2014 Liquid Force Kite Fish Review

2014 Liquid Force Kite Fish Review

2014 Liquid Force Kite Fish ReviewHere is a customer review from our friend, Matt:

Check out our current selection of Liquid Force kiteboards.

"This board will grow on you.

You will not like the board until you use it like it is meant to be used. Or, like me, until you break your fancy delicate "bamboo laminate" pretty surfboards. I am abusing this board way more than I did my surfboards and it shows no signs of cracks (I flat land jumps a lot) or fin boxes tearing out (I tend to ride in a bit too far). I love the bolts to hold on the fins since I have destroyed many fin boxes on regular surfboards. If I ever do get around to tearing out a fin on this board, there is no new box to buy, no jig to set, no precision glass layup, and no hassle other than 1-2days of field G-flex repair. – I think I am talking myself into getting another one of these boards and getting rid of my surfboards.

As I am vacationing out on the Oregon coast for a month, it is the only board left that I have not broke and still trust to abuse in the waves. I just got to the point where I can come in on the back side of a wave (3fters) and back roll to the front in the pocket. When I am too late to get in front of a wave, I can come from the back side of it right into the close-out and ride it all the way in. The nice thing about the extra weight of the board is that it seems more controllable than a light surfboard when sunk in a close-out of a wave under 3’-4’. Anything bigger and you should not be in the close-out. But up to my thighs in foam, this board just brushes it off and waits for the closeout to form up a nice little 1 footer to ride into 6” of water.

Again, don’t expect to like this board at first. It is heavy, not super “upwindy” if you weigh 215lbs like me, a bit more sensitive (fore/aft weight dist.) to jibe than 6’-0” kitesurfboards, and you do have to make it turn since it will not turn for you like a “small wave” quad finned board. This board will also shave 1-3ft off of your 15-20ft jumps as you have some extra weight to go up with you. Added to that, this board does not “pop” without you putting some serious input into it.

I have an older version of this board. When I first got it, I looked at the cheesy flimsy straps (on the older version) and just figured I would use them until they would wear out. Now I love them and want to make my own flimsy ones to match. The newer stock straps are stiffer and easier to get into, but not great to step on top of when you come in super shallow and know the board is going to stop and you are going to keep going. But there is plenty of real-estate elsewhere if you have the newer stiffer straps.

I also changed the fin setup to a quad with similar fins to the stock fins that I got from another Mfg on closeout sale. I do not think this helped too much as the bottom shape does not really feed a quad setup. But it seems to foil off of the fins a bit better upwind. It also seems like it may be just a bit looser, but not that great epileptic loose feeling of a “single concave small wave quad”. Again, to do this quad conversion, I just had to drill some holes and fill them with epoxy. Then I drilled and counter sunk the holes. All surfboard fin boxes should be this easy to repair/re-do.

My advice is to get this board, PUT THE D—M STRAPS ON IT, jump it like it is a twin tip, learn to back roll with the extra weight, and learn to slash the board like you would a light quad surfboard. Then, at the end of the season and with good health insurance with a broken ankle ins. rider, ride it shallow in lake shore break. Very fun if you can jibe on a dime. This is stupid dangerous if you are in gusty winds or not an experienced rider. But you can do just about anything with this board if the straps are on it. I even learned to double back roll and front roll on this board.

I would love to get Liquid Force to make a line-up in this construction. Since I cannot stand “mutant” twin-tips, and surfboards just do not take the abuse, I think there is market for some smaller sizes of this board. I would love to see a diamond tail small wave quad pushed out to 5’-6” and with lots more rocker and less width. This would be the perfect 2 board quiver for all winds and conditions for me. That said, I can easily ride this board in high winds (extra weight helps with the board being too wide at high speeds) and can get upwind almost as easily as with a huge light wind twin-tip."