Picture crystal calm waters, no waves, just flat uninterrupted water, clear blue skies, a ragged off shore wreck and miles of sand. Sounds incredible right? It was, but unfortunately the just above freezing temperatures meant I was quickly brought back to the reality of our great British winter, and the flat water in Pembrey, South Wales, comes with a price – lack of wind. Fortunately my 17m Zephyr sorted me out nicely, so in no time at all I had the kite flying and my Xenon Infra board ready to rock. The perfect 7am start to a Sunday morning.
In the light wind conditions the Infra got up on plane rapidly and with ease. It’s a pretty firm board but the flat conditions meant it was perfectly at home racing across the water holding a strong connection to the surface. When I was out riding I actually got the impression that the Infra wants to be up wind, it was so easy to fly up wind! Especially helpful when the winds feeling lazy.
I was impressed with the bindings. Due to the chilly temperatures I was riding in booties, and the pads gripped beautifully to my feet giving a nice snug and firm bond with the board. You can pop off the water without worrying about your feet sliding out, always a bonus if you’re an all weather rider like me. Landings on the Infra are awesome too; it holds a straight line due to its solid fins, which means super controlled landings.
Ok for anyone like me out there, I’ll get down to the important part – the graphics.
I have to be honest, when I first saw the board I wasn’t too impressed with its black and white appearance. Dull came to mind. But the more time I spend with the Infra and the more conditions I take it out in, the more I love it. If you really are like me, you will like to have your gear coordinated…and when you have a range of kites the chances are you have a range of colours to try and coordinate with. That is where the Xenon scores 10/10!
The simplistic design means no mater what colour kite you’re riding, no matter how crazy your shorts are or what colour you choose to paint your nails the Infra is going to pull off the look with style. It literally goes with everything, no need to worry about colour clashes. So to you guys out there who fail miserably on the female art of colour coordination this board will do all the hard work for you, all you have to worry about is riding as well as it looks!
Basically this board is ideal for racing up and down rocking some freestyle tricks, and doing it in style!
Oh another bonus about this board is that if there’s no wind – it rocks for wake boarding behind a truck down the beach. It’s epic carving ability makes riding right out to the side of the truck in the slightly deeper water a piece of cake! Check out S2AS on Facebook to see the video http://www.facebook.com/pages/Surface-2-Air-Sports/106439092712538 Try this at home!
For anyone who has not had the pleasure to try out the 2011 XENON Infra – you are missing out!
Or for more info Call S2AS on 01303 268269 or 01202 738448
by Vanessa Procter