2024 North Reach Overview

What Is the North Reach?

Today I have the all-new 2024 North Reach. This is a kite that I was fortunate enough to test at the North dealer meeting in Portugal, and I ended up falling in love with it. Granted, it is my kind of kite: a three strut, all-around, do-everything canopy. It's going to be similar to kites like the Duotone Evo, the Slingshot Code, the Reedin Supermodel, the Cabrina Moto, and the Naish Pivot. They're all in that three strut, "do everything a little faster with a bit of an attitude" category, and this checks those boxes.

The Reach was a little bit delayed in North's lineup. They started with the Orbit, which is the king of the big air, we got the Carve, and then we got the Pulse, which hardly anybody rides even though it's an all right kite. Finally, we have the Reach, which is what we've all been waiting for.

What's New for 2024?

For this year, they've updated the outline of the canopy. This is something we noticed when we laid out the new 2024 sail against the 2023. The wingtip shape has changed a little bit, and the canopy actually got a little bit deeper in the middle. That's going to address the only complaint I had about the 2023 model. That kite drove upwind like a son of a gun, which was really great, but the moment you left the water and were doing a trick, a lot of times it would surge forward when you pulled your kite out of it and you could end up over-rotating. With this, that's largely been addressed. It's probably not going to drive upwind quite as well; because it's a bit deeper, it's going to sit a little bit deeper in the window. But it still goes upwind really well, just not quite as well as the previous generation. I think the tradeoff is worth it because you get a kite that feels a bit more intuitive on the water and comes out where you expect it to.

How Does It Fly?

Other than that refinement, when it's in the sky it's a very smooth, balanced canopy. I've talked about the concept of being balanced before, where it feels like the line tensions are very in tune with one another when you're at the bar. It's not too backline heavy, it's not flying too much off the front lines; it's just there. It's hard to describe without being on the water, but when you get that sense of balance, it's like there's a field of possibility, like whatever you're going to do with the kite, it's going to react and it's going to pull you through that trick. That's what you get with this Reach.

Construction

The Reach uses North's N-Max Dacron. It's actually used this the past two years. It's not a regular Dacron; it's a lighter, stiffer Dacron that's more in line with SLS. It's not quite full Aluula or Ho'okipa, but it ain't basic either. That's important because of the price of these kites. You're not paying for that premium, but you're getting the premium performance, and that's something North's been able to achieve by focusing on inventing and then making these materials. I think the N-Max is a step in the right direction, and you can feel it on the water. You get that snappiness and that crisp turning. The kite just feels light in the sky. You can particularly see that in the gusts and the lulls; it doesn't fidget quite as much. It also has some lighter weight bladder materials.

Quiver

Sizes run all the way from 4 to 17 meter, so if you love the Reach, you can fill your entire quiver with it. On the upper end of the range--the 15 and 17--I recommend those for heavier weight riders. It's a decent light wind kite, but I would look at something like the Code Zero, a single strut kite, and potentially pairing that with a foil. The Reach will work, but it hasn't been optimized as a dedicated light wind kite. Otherwise, you can flesh out your full quiver with this.

The Reach is going to be available in six different colors, which is ridiculous. I would imagine that's going to pare down throughout the generation of this kite as they use up some of those canopy colors, so if you have your eye on a particular canopy color, strike now. The larger sizes will only be available in one canopy color, though.

Bag

The bag is really nice. We don't generally talk about bags, but this is a recycled material, so you can feel good about that. It's a bit oversized, so you can actually pack up your kite without jamming it in too much. The buckles are really nice and it has good straps. I think this benefits from North Kiteboarding's association with the larger North Sails group, and also with Mystic. Sometimes you see these brand crossovers and you get the best of both worlds.

Who Is This Kite For?

The person who wants to do a little bit of everything without committing to being discipline-specific will enjoy this kite. I think there is a lot of merit to going discipline-specific if you know you want to be the Big Air King and set the Woo record. Then you can go with the Orbit, which is tailored to big air jumping. If you want to surf, you can go with something like the Carve or the Code. If you want to foil, there are kites for that. But personally, I love riding on the twintip and jumping, but I also occasionally like using my surfboard or jumping on a foil, and the Reach is going to be the kite that I grab. It's just so versatile, and it's the embodiment of kiteboarding for me, honestly. I can do everything, but still send it, rip it, and have a really good time.

Jake's Impression

I'm excited about this new Reach, and I'm going to be spending a lot of time on it this year. We live in such an awesome period of kiting because there are not many bad kites out there. Everything is so refined, everything's getting better with these materials, and I think the North Reach is right there near the leading edge of the pack. It gives you everything you could possibly want with a do-all freeride kiteboarding kite, and it's going to leave you with a smile on your face.

We are going to do a full on-the-water review soon. I did ride it a number of times in Portugal, but we like to try to get five or more sessions on a kite before we give a detailed review on what we love and what we're not so hot on. But for now, I would say the Reach gets two thumbs up, and you should definitely add it to your quiver.

Shop North Gear

MACkite Subscription Links:

YouTube  |   Instagram  |   Spotify Oddcasts

Contact MACkite Below:

800.622.4655  |   Kiteboarder@MACkite.com  |   LIVE Chat Messenger