogether. We loved it!

Overall
Fast, responsive handling with pinpoint precision, the kite flies fairly far forward in the window, which allows it to fly upwind. The kiteloops are excellent and it really fills a gap that had previously been empty in the Cabrinha range.

Original review from our friends at IKSurfmag