2023 North Nova v3 Review

Welcome back to MACkiteboarding Wing Wednesdays. I'm Tucker, and today I'm going to give you a quick review on the new North Nova version 3 for 2023. I've been riding this wing for a few weeks now and getting a good feel for it, so I'll go over it and compare it to some similar wings out there on the market to see how it stacks up.

What Is the Nova v3?

The North Nova v3 is a complete redesign of the Nova, and they did an excellent job of bringing it into 2023, in terms of where wings are at and the performance people are asking for, and I was really excited to test this one. I was looking forward to comparing it to the North Mode, which has been a favorite of mine for the season and a step up in terms of performance. I wanted to see what they could do with a wing that's not so advanced level-focused or speed-focused, but something that's more middle-of-the-road and accessible to all levels of riders, with a bit more blended performance and ease-of-use. That's what the Nova V3 aims to do, and I'm here to tell you it's doing a great job at that. We'll get to that in a minute, but first let's look at some of the cool new features on this wing.

Handles

On the front we've got our surf handle with a nice pad underneath. It comes with a standard wrist leash included. We've also got our long, hard handles. They're really comfortable, and you can put your hands anywhere you want on those. There's lots of real estate to play around with, and a really nice pistol grip on the front handle for surfing off of that. It's very convenient and comfortable going into tacks and luffing the wing from there when wave riding. I attached a standard rope style harness line between the two handles, and it worked out well for me there. You can also use a windsurf style loop on these; you just need to take off the screws and the handles and loop it around, and that works great as well.

Frame

Underneath the handles we have a nice big boom, especially up top at the "XL T-Joint", as they call it. It's a really big, stiff connection to transfer power from the handles, to the boom, to the leading edge, to the canopy. That works really well; it's a nice, stiff, solid connection without needing to use some expensive materials to do the same thing, so that's awesome to have that.

Inflation System

We have two Boston style valves so you can inflate independently, or you can pump up from the leading edge using the one pump system. If you want to inflate them independently, just pinch off the connecting tube first. To dump the valves, you just unscrew both valves and it deflates really quickly. It has a nice, big hole to dump the air out.

Windows

We've got a new window shape with two slices to allow you to roll and fold the window more easily. It also keeps more canopy tension through there, and it reduces bagging out in the canopy and in the window, since that can be an issue with windowed wings. That's one way to make it easier to fold, last longer, and help it hold its shape better with a tighter canopy. It's something a lot of the brands are doing nowadays, and it works great; I'm a big fan. You can see everything you need to, but you don't need to compromise the integrity of the wing to do that.

Canopy

The canopy is a double ripstop type canopy. It's very tight, and the panel layout keeps it that way. There is a nice, deep baffle behind the strut, which really shapes the profile of the wing. That gives you all that lift and power and drive that you want from a wing, so that's a really crucial part of the design.

Backpack

The Nova v3 comes with a backpack. It's a nice quality backpack and fits the shape of the wing. It's kind of long so you can pack it in there with the handles. It's got this nice foil assist bump guard, so if you're carrying your foil across your shoulder it's not going to hurt you. It's a nice, complete package with your leash. You don't need a pump adapter with these Boston style valves since they just connect directly to the end of the hose, so if you have a standard kite pump hose, that's going to plug right into this. It has everything you need, minus the pump of course, and a harness line if you want to ride a harness line. It's a great kit.

Construction

The materials are just what you'd expect from North. It's high quality stuff. This isn't getting the fancy N-Weave treatment with the frame like the Mode does, but it's coming in at a notably lower price point and, for a Dacron wing, this is a very stiff, responsive sail. I flew it really overpowered a few times and didn't have any issues with deforming, and I was pumping, being a heavier rider. So I'm pretty amped on that.

Shape

It does have quite a bit more dihedral in the shape of the wing. The wingtips bend out a bit more, and that gives it just a little more ease-of-use. Rolling into tacks and jibes, the wing wants to roll and change directions more easily. If there's a downside to that, if you're just leashed out on the wing and you're not hanging onto it in any way, it does have a tendency to want to flip on its back. That's a common thing with wings, though, so it's not really a problem, but it's something that can be a pet peeve of some people.

Flying Characteristics

It is pretty lightweight for a Dacron wing, and it feels light in your hands. On the scale, it may be slightly lighter than the average wing out there, but when you're flying it, it feels very light, very responsive, and easy to flip around and move wherever you want. A lot of that comes from the shape of the wing. It's very compact, and that dihedral really helps it move where you want it to. The deep pocket in the baffle creates a lot of lift, so it carries all its own weight. It always wants to lift, which is great. When you combine that with the stiffness of the wing and how compact it is, and how comfortable the handles are, it's a very easy-to-use wing.

