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Here's a little write up on my e-foil experience.I was recently fortunate enough to have the guys at Mackite let me try the Takuma Cruising 1600 E-foil. Here's a short take on my initial reactions. I've been kicking around an e-foil for a long time. While the price-point is dropping, we all know that this isn't just another board purchase that you can slide by the wife. Because of that, I've been a little hesitant to jump in. However, after getting on one and feeling the glide and seeing the pos …

The shop asked me to try to compare Duotone's SLS kites and the Aluula kites from Ocean Rodeo. I've decided to do a couple videos on this to share my experience and that of friends who tried it. I was able to get some time on the Neo SLS, and now I've got a Roam Aluula and a Flite Aluula. So far I've tried the Flite and the Neo SLS. Two very different kites, so I'll compare how the lighter materials used impacted the kites in their own respective ways. I do have a Roam that I'll test and comp …

This is a project that has been in development for years and has a lot of R&D into it. I have my hands on the 633 version the larger free rider or even wing foil wing. Fist up, the kit comes in a high end travel case that keeps everything organized well inducing reenforced wing covers that won’t wear out like previous iterations. This all comes included with Hardware, a tool and some lubricant. Heads up this doesn’t use the standard m8x25 board mounting hardware. You’ll need the longer m8 3 …

Today we're going to review the Eleveight FS. Who is this kite good for? Whats it good at and what's it lacking? This is a kite I have gravitated towards for a couple of years. It's known as Eleveight's freestyle / big air kite. It's an open C design, so you can expect more direct input into the kite. This gives you an aggressive pull up on the jumps and aggressive kite loops. Don't expect a ton of loft from the FS. This freestyle-oriented design is made for pop and slack so you will rea …

The Roam has been a favorite in the Ocean Rodeo lineup for several years. This great surf/freeride kite comes in an all-new construction called Aluula. This new material takes this solid kite to the next level by making the kite lighter and stiffer. What this does for the kite's performance is to make it more reactive to bar input and to perform better in lighter winds. Improved Performance What this means for improved surf and foil performance is that the kite stays in the air; you can …

The Ride Engine Momentum is a unique soft-shell harness. It comes with the classic ride engine fit and lumbar lock yet its soft and flexible and allows for completely unrestricted movement for the rider.  This year Ride Engine has 3 flex patterns in their line up and it's a smart call. Not everyone enjoys the feel of a true hardshell myself included. I prefer something with some torsional give and support like the Saber. Some want the absolute stiffest harness like the carbon Elite.&n …

This week I’m going to do a review on the Ride Engine Saber harness. To help you understand what this harness is like, I’ll be making a comparison to the Mystic Stealth Harness. This is more a review of the Saber than a full comparison but doing a small comparison will help the review be more in depth and hopefully help you decide if this is the harness for you. So if it sounds like I’m leaning too much towards the Saber in the review, don’t be mistaken. I used Mystic for three years straight …

The new Sentry bar is a welcomed upgrade for Slingshot. I’ve been using their bars since 2013 and while they were making welcomed changes, like above the bar depower and a functional swivel the core design of the bar hasn’t changed all that much.So What's New? Softer Bar The new bar is soft. This really stood out to me. We now have soft molded ends, a soft grip, coated center lines. The older bar was cool because it was so simple but there was a lot of hard plastic. I found in colde …

Hey there. I bought and finally got to ride my new Naish 135L inflatable this weekend and thought I'd offer a review.POINT ONE: The thing actually works and generally speaking I was impressed...This is my 10th wing board this season and so the reviews will be against those (10' sup, fanatic 6'7", fanatic 5'4", custom carbon 5'4", F-one 6'0, fone 5'4", fone 5,0", Naish 4'8"). My current ride is the Naish 4'8" 50L and had the most influence in my comparison.Setup: I left the board partially i …

A ride and review of the 2021 Duotone Dice by Jake Mitchell. The team is keen on getting more reviews out with different perspectives. We'd like to make these videos as informative and useful as possible, so please let us know what you would like to know in the YouTube comments section of the video! To kick off the review, I have to comment on the colors and graphics. I know this has nothing to do with performance but I've been a big fan of the Dice since 2015 and the new colors remin …

Choosing the right gear when you are a new kiteboarder is easy. Go for an all around kite and you will be set for years to come. Choosing your second quiver of kites can take a bit more work depending on what you want out of the sport. You have to ask your self some questions. What kind of kiteboarding do you like to do? Do you prefer once discipline over the others? Do you want to focus on hangtime, kiteloops, unhooked performance or wave? Different kites even in the all around category usua …

We're going to cover the NL & P180 from GoFoil. Here's what you can expect, and what the advantages of choosing one versus the other are. What you can expect NL stands for "next level". They are designed for the highest level riding, meaning if you want to go fast, get the most pumping performance, and are looking to get the most performance out of your high aspect wings, these are going to be a good choice. This is from the P series and the P stands for "pump". If you are into downwind ra …

We were able to get our hands on the  Cabrinha Crosswing X2 for testing this month. Right out of the gate, it's clear this is an upgrade from the first gen Cabrinha wing which, to be honest, was our least favorite. For the second generation, they have done their homework and made a great competitive wing. The wing has a lot of power for its size. I had the chance to test this on a gusty inland lake with lulls of 14 and highs of 25. When pumping the wing, I found there was a lot of …

2021 North Kites OverviewThis is a good look at the 2021 North kites compared to the 2020 North kites. We'll be taking a look at what the changes are and how it will impact you as a rider in this blog. The Orbit The ORBIT changed the game when it came to big air kiteboarding. It's one of the most successful kites at KOTA. With swept wingtips and a flatter canopy you get a very unique kite. It has the turning possibilities of a freestyle kite, but the flat canopy allows you to soar …

My Moses 633 had been my favorite foil of all time until I started riding the FONE Phantom 1080 (no, they didn't pay me to say that but they did give me a free t-shirt and hat)...I kite foiled the Moses 633 for 2 solid seasons and compared every other Moses foil against it. The 633 was always my baby, always my go to foil in sketchy or sub-optimum conditions. I worked thru the gammet of stabilizers for it - starting at the 483 and moving down the 450, 425, 421, 420, 330, 325 and finally ending …