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On-the-water review with the MACkite boys, Pat and Dustin, after their Grand Haven session on the new 2024 Rebel SLS from Duotone Kiteboarding.On-the-Water Impressions Pat: The kite feels like a Rebel. It's a five-strut, higher-aspect design with pretty good low end power. It's probably about 20, gusting to 22. I'm on a 12 meter and I'm about 200 pounds. I'm pretty happy with the kite so far in the first couple tacks on it. The kite looks phenomenal in the sky. The new colorway is …

Kristen chats about the 2024 North Reach: what's new, what's different, and what you can expect to feel familiar. It's a beautiful day in Muskegon, Michigan. It was a north wind, which tends to be a little bit gustier up and down. It's about 70 degrees and the water temp is warm, and I just had a great session on the 9m North Reach. It is a really fun kite! New Logo, New Material On the kites you'll now see the North Sails logo being rolled out for 2024. North has also been work …

The Code Zero is back again with a little bit of a redesign for 2024, and it's actually quite nice. It feels fairly similar to the Slingshot UFO, but with a single strut.How Does the 2024 Code Zero Fly?It's a bit lower aspect shape compared to the 2023. That makes it a little sharper and quicker in the turning radius.I also feel like it drifts quite a bit better. They definitely made it more of a dedicated foil shape this year. Last year's worked pretty well as a foil/surf crossover. I …

What's Old Is NewWe have the 2024 North Orbit here. North is going in a new direction with their branding, and I am excited about it because they're bringing back the old school North Sails. A lot of you who have been in the sailing industry for a while know that North Sails goes way back. I'm dating myself, but when I got into the sport in '82, North Sails was prominent. So that's something new you're going to see on the North lineup for 2024, and all of their North Sails gear is going …

This is Jeff at MACkiteboarding.com, and we've gotten our hands on the brand new 2024 Code Zero V2 from North. I was able to take it out in very light winds on three days now.The New North As a brief aside, I'm excited about what North is doing this year. They're rebranding back to their North Sails (NS) roots, and I love that. It reminds me of when I was windsurfing back in the day. North's products have always been high class and well-thought-out.First Impressions While I'm on …

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 wit …

Shop Reedin Kite, Wing & Foil Gear. Today, Pat and Aaron chat about the new Reedin Supermodel V4 HTF kite. Read on to find out what's new, what's great or not-so-great, and who this kite is for. Pat: I've got the brand new Reedin supermodel HTF 9 meter. A big shout-out to Nick Baines for getting this sent up here. I've had one really good session on it so far. I was powered up on the 9 meter, but it was a little gusty so I was a bit all over the place with the kite. But it's …

Aaron: Do you want to learn more about the Duotone Rebel SLS? Let's join Ben from Duotone and find out what the magic sauce is. Ben: You know the history of the Rebel: it is one of the world's best-known kites, and every single year we somehow improve it. Last year when we came out with the Rebel SLS, everything went to a whole new level for that particular kite. It used to be the best-selling kite for a number of years, but then the Neo took over because everybody starte …

What's in a Name? Matt: Probably the most exciting new kite that we have is the new Code Zero. You're probably wondering why a one-strut kite is called "Code Zero". It's a little callout to our sailing heritage with the North brand. Code Zero is a legendary light wind racing spinnaker, so with this being a light wind performance foiling kite, it's a sort of callout to the heritage of the North Sailing brand. Jake: Well, it looks epic and the staff here has absolutely loved it, as …

Shop Pads & Straps. Jake from MACkite here. Today we're going to do a general overview on the 2022 Cabrinha bindings. I'll also include my thoughts since I do have experience on all of these.2022 Cabrinha Bindings The Cabrina H1 is their most simplified binding. It's just a single strap system, but it works really well. It's functional; it's basic. The H2O binding has two adjustment straps. It also has a density pad underneath so you can harden or soften it underneath your he …

Jake from MACkite here today with the 2022 Manera Halo harness. I wanted to provide a mid-season update on this to let you guys know what we're loving and what we're not loving.I just came off the water with this bad boy today. One of the original problems I had with this is that I started with a size that was too small for my body. About two years ago, pre-pandemic, I was a medium. However, the medium just was not the right fit this year. I was feeling all of the hard shell and none of …

Why Choose Carbon? The Sonar foil system comes in a full carbon version in addition to the full alloy setup. North is one of the few brands that has a full carbon fuselage, not just a carbon mast. Carbon masts are relatively easy to produce, but saving the weight off of the fuselage is actually more important. Think about yourself holding a five-pound weight in close. You can hold it there all day, but you know how heavy it gets if you hold it out. The same thing applies at the end o …

Pat talks to Aaron about his latest experiences with the 2023 Slingshot Code V1, a three-strut all-around kite that aims to compete with other kites in this category. The Code V1 is a great boosting kite that is fun to use in any condition, and it has surprisingly good hangtime. He thinks it's one of the better big air kites in this category, as it was developed with their big air team. The Code is a great all-around, freeride kite that is on par with the other kites in its catego …

This is Dustin and Pat from MACkiteboarding.com here to talk about the brand new Misfit v11 Carbon from Slingshot. Misfit Carbon Characteristics Dustin: It's a stellar board. Super lightweight, oh my gosh. Pat: Yeah, this has to be the lightest board Slingshot has ever made. Dustin: It definitely has a flatter profile. There's not a crazy amount of rocker. Pat: No, pretty flat rocker, but it has enough flex, even with it being a carbon board. It's not a super stiff carbon. …

This is Dustin and Pat from MACkiteboarding.com here to talk about the brand new Slingshot Asylum V6. Let's get into it.Slingshot Asylum v6 CharacteristicsPat: We both rode this board yesterday.Dustin: It's absolutely stellar. There's nothing crazy new with it, other than some pretty sweet new graphics.Pat: Yeah, this is the tried-and-true Asylum. If you've ridden any of the previous versions, it's more or less been unchanged. It's got a high rocker line, is more of a freestyle board, …