It's got that low end grunt and power, which allows you to size down in the wing slightly. It definitely has a good wind range, so when you're a little underpowered or even a bit overpowered, this wing still pulls forward enough that it's comfortable riding. Maybe not so much as the Mode, but for a wing like this, it's got a great range. It lets you cover a lot of wind speeds, and up and down winds as well.

Who Is The Nova v3 Wing For?

I definitely would feel really confident and comfortable with handing this wing to a brand new rider who has never touched a wing before. They're going to notice that they have a lot of grunt and a lot of easy pull-and-go power, which makes it easy to ride. The sail angle doesn't need to be perfect; you can over-sheet or under-sheet a little and it's still going to fly great, so it's not as picky as some other wings with that, which is awesome. It's just going to make the wing so much easier to ride, especially if you aren't really familiar with winging and aren't yet comfortable with perfecting the sail angle and finding that sweet spot. You can just pull in and go rip and not have to think about it much.

A lot of advanced riders are really going to like that, too. It definitely allows you to focus on your riding rather than what you're doing with your sail and where the wind is. In shifty, sketchy winds, that makes it so much easier to ride. It's a great wing for beginners and progressing riders, but a lot of advanced riders are also going to love this wing in the surf.

Another reason I think advanced level riders are really going to dig the Nova v3 is the lift, the power, and also the speed. On a lot of wings out there, you get some good grunt and lift, which is awesome for jumping big and floating down more softly, but those kinds of wings tend to be really physical to ride overpowered, and they also don't like to pull forward and amplify the speed quite as much. The Nova v3 is a bit more blended with that lift and speed creation. It pulls forward, but also creates good grunt, which is a nice combination if you're looking to boost huge, go out there and ride really fast, have fun, and do some of those freestyle tricks, so it's definitely a very capable wing. If you're a new rider looking to progress quickly, this is an awesome choice and it's something you're not going to grow out of unless your tastes change, though this one does it all pretty darn well.

North Mode vs. North Nova v3

Compared to other wings out there, I already mentioned the Mode. The Nova v3 is going to be more accessible, easier to ride, and more grunty, so you can definitely size down on the Nova v3 as compared to the Mode. The Mode is going to give you more speed and more comfort when riding overpowered to extremely overpowered, and better upwind ability, but it's definitely not quite as accessible to new riders as the Nova V3, especially in lighter winds.

Duotone Unit vs. North Nova v3

As for other wings that I would compare to this, a hot one has been the Duotone Unit. They also have these hard style handles and a very grunty, stiff frame. I would put this head-to-head with a Unit. It's a little faster and a bit more forward-pulling than the Unit, while the Unit has a touch more grunt and lift, but that also means it's going to get overpowered a little bit more quickly. But if you like the Unit, the Nova is a wing you're going to enjoy as well.

F-One Strike vs. North Nova v3

I would also mention the F-One Strike. They're another high quality wing that's great in the surf with good lift and easy pull-and-go grunt. I'd put the Nova head-to-head with the Strike as well. Personally, I'm more comfortable with the hard style handles, especially being a heavier rider that's riding overpowered a lot. These handles are just a bit more ergonomic for me. I don't need to grip them as hard to hold my hand position and I can move my hand to a variety of different positions to whatever suits how I want to ride, which is nice. On the flipside, the Strike is a little lighter weight and luffs a little nicer in the surf in very light winds. If you're in decent wind they both luff phenomenal, so there's really nothing bad to say either way on those. They're both awesome choices and were both really popular wings for 2022, and I expect them to be again in 2023.

Conclusion

I'm looking at the Nova v3 as a wing that's going to be really popular this season. North is definitely growing their following quickly for being fairly new to the foiling and winging scene. Now they're kind of leading the charge and dominating in terms of performance in a lot of categories across the board and having a lot of quality products, so a big thumbs-up to the team at North and all the hard work they've been doing in pushing the limits. The Nova v3 is no exception to that.

We're going to have the Nova v3 in stock around the time this review posts, so reach out to us if you have any questions or if you'd like to scoop one up. We'd love to help you out and see you happy out there on the water and having a good time on this new wing. This has been Tucker with MACkiteboarding.com, and we'll see you next time.

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Tucker